Hello alums, students, and friends of the Augustana College Department of History!
The air has taken on a chill and holiday concerts have filled up my schedule. It must be December, a time for celebration and reflection.
Looking back over the fall, I’m pleased to report more student activities than we've seen since the pandemic began. The department held an early pizza party for students, which led to a re-energized History Club. The club has been meeting bi-weekly and recently hosted both a movie night and a game night. They plan to start a podcast in the near future too! They co-hosted the department’s holiday party, where we illustrated holiday cards inspired by Victorian traditions.
Faculty in the department have kept busy too. Perhaps you ran across our table on the Quad during Homecoming? Or maybe you saw us give a session at the Education Department’s New Teacher’s Workshop. Or perhaps you joined Dr. Lawrence, Dr. Calder, or President Talentino at one of the Frieze lectures at the Rock Island Public Library. Those lectures considered the history and future of democracy in America.
Speaking of democracy, Dr. Calder surveyed his students at the start of this semester and was fascinated to learn how much today’s students rely upon their parents for political information and not the media. Given the national discussion about the presidential election, you may also be surprised by those students’ reported political affiliation. More than half of the women identified as Democrats, with only a small percentage identifying as Republicans. The men were in reverse. More than half of the men identified as Republicans; only a small percentage were Democrats. The rest listed no affiliation.
Our other faculty have been focusing on campus history. Dr. Simonsen is putting finishing touches on an edited volume about the college titled Called to Reckon: Re-placing History and Reclaiming Mission at a Midwestern College, while I recently hosted a panel related to the latest Augustana Historical Society periodical, which focuses on the college during the Vietnam War era.
The other piece of news worth sharing is the stellar report we received about the department from our outside reviewers, who visited the department this past spring. Every ten years the college invites outside experts in the field to review reams of data about the history department. Those reviewers also interview faculty, administrators, and students. We’re happy to share that the process has helped us to recognize and re-engage with our strengths.
Most of our faculty and students will be enjoying the upcoming January term, although Dr. Lawrence and her students have the most exciting task ahead of them: a trip to China!
Looking forward to the Spring, the department will begin a series of speakers, inviting alumni to talk to our current students about career paths. If you’re an alum and that sounds interesting to you (especially if you’re in the area), let me know and we can schedule you in the future—whether this spring or during the next academic year.
In history,
Brian Leech
Chair of the Department of History
Five student-athletes — from hometowns in Illinois, Hawai'i, Texas and Tennessee — are the college's most recent Academic All-Americans. Now with 183 Academic All-Americans, Augustana ranks 14th among the NCAA’s 1,100 schools in DI, DII and DIII across the country.
Athleticism and the arts are a natural at Augustana, especially in opera. Football lineman Spencer Warfield ’23 and fencer Soryn Richter ’26 take the stage in “Amahl and the Night Visitors” on April 21 and 23.
During January term, students take a break from their 15-week semester schedule to engage in a month-long period of intensive learning. Here are four students' J-term stories and photos from several classes.
