Pics of the Day
The Pic of the Day is featured on student and faculty pages, as submitted by members of the Augustana community. Here are some recent images. (Click on a photo to see a caption.)
Got a photo to share? Submit it!
The "Swedish Contemporary Society" J-term course spent the month of January learning intermediate Swedish language and about cultural, political and social life in Sweden today. The many excursions included visiting Augustana's exchange partner Uppsala University and touring its historic library, Carolina Rediviva, which the group poses in front of here.
In a ceremony earlier this month, Augustana Professor of History Dr. Lendol Calder received the Eugene Asher Distinguished Teaching Award from Dr. Ben Vinson, president of the American Historical Association (AHA). The award recognizes outstanding teaching and advocacy for history teaching at colleges and universities. Inspirational history teachers with excellent techniques and a mastery of subject matter are selected for this honor, according to the AHA. Congrats, Dr. Calder!
Geography and environmental studies students spent their J-term on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana learning about coastal land loss and environmental justice. As part of their research, students conducted a salinity study in the bayous as part of a collaboration with the Grand Caillou/Dulac Band of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw tribal community.
Aliza Salinas-Cervantes ’26 points out an Augustana College banner while studying abroad during J-term with SSA Education Abroad in Sevilla, Spain, spotting a familiar Viking connection in a popular student hangout.
President Talentino thought she was meeting with Swedish scholar Olof Björnsson, but instead she was surprised with a serenade by the brothers of Phi Mu Alpha for Vocal Valentines! Orders for Vocal Valentines this year are now open, and half of all proceeds will be donated to Common Chord, a local music education nonprofit. Click here to order a Vocal Valentine.
Dr. Ashley Burge and her Contemporary African American literature class immersed themselves in Black history and art at the DuSable Black History and Education Museum in Chicago for their culminating project in the class. They were treated to DuSable's new exhibit, "Paris In Black," where they explored the impactful work of Black expatriate icons Langston Hughes and Josephine Baker, amongst others.
Meet Joshua Traugott, a junior exploring Japan, from Kyoto and Nagano to the bright lights of Tokyo. His favorite moment so far? Petting the famous deer in Nara Park — a dream come true after always wanting to pet the deer on campus at Augie! "Watching hundreds of them surround people for crackers was unforgettable," says Traugott.
The students of the J-Term Geology of Bonaire courses have experienced amazing geology and marine ecology in just the first week on the Caribbean island! They've hiked the highest peak in all of the Netherlands, clambered over ancient volcanic columnar jointed mountain outcrops, gained their sea legs and performed backward rolls off the boat for dives to see sea turtles, flounder, ray, barracuda and arrays of brilliantly colored fish and coral, learned about coral reef restoration and propagation during presentations and then leapt into the ocean and snorkeled out to those coral nurseries for a hands-on view, and witnessed exotic nocturnal creatures in magical nighttime tidal pool walks!
At Thursday's Job Shadow Day, students from the COMM-111 Confident Communication J-Term course had the chance to observe, overcome apprehension and voice their ideas in front of community leaders. Thank you to Longfellow Elementary, Vibrant, Augustana, Rock Island High School, Lincoln Electric, Quad City Storm, UnityPoint Health-Trinity, Lindquist Ford, Bettendorf Community School District and KWQC Sports for providing the supportive environment needed to turn classroom skills into career confidence!
Students on the J-Term program to Brazil arrived in Salvador last week and had a city tour that included a stop to see the Baia de Todos Santos.
SCUBA-certified students of the J-Term in Bonaire courses (GEOL-123 and GEOL-321) gained their sea legs during their first Caribbean dive. One student exclaimed it was the coolest thing he had ever done! In the first days of the course, they have seen sea turtles, flounder, ray, barracuda and arrays of brilliantly colored fish and coral.
The Olin elevator is officially back! The Career & Vocation team celebrated by taking one of the very first rides this week. Pictured from left to right are Beth Ford, Laura Kestner-Ricketts, student Kloe Bronner and Claire Brackel-Packer.
"Art is Work: 25 Years of Metro Arts," a 23-minute documentary film created by Quad City Arts and Augustana film program director and producer Stacy Barton, will air on WQPT PBS in multiple spots Jan. 4-8, 2026, with primetime broadcasts scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 4, at 9:30 p.m., and Thursday, Jan. 8, at 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. (Check your local listings for details.) The film explores the history of the long-running paid summer arts program, the difference it's made in the lives of participants and the community alike, and the impressive projects created by the 2025 artists, including three murals and one documentary film. Pictured: Sarah Robb, 2025 Metro Arts mural lead artist, and her apprentices create the art for their upcoming Davenport Police Department mural.
Udden Geology Club members celebrated the end of the semester with a pizza party and donned diffraction grating glasses that change light sources into crystal structure shapes to remind everyone to look at life through different lenses and perspectives! At 92 years running, Udden Geology Club is one of the oldest clubs on campus and meets every Friday at 4:30 p.m. All are welcome!
As a culmination of their course, the students in FYI 101: "What does it mean to be a good citizen?" wrote a Bill of Student Rights and Responsibilities, inspired in part by a proposal for something similar by Augustana students in the early 1970s.
The seniors in Dr. Katherine Brown's SOAN-450 capstone course presented their final papers at the Atlas Collective in Moline, Ill., disseminating their work to the community. Congratulations to the seniors on their hard work this semester and demonstrating what it means to be a SOAN major through public sociology/anthropology up to the very end of their degree requirements!
Augustana’s Sociology and Anthropology Society joined the college’s Yarn Club to sell crocheted chickens to raise money for the River Bend Food Bank. Here, Helena Smith, Curtis Baldwin and Lillian McClintock present a check for $3,061 to the food bank. Arler Ohlmiller, Emma Bowes, Isabel Gaytan and Rosa Gaytan also played key roles. “Augustana’s chicken fundraiser was a great success!” said Nicole Lauer, marketing and communications strategist at River Bend Food Bank. “This creative and thoughtful initiative brings our community together and delivers hunger relief for River Bend Food Bank’s 23-county service area when we need it most.”
Environmental Studies students and faculty celebrate after their final presentation of senior inquiry projects to City of Davenport staff. This semester's projects centered on the Duck Creek Parkway and included an ecological and trail user perception assessment. (Back, from left: Audrey Bezilla, Graham Hunt, Tom Gruber, Emersen Lehman, Sarah Lashley, Joren Weller-Vanhollebeke, Emily Hoskins, Kevin Geedey, Christian Gonzalez. Front, from left: Kaitlin Troha, Tash Gauerke, Madi Greenwood, Jordyn Van Santen, Gianna Zampogna, Natalie Platt, Angie Truelsen)
Geography majors Olivia Bizub and Hamdiyya Hamidu received an award from the City of Moline and Keep Moline Beautiful Commission for their collaboration with Renew Moline and Moline Centre on a pollinator pocket project in downtown Moline. Students worked with downtown business owners to launch the project and designed and planted a pilot pollinator landscape bed on 5th Avenue this summer.
Faculty, staff, alumni and students recently celebrated our first-generation community! "First generation" means that neither parent has a 4-year college degree. Pictured: Anna Badamo, Sumita Amrik, Christiana Headley, Tyler Kinney, Marlon Jackson
Students, faculty and staff attended the APHA Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., Nov. 1-5 to participate in research presentations, professional workshops, meetings with government officials and networking with Augustana public health alumni in the D.C. area. The theme of the conference was "Making Public Health a National Priority." Pictured: Dr. Lena Hann (Public Health), Nora Sorensen, Anna-Maria Hübel, Keela Sawyer, Beth Ford (CORE).
Senior Kat-Jean Glusick and librarian Kaitlyn Goss-Peirce met with American Library Association President Sam Helmick to discuss pathways to librarianship, challenges facing the field, and Kat's Senior Inquiry work on archiving and celebrating LGBTQ+ joy.
Students in the GEOG-306: Soil Science class visited with Monte Botten '95 on his family farm in Cambridge, Ill., to learn about regenerative agriculture practices.
Roberta Ferguson snapped this gorgeous autumnal shot on Nov. 6 while walking up the stairs between Bahls Leadership Center and Swenson Hall.
After having studied the diversity of beautiful invertebrate individual fossils in the lab, Dr. Kelsey Arkle's History of Life (Geology 201) class took to the field and examined the same marine invertebrate fossils and their community structure in situ at Devonian Fossil Gorge, Iowa, in order to interpret the paleo environment.
Dr. Lena Hann and Beth Ford (third and fifth from left) joined public health students and alumni at the American Public Health Association's Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, Nov. 2.
Transfer students Zack Beckman and Arundati Mourya (and Jude Rowell, Joren Weller-Vanhollebeke, Dona Adjahoungbeta and Hunter Smith, who are not pictured) gathered with Black Hawk College advisors to share their experiences transferring from Black Hawk to Augustana. In addition, BHC advisors met with admissions, advising and TRIO and took a tour of campus. They were very impressed with their day on campus!
The Men's 7v7 Flag Football Champions were TMG, comprising several members of the Augustana Varsity Baseball Team. On the roster (left to right): Ethan Sosnowski, Blake Nettleton, Jaden Weinzerl, Tate Aurich, Riley Hendren, Charlie Diiulio, Charlie Bergin, Carson Vitry, Hayden Boushele, Will Routh, Drew Bryant, Ben Gonzales, Remington Larson and Brian Fischer. Team TMG went undefeated on the season with a 5-0 record and have back-to-back championships in 2024 and 2025.
The Women's 5v5 Flag Football Champions were Delta Chi x Softball! On the roster: (back row) Charlotte Frere, Lilli Burton, Alexis Duke, Riley Kulaga, Emma Evans, Maya Viel, Alaina Diaz, (front row) Emily Gad, Olivia Osborne, Marley Behm, Georgia Holt. Not pictured: Coach Dylan Burton. The team went undefeated on the season with a 5-0 record!
Carolyn Yaschur's MJMC 310: Visual Storytelling class got into the Halloween spirit last week by dressing up for class. What's your favorite costume?