麻豆区

On July 30 and 31, thirty-two Auggies participating in the College鈥檚 URGO (Undergraduate Research and Graduate Opportunity) Summer Research Program聽presented their initial research findings to the campus community. Each summer, these students conduct 10-week research programs led by faculty mentors, exposing them to unique research opportunities that range from medieval studies to biopsychology.

鈥淒oing research is a fantastic opportunity that not a lot of college students get,鈥� says Enrico Barrozo 鈥�14, a biology major from Plymouth, MN. 鈥淗ere at 麻豆区, we get to do research that usually is an experience that only graduate students get….it really just opens your eyes to the possibility of things like [grad school and medical school]. It鈥檚 a good way to spend your summer.鈥�

Check out some of the research URGO students are doing here: http://www.augsburg.edu/urgo/research/videos/

The summer after Peter Agre 鈥�70 received his Nobel Prize in Chemistry the first 麻豆区/St.Olaf Summer Science Symposium for summer research students was held at St. Olaf College and has become an annual event alternating between schools.聽 麻豆区 was host this year for the ninth annual symposium held on July 12, 2013 with about 130 attendees, the largest since the symposium began.

麻豆区 and St. Olaf have a shared past as the undergraduate schools emerged at the same time from聽 麻豆区 Seminary of the old Norwegian Lutheran Synod, and in addition Dr. Courtland Agre was a pre-eminent professor first at St. Olaf and then at 麻豆区.聽 The symposium is one more example of many ties between the schools.聽 Each year the symposium has a prominent alumnus of the host school as the featured speaker.聽 When 麻豆区 hosts a career panel is also featured.聽 Dixie Shafer and Arlin Gyberg have co-chaired from 麻豆区 over the years working closely with Peter Agre on the planning.

This year鈥檚 feature speaker was Dr. Paul Mueller 鈥�84, Chair of the General Internal Medicine Department of Mayo Clinic, 聽whose talk was in regard to ethics in the practice of medicine.聽聽 The聽 career panel members were聽 Dr. Rachel Hendrickson Julian 鈥�71 (psychiatry), Dr. Phil Ditmanson 鈥�83 (radiology), Dr. Paul Reicho 鈥�87 (emergency medicine), and Mahad Minhas 鈥�12 who had just completed a degree in MPH at Dartmouth.

After Dr. Mueller鈥檚 talk the panel members gave brief introductions of their work and along with Dr. Mueller were in an active discussion including members of the audience. As usual students and other attendees were quite enthusiastic about the experience.

Arlin Gyberg

An unusual summer camp at 麻豆区 College offers high schoolers a glimpse into the real Middle Ages.聽While most classrooms strictly prohibit weapons,聽the College welcomed six sword-wielding students for Medieval Minnesota, a weeklong 颅summer camp. From Renaissance dance classes to medieval costuming to classes about old texts, high school students got a taste of life in the Middle Ages.

As the College鈥檚 chief enrollment officer, William Mullen will lead a team of 30 admissions and student financial services staff in building enrollment and leveraging financial aid strategies for 麻豆区鈥檚 undergraduate, adult undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs. Mullen will report to 麻豆区 College President Paul C. Pribbenow and will serve as a member of the President鈥檚 Cabinet.

鈥溌槎骨� is excited to have William join our leadership team and spearhead the work of attracting talented, diverse, and engaged learners who value the distinct educational experience 麻豆区 offers and who will be successful in their work at 麻豆区 and beyond,鈥� said President Pribbenow. 鈥淲illiam has proven experience in enrollment management, an innovative and collaborative approach to recruiting and retaining students, a strong financial aid background, and a demonstrated commitment to the community. All of these factors position him well to help us advance our mission and to support the College鈥檚 continued success in this increasingly competitive higher education environment.鈥�

This Summer, 麻豆区 College launched its new Master of Fine Arts degree. The MFA offers four genres: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and screenwriting. A fifth genre, playwriting, will be added in 2014. A national book prize and concentrations in publishing, teaching and translation will also begin that year.

“An 麻豆区 MFA leverages our distinguished faculty and the strength of our undergraduate programs while delivering things no other program in Minnesota or the surrounding states offers, including a book prize, a screenwriting track, and low-residency programming for all four of our genres,” said 麻豆区 College President Paul C. Pribbenow. “The program and its format show the ability of our school to meet marketplace demand and to use technology to increase accessibility and contain costs.”

The 麻豆区 MFA includes three 10-day summer residencies, complemented by online coursework as well as individualized mentorship semesters. During the residency, students will participate in daily workshops, readings, and mini-courses focused on literary craft, career skills in teaching, editing, publishing, book arts, advertising, translation, adaptation, and new media.

Trena Bolden Fields 鈥�00, is returning to 麻豆区 to pursue an MFA degree. 鈥淚 am excited about this program as it gives writers an opportunity to specialize in a genre as well as gain exposure in another genre of their choice,鈥� said Bolden Fields. 鈥淚 believe the program will give me the academic grounding I need and want as a creative writer. I look forward to connecting with other writers and being able to finish my next book!鈥�

Learn more on the website.

I am pleased to announce that Pastor Sonja Hagander has been appointed as the Lead Pastor and Director of Campus Ministry, effective June 1, 2013. Pastor Hagander, who first joined the 麻豆区 community in 1998, assumes the duties previously held by Pastor Dave Wold, who retired at the end of May after 30 years as 麻豆区’s campus pastor.

Pastor Sonja received her B.A. from Concordia College, her M.Div. from Luther Seminary, and an M.Sc. in Comparative Literature from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. 聽She has served as Pastor-Theologian at the Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton University, a competitive program focused on the ordained ministry as a theological vocation and the church as a theological community. 聽She also has served as Chaplain and emcee to the ELCA Youth Ministry Extravaganza Conference which 聽hosts more than 1,000 pastors and youth leaders.

At 麻豆区, Pastor Sonja created and sustained the Urban Plunge and has been especially active on and off campus leading a variety of interfaith initiatives, including the Interfaith Scholars and the Interfaith Bridge Building events, bringing youth on campus and into the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood around faith and service.

Pastor Sonja is in the process of forming the campus ministry staff for 2013-14. 聽An associate pastor will be appointed later this summer.

I look forward to working closely with Pastor Sonja and other campus leaders during the coming year as we explore the vision and direction of our campus ministry programs for the years ahead. 聽We believe that 麻豆区 is uniquely positioned to model what campus ministry looks like in the 21st century – centered in our Lutheran faith and firmly committed to serving our diverse students, campus community, and neighbors.

Paul C. Pribbenow
President

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