Symposium Days
Fall Symposium Day has a rotating theme selected by the Symposium Day Committee.
Once a semester, Augustana devotes a full day to an alternative approach for learning and opens the process to the entire campus community.
This multidisciplinary approach to discuss a theme exemplifies the value of liberal learning.
Symposium Days include invited speakers, alumni, advising sessions and opportunities to practice the liberal arts and be involved with the community.
Fall Symposium Day is centered on a different theme each year. Spring Symposium is Celebration of Learning featuring original research and scholarship by Augustana's students and faculty.
2024-25
Fall Symposium Day Oct. 9: Big Ideas
Big ideas spark innovation in industry, breakthroughs in science, reformations in education, and even revolutions of whole societies. Some even say that the United States was founded on the big idea of democracy rather than on a shared ethnicity or culture. Whether we think of progress in terms of science, innovation, human rights, AI and the nature of work, big ideas spark tremendous change--for good or ill. Given the complexity of the wicked problems we face--climate change, political polarization, rising levels of anxiety and depression--big ideas are needed now more than ever.
This year's Symposium Day theme invites proposals about big ideas from any and all disciplines, and especially those that step below or between disciplinary boundaries to question the status quo and help spark new ways of thinking.
Past dates and themes
2023-2024
Fall: Transformation, Oct. 11, 2023
Spring: Celebration of Learning, May 8, 2024
2022-2023
Fall: Civil Discourse, Oct. 12, 2022
Spring: Celebration of Learning, May 10, 2023
2021-2022
Fall: Environments, Oct. 6, 2021
Spring: Celebration of Learning, May 4, 2022
2020-2021
Fall: What is Truth? Oct. 17, 2020
Spring: Celebration of Learning, May 6, 2021
2019-2020
Fall: What is a Life Well Lived?, Oct. 9, 2019
Spring: Celebration of Learning, May 6, 2020
2018-2019
Fall: Relationships, Sept. 27, 2018
Winter: Social Justice, Jan 16, 2019
Spring: Celebration of Learning, May 1, 2019
2017-2018
Fall: Transformations, Sept. 28, 2017
Winter: Privilege, Jan. 17, 2018
Spring: Celebration of Learning, May 2, 2018
2016-2017
Fall: Crossroads, Sept. 20, 2016
Winter: Privilege, Jan. 18, 2017
Spring: Celebration of Learning, May 3, 2017
2015-2016
Fall: Perspective(s), Sept. 17, 2015
Winter: Social Justice, Jan. 20, 2016
Spring: Celebration of Learning, May 4, 2016
2014-2015
Fall: Identity, Sept. 24, 2014
Winter: Social Justice, Jan. 20, 2015
Spring: Celebration of Learning, May 6, 2015