Hello from Old Main!
Rather amazingly, we are almost halfway through the fall semester. We’ve only recently experienced cooler temperatures, though, so the autumn colors have not yet hit campus in full force.
It was great to see so many history alumni at Homecoming. A number of you were even gracious enough to help students in my Public History course out, as they were conducting interviews with alumni about how they dressed when they were students. Those interviews will all become part of a bigger project to investigate the history of clothing and style at the college. If you’re interested in sharing clothing or photos with us, feel free to get in touch. If you’re interested in the results of these students’ efforts, they’re creating a pop-up museum exhibition in the library near the end of the year (December 4th, 12:30-2:00pm and December 6th, 4:00-6:00pm).
Over the summer many of our history students embarked on summer jobs and internships. A couple of them were willing to share a bit about their experience at museums around the region.
Adam Miller, a double major in History and Communication Studies, interned at the Batavia Depot Museum in Batavia, Illinois. During this summer, Adam designed a downtown walking tour, conducted research for visitors, composted social media posts, and helped to relocate part of the museum’s archive to a new storage space. Here he is showing off unusual artifacts from a new exhibit, alongside Museum Curator Jessica Meis (center) and Museum Director Kate Garret (right).
Michael Njus interned at the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa. He worked for the curatorial department. In conjunction with the Museum’s exhibit about 200 years of Norwegians in America, Michael conducted research and crafted blog posts.
Since my last update, alum Alex Mayszak picked up another recognition. The Director of Digital Learning and Innovation, Alex was one of four Augustana alumni to be recognized as one of the Quad Cities’ Regional Business Journal’s forty under forty. Congrats to Alex!
Amongst the history faculty, both Dr. Jane Simonsen and Dr. Elizabeth Lawrence are teaching in the Augustana Prison Education Program this fall, contributing to the college’s campus at the East Moline Correctional Center. Dr. Lendol Calder will be teaching there again in the spring.
Speaking of Dr. Calder, I have another update. As mentioned in my last update, Dr. Calder is one of three finalists for the most prestigious national collegiate teaching award, the Robert Foster Cherry Award. One key part of the process is a fall lecture, which gets delivered both in Texas and here.
Join Dr. Lendol Calder, one of three finalists for the prestigious Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching, on Oct. 13 at 5:30 p.m. in Old Main’s Forum (room 226).
That’s all for now! I hope you all have a fantastic rest of the fall!
Cheers,
Brian Leech
Chair, Department of History
Three student-athletes remain on top in their sport and studies — Charlotte Frere ’26, Charlotte Newport ’25 and Ocean Akau ’25. All three are repeat Academic All-American honorees, a feat achieved by only a few Vikings through the years.
Dr. Lendol Calder is no stranger to awards and honors, being named Illinois Professor of the Year in 2010. And now he's a finalist for Baylor University's Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching, the top teaching prize in the nation.
Students in an Augustana Prison Education Program history class curated a new exhibition in the Thomas Tredway Library. “Dynamic Traditions,” which was staged by Augustana’s Center for Visual Culture, will be on display on the library’s second floor until May 23.
