Learning for Life @ Gustavus: Recent Episodes
Gustavus Adolphus College
History professor Greg Kaster explores the intersections of liberal arts learning, current events, and real-world problem solving from the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minn. From conversations with cancer and climate change researchers to behind-the-scenes glimpses into higher ed decision-making, Kaster's short, engaging interviews introduce listeners to the people behind the ideas.
In this last episode of the 2023-24 academic year, Kenneth S. Stern, JD, Director of his alma mater Bard College's Center for the Study of Hate, leading expert on antisemitism and hate, and past speaker at Gustavus talks about his path from Brooklyn (NY) to Bard to Willamette Law School in Oregon; becoming involved in American Indian Movement co-founder Dennis Banks's thirteen-year legal case and eventually representing Banks before the United States Supreme Court in U.S. v. Loud Hawk, et al.; drafting the international "working definition of antisemitism" and criticizing what he sees as its misuse; conspiracy thinking and antisemitism; the student protests and encampments in response to Israel's ongoing retaliation in Gaza for the horrific Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023; his concerns about hate in the present moment; and some steps for countering it.
For helpful online materials about hate and how to counter it, see the Bard Center for the Study of Hate website, https://bcsh.bard.edu.
Note: Thank you for listening this past fall and spring, and please continue when the podcast resumes in September 2024.
International student, graduating senior, and Management major Thomas Patterer, ’24, has combined academic excellence with athletic success at Gustavus, earning him Academic All-Conference honors from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. In this episode Thomas talks about growing up in his native Klagenfurt, Austria; coming to the United States for the first time to attend community college and play hockey in Williston, North Dakota; transferring to Gustavus and playing defense on the men’s hockey team; what he loves about the sport; his other experiences at Gustavus, including winning second place in the Gustie Entrepreneur Cup competition; his plans following graduation; and his pitch for what will soon be his alma mater.
Dr. Patricia English-Schneider of the Gustavus Communication Studies Department talks about her background and love of musicals; her not exactly straight path to undergraduate and graduate degrees in her field; how she came to be a Com Studies prof at Gustavus; the genesis and content of her recent award-winning co-edited book, Narrative and Grief: Autoethnographies of Loss; the impact of loss (including her own) on one’s identity; co-teaching a Gustavus travel course on “War, Memory, and Identify in Cambodia and Vietnam”; and the liberal-arts nature of her discipline and department. (Note: She and Greg are both proud graduates of Northern Illinois University.)
Helena Shanks, ‘12, co-owner of River Rock Coffee and Tea, a fair-trade coffeehouse in St. Peter and Mankato, MN, on her family background and path from the Fargo-Moorhead area to Gustavus; majoring (for a time, uncertainly) in Chemistry; what she learned while working as an employee at River Rock both before and after graduation; how and why she eventually transitioned from employee to co-owner with two other women (founder Tamika Bertram and Katie Aho); the responsibilities of ownership and how the ownership team functions; how being an owner has changed her; the alignment of her values and River Rock’s; and her case for Gustavus.
Jillian Hiscock, Gustavus class of 2005 and owner of the newly-opened (as of March 2024) A Bar of Their Own in Minneapolis, the only bar in Minnesota devoted entirely to women’s athletics, speaks about her background and path to Gustavus; some of her formative experiences there, including a philosophy course on schools and society; her work in college admission and then for two nonprofits dedicated to helping young people from underserved communities succeed in college and careers; originating and opening the acclaimed A Bar of Their Own without any prior business experience; her vision for the bar; and a one-word post-it note from her dad years ago that in its own way says much about her and how she approaches life and learning.
150 episodes and counting! For this 150th unique episode of the podcast, Greg speaks with special guest Marcia Page, Gustavus Class of ‘82 and Chair of the Board of Trustees, about growing up in Olivia, MN, where her dad was a pharmacist and drugstore owner; what she learned at a young age from both her parents; her path from Olivia to Gustavus; her expectation of becoming a pharmacist and how and why that plan changed; memorable experiences at her alma mater; the turning points, relationships, serendipity, and entrepreneurialism that led to her co-founding Värde Partners in 1993, “a leading global alternative investment firm” with 13 billion dollars in assets; her founding of MPowered Capital in 2021, an investment firm committed to diversity in the industry; her work on the Gustavus Board; and her aspirations for Gustavus in the years ahead.
Dr. John Cha, faculty member in the Department of Religion and Japanese Studies program at Gustavus, talks about the challenges and impact of growing up Asian-American on Chicago's South Side and in Quincy, Illinois; the influence in his teen years of Huey Newton and Bruce Lee; his academic path to philosophy and religion; being hired by Gustavus; understanding and teaching phenomenology; his comparative research on the 20th-century French phenomenologist Michel Henry and the 8th-century Indian philosopher Śaṅkara; teaching students about non-Western religions; and why learning about religion in general is important.
Sarah Calhoon Cuthill, ’85, on her path to Gustavus from the south Chicago suburbs; her love of music and fascination with France and international relations; studying abroad in high school and college; majoring in international economics; the twists and turns of her career path, eventually leading to her partnership status with Deloitte Global; her varied leadership work with the firm over the years; her case for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging; her membership on the Gustavus Board; and what makes Gustavus extraordinary.
Communication Studies major Abigail (Abby) Vizenor, ’25, talks about her background and path to Gustavus; a memorable January Term in St. Maarten; interning for CADA, Inc., which supports survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence; her research and articles about the myth of "false reporting" and, most recently, teen dating violence; her enjoyment of Hamilton the musical and interest in sports photography; and her pitch for Gustavus. Bonus: Her spoken word rendition of a number from Hamilton.
Gustavus students Ainsley Langerud, ’24, and Alex Dillon, ’25, co-chairs of this year’s annual student-run Building Bridges (BB) Conference at the College on Saturday March 2, 2024, talk about their backgrounds and paths to Gustavus, the conference’s focus on childhood poverty, the work and rewards of planning BB and (without giving too much away) what attendees can expect, and their cases for majoring in History and Geography respectively. Tickets to the conference are required and free for students and the public, except for the separate luncheon tickets, and can be obtained here: https://gustavus.edu/diversity/buildingbridges/
Allie Skjerven Boyd, Gustavus Class of 2010, talks about her background and path to Gustavus, why she majored in History and Russian Studies, her path from graduation to working in the private sector with Fortune 500 companies Nestle and Clorox, how she obtained her current position with the Minnesota-based global firm Datasite, the nature, challenges, and rewards of her employment in the corporate world, the value of her humanities education in that setting, and her case for Gustavus and the liberal arts.
Dr. Pamela Kittelson of the Biology Department and Environmental Studies program at Gustavus talks about growing up in Colorado, her path to college and eventually an unanticipated PhD in plant biology, coming to Gustavus, teaching Gustavus students in the field and abroad in India and Bangladesh, the ingredients of teaching excellence, directing the campus Fellowships Office, her ongoing research on “diversity and change in plant populations,” the adverse impact of human beings on “the biological world” and how that affects her personally as a human being and someone who studies it, and what makes liberal arts colleges special.
Lt. Col. Jess Langerud, ’96, on his path to Gustavus and its nursing major, and from there to nursing and medical-related work in both the civilian and military (U.S. Army) sectors, the nature of his work and what he loves about it—including a major project with Poland’s military and his newest position as commander of an Army Reserves civil affairs battalion—the ongoing value of his Gustavus education, and his advice for leading a rewarding professional life.
Kevin Quealy, ’03, majored in Physics at Gustavus and is currently editor of The Upshot, the online data visualization feature of the premier U.S. news organization. In this episode, Kevin talks about his path to Gustavus and physics, how and why he went from there to the Peace Corps in South Africa, then the Missouri School of Journalism, and eventually The Upshot,where he has been in various roles since its inception in 2014, the feature’s purpose and the work involved in creating content for it, and one of his favorite Upshot stories concerning a certain Nike shoe.
Laura Abbott, ’06, on her early love of history, her path to Gustavus, how and why she became a ranger with the National Park Service, her work as a ranger on the National Mall in Washington, DC, including at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, leading running tours focused on various aspects of DC history, her subsequent posting at the pre-Civil War Fort Scott in Kansas, her current work at Yellowstone, what might come next in her NPS career, the transformative impact of Gustavus on her life, and her pitch for our nation’s parks.
Dr. Jeff La Frenierre of the Gustavus Environment, Geography, and Earth Sciences Department at Gustavus on his path to the discipline of Geography, how and why he decided to research glacial melt and its impact on people and communities, the process and challenges of conducting research outdoors at high elevations in the Andes, including Gustavus students in his fieldwork, the findings and significance of his research, his objectives as a teacher, and the appeal of teaching at a liberal arts college.
Senior Abby Joy Neptun, ’24, talks about her path from Chicagoland to Gustavus, majoring in Communication Studies and minoring in Political Science, her summer 2023 internship experience with World Chicago (a nonprofit organization dedicated to “citizen diplomacy”), her current fellowship with Emily’s List, her co-curricular involvement on campus, the transformative value of a liberal arts education, and what in her eyes makes Gustavus so special. Bonus: A special gift to listeners from Abby Joy at the episode’s conclusion.
Bridging Town and Gown: Shanon Nowell, Executive Assistant to the Provost of Gustavus and Mayor of St. Peter, Minnesota, where the Collegeis located, on her background in theater, path to Minnesota and Gustavus, position in the Provost’s office and what she enjoys about it, decision to run for mayor, successful campaign, her priorities for the city, the honor of being mayor, and what makes St. Peter and Gustavus so special.
Ashley Ley '23 and Tessa Yeager ’24, co-chairs of the 2023 Gustavus Building Bridges Conference on March 4, talk about their backgrounds and paths to Gustavus, how and why they became involved in Building Bridges, the rewards of their involvement, developing this year’s conference topic and title, highlights of the conference program, their experiences as, respectively, a summer undergraduate research fellow at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, and a campus Sustainability Intern, and their pitches for Gustavus.
Dr. Martha Ndakalako joined the Gustavus English Department in 2021 and talks in this episode about growing up in the De Beers mining town of Oranjemund in Namibia, her early love of reading, her “complicated” (aka interesting) path to a PhD in comparative literature at the University of Oregon with a focus on Namibian women’s digital literatures, her current research on the #ShutItAllDown feminist protest movement across Namibia (part of a larger project about 21st-century feminist activism on the African continent), what makes African literature “African,” and her experience thus far teaching at Gustavus.
Jenesis Tompkins ’23 and Zachary Gbor '23, co-presidents of the Pan African Student Organization (PASO) at Gustavus, talk about their backgrounds and interests when younger, how they found themselves, somewhat unexpectedly, attending Gustavus, being students of color there, the place and purpose of PASO, the organization’s spring 2023 events, and finding and making community on campus.
Note: Due to technical issues not discovered until after the recording, Greg and Zachary’s interactions are not properly synced and Zach’s comments in the last segment of the conversation are unfortunately lost. We apologize but believe you will enjoy listening to this interesting, important, and at moments funny episode nonetheless.
Gustavus Religion Professor Blake Couey talks about growing up working class in Georgia, his path from there to Princeton Theological Seminary and then Gustavus, his scholarship on the Hebrew Bible and the poetry of Isaiah in particular, the Bible’s complicated and even contradictory meanings (as, for example, around women and gender), teaching its complexity and poetry to Gustavus students, why studying the Bible and religion matters, and what he enjoys most about being a Gustavus professor.
Kate Dario, class of 2024, talks about her background as an adoptee from India growing up in St. Paul, her path to Gustavus and her major in Communication Studies and minors in Art Administration and Theater Design and Technology, the campus Compassion Initiative which she organized, the Gustavus Adoption, Recognition, Community organization, her involvement in diversity, equity, and inclusion work, being a student of color on a majority white campus, study away in London and Paris, and her pitch for Gustavus.
Happy Holidays, dear listeners! New episodes of the podcast will begin in January 2023. Until then we are offering some memorable past episodes. In this one, Katherine (Katie) Aney ’18 talks about her path to Gustavus and from there to the Harvard/MIT Health, Science and Technology program, her love of science and tennis, her research into pancreatic cancer, and what her alma mater offers those who choose it as their college.
While Greg is absorbed in teaching and grading the last weeks of fall semester 2022, we are offering some memorable past episodes of the podcast. In this one from January 2021, Katie Schlangen ’14 talks about her challenging background and path to Gustavus, living and teaching in Seoul and Hong Kong, working and traveling internationally for a Minnesota-based NGO focused on healthcare, her commitment to health access and policy, and graduate study in global health policy through the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Currently, Schlangen is Senior Program Coordinator - Immunization at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
While Greg is absorbed in teaching and grading the last two weeks of fall semester 2022, we are offering some memorable past episodes of the podcast. In this one, lawyer, professor of history, award-winning author, and Gustavus graduate William Green ’72 talks about coming to Gustavus from New Orleans as an African American student in 1968, his time at the College, the social and political history of Black Minnesotans in the 19th and early-20th centuries (including the little-known story of enslaved woman Eliza Winston’s emancipation), and how that history informs Black-white relations in Minnesota today. Prof. Green's latest book (not discussed here) is Strike! about the landmark and then-illegal 1970 Minneapolis teacher strike.
While Greg is absorbed in teaching and grading the last two weeks of fall semester 2022, we are offering some memorable past episodes of the podcast. In this one, Dr. Paul Finkelman, distinguished historian of slavery and the law and the spring 2023 Rydell Professor at Gustavus, talks about the pro-slavery U.S. Constitution, Chief Justice John Marshall’s buying and selling of enslaved people, the proslavery jurisprudence of the antebellum Supreme Court, and the present-day monuments conflict.
Eliza Scherschligt ’23 and Kathleen Grube ’24 on their backgrounds and paths to Gustavus, their choice of majors, attending college amid the COVID-19 pandemic, how and why they became campus Peer Assistants, the work of the assistants in promoting student wellbeing, what they have gained from that work, student stress and coping with it, and their pitches for Gustavus.
Dr. Peg O’Connor, Professor of Philosophy and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies at Gustavus, talks about teaching amid the COVID-19 pandemic, her background and fascination with the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein and his thought, what it means to be a philosopher, her alcoholism and sobriety, bringing philosophy to bear on addiction and recovery, William James and the history of Alcoholics Anonymous, and why the liberal arts education offered at Gustavus matters.
Dr. Bernard Powers ’72, Professor Emeritus of History at the College of Charleston, talks about his family background and growing up in Chicago, his path to Gustavus and experiences as a Black student there, why he majored in history, his PhD focus at Northwestern University, the significance of Charleston and South Carolina in the history of enslavement, the Center for the Study of Slavery in Charleston which he founded and directs, the city’s new International African American Museum for which he served as interim president, and the sources of his hopefulness.
Dr. Hagar Attia of the Gustavus Communication Studies Department on growing up as an Egyptian American, her path from sociology to graduate work in communication, the focus and findings of her recently completed doctoral dissertation on “fundamentalist argumentation,” public deliberation (including her department’s co-curricular program in public deliberation and dialogue, which she co-directs), her involvement in voter engagement among Gustavus students, why communication studies matters as a major, and her love of watching historical dramas.
History and political science double major Eric O’Denius ’94 talks about his path to Gustavus and experience there, how he embarked on an eventual distinguished career in immigration enforcement with the United States government, the work of an Immigration Enforcement Agent and Deportation Officer, a particularly gratifying case involving a son and his father, the importance of effective writing in his work, having one of his affidavits cited in Supreme Court decisions, and what meaningful immigration reform requires.
Dr. Colleen Stockmann of the Gustavus Art and Art History Department on her background and path to art historian, including her undergraduate years at a liberal arts college, the unplanned origins of her PhD research on the plant drawings of William Trost Richards, her work on the landscape history of tenements in New York City and histories of color in the early modern world, the objects audit she is conducting with students at Gustavus, and “visual complicity” in and “visual solutions” to problems that confront us today.
Gustavus senior and Goldwater Scholarship recipient Haley Jostes ’23, talks about her background and early interest in science, her path to Gustavus and her chemistry and biochemistry & molecular biology majors, working in labs on campus and in Germany, her research on PFAS or “forever chemicals” and how to remove them from water, the importance of writing to the work of science, the usefulness of a management minor to her career aspirations, her graduate school plans, why chemistry in general matters, and the strengths of the chemistry program at Gustavus.
Professor Philip Voight of the Communication Studies Department at Gustavus on his background in South St. Paul, MN, his path to forensics and communication studies, researching political advertising, teaching amid the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant innovations in his methods, his course about reality food television programming, memorable and rewarding experiences of travel with Gustavus students in Vietnam, changes in how Vietnam represents the history of the U.S. war against it, and why his field matters to a liberal arts education.
Bruce Gray ’61 and Owen (Sam) Sammelson ’58 talk about their backgrounds and paths to Gustavus, where each eventually became an administrator (in Bruce’s case, financial aid director, Dean of Students, and member of the Advancement team, and, in Sam’s case, Director of Admission and then Vice President for Administration), and the origins of and their roles and experiences in the College’s groundbreaking recruitment of Black students from the Jim Crow South and some northern cities amid the civil rights movement.
Dr. Axel D. Steuer, 13th president of both Gustavus (1991-2002) and subsequently Illinois College (2003-2013), talks about his journey from Second World-War refugee to religious studies scholar, professor at his alma mater Occidental College, and eventually liberal arts college president, the role of his mother and the Lutheran church in the early part of that journey, his attraction to Gustavus and its presidency, how he and his administrative team led Gustavus’s recovery from the destructive tornado that hit the campus and town of St. Peter in March 1998, the ingredients of an effective presidency, and the importance and purpose of a college education.
Award-winning teacher Dr. Darsa Donelan of the Gustavus Physics Department and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies program on their path to science, physics, and the Gustavus faculty, the influence of their grandmother Jane and other important women mentors on their interests and career, their research trajectory and the contingencies that shaped it, sexism in the discipline, their work as faculty advisor to the campus Queers and Allies group, cosplaying in and out of the classroom, and why science and the liberal arts matter. Attention Star Trek fans!
Joanne Jones-Rizzi, award-winning Vice President of Science, Equity, and Education at the Science Museum of Minnesota, on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the museum, returning to the museum in person, her African American-European Jewry family history and its importance to her identity and work, how she came to a career in the museum world focusing on equity and education, first in Boston and then in St. Paul, her role developing and producing the Science Museum’s exhibit RACE: Are We So Different? which opened in 2007, the premise and goals of the exhibit, restorative justice work in connection with it, the contrast between public responses to the original exhibit and its updated iteration, and why museums matter.
Dave Kamper ’96 on his path to Gustavus and the College Republicans, the lasting importance of his education in critical thinking there, his PhD research in history, becoming a professional labor organizer and writer on labor issues, collective actions by Amazon and Starbucks workers, why unions must do better in communicating and collaborating with one another, New Brookwood Labor College in St. Paul, and the case for worker power in a democratic society.
Dane Moore '12 talks about why he attended Gustavus and how it prepared him for "who and what I would be," his path to creating and hosting The Dane Moore NBA Podcast on Blue Wire about pro basketball and the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Timberwolves' 2021-22 season, the hiring of Tim Connelly as new general manager, and the team's prospects going forward into next season and beyond. Note: Recorded prior to the 2022 NBA draft.
Dr. Whitney Dirks, Visiting Assistant Professor in the Gustavus Department of History, talks about her young “gender bending” acting in Shakespeare plays, her self-designed interdisciplinary major in Renaissance and Theater Studies at Beloit College in Wisconsin, her research on the production, circulation, consumption, and meanings of print materials in early modern England about “monsters” like hermaphrodites, conjoined twins, and an alleged porcine-faced lady, teaching and learning the early modern period through hands-on student projects using period skills, and the value of historical skills and the liberal arts.
Professor Joaquin Villanueva of the Gustavus Department of Geography talks about growing up in Puerto Rico and his “political awakening” in college there, his path from business major to languages and geography, the transformative experience of studying abroad in France, the diversity and interdisciplinarity of his discipline, turning a “geographic lens” on the French state’s treatment of African immigrant populations in suburban neighborhoods of Paris, the origins of the ongoing Puerto Rican debt crisis and its consequences for urban San Juan, and his pitch for Geography and liberal education
Editor-in-Chief Emily VanGorder ’22 and Assistant Editor-in-Chief Cadence Paramore ‘22, talk about their paths to Gustavus, student journalism, and their current positions with the student paper, the work their positions involve, pressing issues and activism among Gustavus students beyond the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, “objectivity” and journalism, their post-graduation plans, their pitches for Gustavus and advice for incoming students, and their pets (a cat, a dog, and snails).
In this 50th anniversary year of Title IX’s passage, Gustavus Head Women’s Hockey Coach Michael Carroll, the winningest coach in the program’s history, and senior All-American team member Kayla Vrieze ’22 speak about their paths to hockey (along with baseball in Coach’s case) and Gustavus, the challenges COVID-19 posed for the program, what they enjoy about hockey, what it takes to be a successful student-athlete on and off the ice, the ingredients of effective coaching, the team’s outstanding 2021-22 season culminating in a cliff-hanging loss in the NCAA Division III national championship game, how athletics and academics are complementary at Gustavus, and what’s ahead for each of them and the team.
The Honorable Judge Tanya Bransford ’80 of Hennepin County District Court, on the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on court proceedings, her path to and experiences at Gustavus (including her formative experience in the political science department’s Washington., DC, semester program), her path to law school influenced by a Gustavus January Term, working in private practice, becoming and serving as a judge, approaching sentencing decisions, her current specialization in juvenile court and effecting positive changes in the juvenile detention system, her reactions to the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Judge Kentanji Brown Jackson, the inspiring story of her father James Bransford, and her pitch for Gustavus.
Dr. Sharon Marquart of the Gustavus Department of Modern Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Cultures and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies (GWSS) program converses about her background and path from initial biology major to BA and PhD in French and eventually Gustavus professor, studying abroad in the French Alps, the life, “value system,” and significance of French Auschwitz survivor and author Charlotte Delbo, about whom she has written extensively, the provocative argument of her book On the Defensive: Reading the Ethical in Nazi Camp Testimonies, what writing involves, the GWSS program, and teaching at Gustavus.
Jeff Sorenson ’90 on growing up with a passion for hubcaps or wheel covers, his path to Gustavus and the history major, post-graduation days pondering what next on Santa Monica beach, launching, growing, and selling a successful wheel cover business that ultimately supplied most of Sam’s Club’s hubcaps, working subsequently in vendor management, launching a brokerage business of phone and internet providers, successful entrepreneurship, writing and recording music, and the impact of his Gustavus education on his career.
On the occasion of his retirement as the winningest Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Gustavus, Mark Hanson ’83 speaks about his path to and experiences at the College as a student and basketball player, his subsequent unanticipated return as an assistant and ultimately head coach, the impact of COVID-19 on the program, Gustavus’s success in combining athletic and academic excellence, his approach to coaching and the game, mentoring student-athletes, playing basketball in Sweden, the recruiting process and what he hasn’t liked about it, and what comes next for him.
For this special episode, Greg speaks with his extraordinary and much-revered high-school history teacher, Mr. D. Stanley Moore, about Stan’s Minneapolis background and education at Beloit College, his study of the Russian language in the US Army and eventually Russian Area Studies at the University of Minnesota and Dostoevsky at Yale, his path to and career at Rich East High School in the postwar town of Park Forest, IL, traveling, teaching, learning, and camping in the USSR and Europe (including in the explosive year 1968), teaching in China during and after Tiananmen Square, Russia’s war on Ukraine, and his poetry, from which he reads.
Professor Thia Cooper of the Department of Religion at Gustavus on growing up poor and Pentecostal as the daughter of a single mom in New Hampshire, traveling to the Soviet Union at age 16 as it was breaking up, her study of international relations at Brown University, the questions that led her from there to graduate work in development studies and then liberation theology, her understanding of theology and its feminist and liberationist iterations, her books Queer and Indecent about the theology of Marcella Althaus-Reid and A Christian Guide to Liberating Desire, Sex, Partnership, Work, and Reproduction, and why studying religion and the liberal arts is important. Note: Some two months after this episode was recorded, Professor Cooper won Gustavus's Faculty Scholarship Award, announced on Honors Day, May 7, 2022. Congratulations Dr. Cooper!
Professors Kimberly Braun ’11 and Matthew Rightmire converse about their backgrounds and paths to theater directing and scenic design, respectively, the work of and their approaches to acting, directing, and designing (including all the tech elements), how a director and the production team interact in the process of staging a play, the differences between acting and directing, the subversive possibilities of theater, how a liberal arts theater education prepares one for success in the workplace and lifelong learning, and (no spoiler alerts necessary) their own specific collaboration on the spring 2022 play Gloria at Gustavus (taking place May 5-8 at the Rob and Judy Gardner Laboratory Theatre).
Dr. Joanne (Biederman) Kamper ’96 talks about growing up on a hobby farm, her path to and experiences at Gustavus, pursuing veterinary medicine at the University of Minnesota, the nature and financial expense of veterinary training as well as the implications of that cost, her decision to focus on small animals, the Andover Animal Hospital in Andover, Minn., and her work there, the mission and operation of the Wildcat Sanctuary in Sandstone, Minn., and her work with its big cats, the question of animal rights, and the case for her alma mater.
Professor David Tobaru Obermiller of the Gustavus Department of History , winner of the College’s Edgar M. Carlson Award for Distinguished Teaching, on COVID-19’s impact on teaching and learning, the response of East Asian countries to the pandemic, his bicultural Okinawan and American background and how it has shaped him, his mother’s challenging life in Japan, Okinawa, and the U.S., his bumpy first-generation path to a college degree, studying abroad in Japan and deciding to pursue graduate study in Asian history, the development of Okinawan “ethnic nationalism,” China’s relations with the U.S. and Russia at the present historical moment, and the rewards of getting to know students well at Gustavus.
Dr. Sean Cobb of the Gustavus English department and Film and Media Studies program on his Arizona background and path from kicked-out college student to English and film professor in Minnesota, creating (with colleagues) the College’s Film and Media Studies minor, visual literacy, his research on the concept of “border” in postwar US literature and film, his love of film noir, films that are effective with students and films for our present historical moment, trends in movie-making and marketing, the ingredients for him of a satisfying movie, the advantages of a liberal arts college, and what he enjoys about Gustavus.
Dr. Katherine (Katie) Foss ’02, professor of Media Studies in the School of Journalism and Strategic Media at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on her path to Gustavus and the profound impact biology professor John Lammert’s first-term seminar had on her present research interest, how media affect pubic understanding and memory of epidemic disease past and present (the focus of her recent book Constructing the Outbreak: Epidemics in Media and Collective Memory), media’s framing of the 1918 influenza and current COVID-19 pandemics, disinformation and media in both those contexts, the campaign against polio and why it was successful, the demonization of Mary Mallon (aka “Typhoid Mary”), and what an effective U.S. response to future pandemics would require, especially beforehand.
Emily Ford ‘15 talks about her background, path to, and experience at Gustavus, her love of and place in the outdoors, becoming head gardener at the Glensheen Mansion in Duluth, Minn., and, in the off season, an epic winter trekker inspiring thousands, gardening at Glensheen without any formal horticultural or landscape training, solo winter thru-hiking Wisconsin’s 1,200-mile Ice Age Trail—the first woman and openly LGBTQ person of color to do so—and then the Boundary Waters the following year in early 2022, why she undertook both hikes, her trekking canine companion Diggins, and her case for Gustavus and the liberal arts.
Professor Kjerstin Moody ’98, Chair of the Department of Scandinavian Studies at Gustavus, on becoming an English and Scandinavian Studies double major, pursuing a doctorate in the latter field, joining the faculty of her alma mater and undergraduate department, the history, role, and importance of Scandinavian Studies at Gustavus, what she seeks to help students see and understand, and some of the less well-known aspects of Scandinavia past and present.
Professor Martin Lang ’95 of the Department of Communication Studies at Gustavus, on his background, paths to Gustavus both as student and faculty member, a not-so-wonderful year as an M.A. student in English at Michigan State University, how media shapes our understanding of ourselves and one another, his award-winning incorporation of civic engagement into his teaching, two documentaries he has coproduced titled (Mid)West of Somalia and Farming Forward, a project linked to one of his courses on U.S. print media coverage of systemic racism in policing, the transformative impact of a semester-abroad program in India he directed, and why studying communication matters.
For this special 100th episode of the podcast, Greg speaks with Rebecca Bergman, the 17th and first woman President of Gustavus, about her background, her paths to the chemical engineering major at Princeton, a career in biomedical engineering at Medtronic, and eventually the presidency of Gustavus, the similarities and differences between leadership in the private sector and nonprofit academe, the qualities of a successful leader, her work and achievements as president, her long-term hopes and case for the institution, and what she does to recharge.
In advance of the 27th annual student-run Building Bridges Conference at Gustavus, ”Knowledge Is Power: Dismantling Systematic Bias in Educational Institutions,” conference co-chairs Mad Chase and Ellie Hartmann, Class of ’23, speak about their paths to and experiences at the College, the purpose of Building Bridges, the work of organizing the conference, their roles as co-chairs, the focus and lineup of this year’s conference, the rewards of their involvement in it, and #WhyGustavus.
Professor Samuel Kessler, holder of the Ake and Kristina Bonnier Chair in Jewish Studies in the Department of Religion at Gustavus, talks about his background and paths to his BA in History, PhD in Religious Studies, and the Bonnier Chair, the origins and logic of the latter, learning and teaching about “lived religion,” varieties of Judaism and being Jewish at Gustavus, falling for Berlin while studying there as an undergraduate, his book nearing completion about the nineteenth-century Chief Rabbi of Vienna and public intellectual Adolf Jellinek, and the American Jewish author Philip Roth.
The Honorable Krista J. Jass ’90 talks about her path to becoming a Gustavus undergraduate and then lawyer, public defender, and now judge in Minnesota’s Fifth Judicial District, the scope of her judgeship, her involvement in Family Dependency Treatment Court, preparing for a case and writing a decision, what makes her an effective judge, the role of law and the courts in our democracy, and the impact of Gustavus on her life.
Gustavus Head Volleyball Coach Rachelle Sherden and Academic All-American team member and recent graduate Kate Holtan talk about the impact of the pandemic on the team and its seasons, their backgrounds and paths to volleyball, coaching, and Gustavus, the attractions of volleyball and ingredients of successful playing and coaching, Kate’s academic experience and involvement in the Gustavus Women in Leadership Conference, and what makes Gustavus distinctive.
Former Minnesota Poet Laureate and Gustavus Professor Emeritus of English Joyce Sutphen converses about growing up on a dairy farm, her path to poetry and the faculty at Gustavus, her 12 years between dropping out of and finishing college, an arresting turning point in a London theater, and writing and memorizing poetry. Special bonus: she also reads an older and forthcoming poem of hers.
Artist Kristen Lowe, Professor of Art and Art History at Gustavus and, as a recent profile put it, “one of the most important working artists in Minnesota,” on charcoal and drawing, her formative education at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, an amazing opportunity and experience at the Louvre fresh out of graduate school, creating the works for her exhibit “Battle at the River Bottom: Drawings and Videos” at Gustavus’s Hillstrom Museum of Art, women and art, and why art matters.
Jim Hearn '82, three-time All-American tennis player and history major at Gustavus, on his undergraduate years, love of tennis, how he became involved in the real estate industry, founding the real estate investment firm ApexOne, the nature of the firm and his role in it, and what it takes to succeed in business (spoiler alert: writing well matters more than you might think).
Margaret Anderson Kelliher '90, who was recently named the next director of public works for the City of Minneapolis, talks about her path from family farm to Gustavus, politics, Minnesota state representative, and, eventually, Speaker of the Minnesota House (only the second woman to serve in that position), her experience as Speaker and a candidate for governor and later Congress, her position as Commissioner of Minnesota’s Department of Transportation, and the department’s purview, present focus, and ongoing work. Bonus: Advice for students based on her Gustavus experience.
Gustavus professor emeritus of classics William (Will) Freiert reflects on his Jesuit education and path to classics, the development of the classics department at Gustavus and his and his classicist spouse Professor Emeritus Patricia Freiert’s roles in that, his teaching career at a Jesuit prep school in Washington, D.C. and then Gustavus, connecting ideas and the past (antiquity) and present, his love of theater, and the meaning and importance of the liberal arts. Click here for a transcript.
Swedish journalist, author, and filmmaker Lawen Mohtadi, the 2021 Out of Scandinavia Artist-in-Residence at Gustavus, speaks with guest host and Associate Professor of Scandinavian Studies Ursula Lindqvist about her background, the history, presence, and treatment of Roma people in Sweden, and the life of Swedish Romany activist and children’s author Katarina Taikon, subject of a documentary film by Mohtadi. Click here for a transcript.
Historian Jordan T. Watkins, Assistant Professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University and a professional colleague of Greg’s, converses about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on his teaching both now and long term, his Mormon faith tradition and interest in it, his path from business major to history major, his recent book Slavery and Sacred Texts: The Bible, the Constitution, and Historical Consciousness in Antebellum America, fear about facing the difficult aspects of our nation’s past, Joseph Smith, and the death and life of his sister Micah. Click here for a transcript.
Student Senate Co-Presidents Regina Olono Vidales and Ben Menke, Class of ’22, talk about their paths to Gustavus and their majors, the pandemic’s impact on students, how the Senate operates, the rewards of serving on it, some of its recent accomplishments, the student communities and opportunities that make Gustavus special, and what comes next for each of them. Click here for a transcript.
Dr. Katelyn Aguilar, the newest member of the Gustavus Department of History, on growing up in an inclusive household as the daughter of a high-school basketball coach in Indiana, her path to African American and Sport History, her research on what the University of Miami’s football team of the mid-1980s had to do with the rise of the New Right embodied by Ronald Reagan, protest by Black athletes and the new Netflix series on Colin Kaepernick, early impressions of Gustavus, and why history matters. Click here for a transcript.
Distinguished Civil War historian Gary Gallagher of the University of Virginia on how and why he became interested in the war, his friendship and collaboration with fellow leading Civil War historian James M. McPherson (Gustavus Class of 1958), how “the Appomattox syndrome” distorts historical understanding of the conflict, why it was a “Union war” above all else, Lincoln and Grant, the monuments controversies, his renowned personal library, and why the war still matters. Click here for a transcript.
Pedar Foss ’88, Professor of Classical Studies at DePauw University, talks about his path to Gustavus, classics, and archaeology, his research on the kitchens, food, and dining rooms of Pompei and Herculaneum, the amazing twists and turns of his current book project on Pliny the Younger’s famous letters, and the case for both classics and soccer. Click here for a transcript.
Dr. Lynnea Myers ’05 of the Department of Nursing at Gustavus talks about her undergraduate experience as a nursing major there, her clinical training and research in the U.S. and Sweden in, respectively, pediatric healthcare and neuroscience, the nursing profession and public health, new nurses amid COVID-19, her experience with Sweden’s health care system, and why a liberal arts education is excellent preparation for nursing. Click here for a transcript.
Professor Suzanne Wilson of the Department of Sociology & Anthropology at Gustavus on her liberal arts education, becoming a sociologist and the essentials of her discipline, her research on U.S. drug policy and Colombia as well as Colombian paramilitary groups and organized crime, the transnational “cocaine commodity supply chain,” the liberal arts approach to criminology at Gustavus, her courses and why they keep her interested, and the case for studying sociology and anthropology. Click here for a transcript.
Physicist and leading climate scientist Dr. Jason Smerdon ’98 of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Earth Institute at Columbia University, on #WhyGustavus from Pullman, Washington, his paths to science and academia, his undergraduate and graduate school experiences (featuring haikus, luck, contingency, and potassium cyanide), his scholarship with historians and the influence of English courses on his career, the reality, evidence, and politicization of human-influenced climate change, doable technologies and our agency in response to the crisis, and the case for physics and the liberal arts. Click here for a transcript.
Representative Samantha (Sam) Vang ’16, one of the first two Hmong American women to win a Minnesota House seat, speaks about her path to Gustavus and politics, the police killing of Daunte Wright in her district in April 2021 and its aftermath, her work as a state legislator, Hmong political engagement, and #WhyGustavus. Click here for a transcript.
Dr. Sarah Fatherly ’91, history major, historian, and currently Provost and Vice-President for Academic Affairs at Queens University of Charlotte, in Charlotte, North Carolina, on being a chief academic officer amid the COVID-19 pandemic, what brought her to Gustavus and its history major from Newburgh, New York, working at the then-new Women’s Rights National Historical Park, her scholarship on the social and gender history of colonial Philadelphia, innovating general education at Queens, concerning and hopeful trends in higher ed, and the professional and personal benefits of liberal education. Click here for a transcript.
Seth Weidmann ’05, a communication studies major and award-winning swimmer at Gustavus and now Head Men’s Swimming and Diving Coach at Carthage College, speaks about his path to Gustavus and experience there, the whiteness of swimming, his involvement in equity, inclusion, and racial justice work on the Carthage campus and in Kenosha, Wisconsin, both before and after the police shooting of Jacob Blake there in August 2020, his approach to coaching, and the value of the liberal arts. Click here for a transcript.
Dr. Lisa Dembouski of the Gustavus Department of Education on her path from psychology major to educator of future teachers, her near-total hearing loss and work with deaf and hard of hearing students, achieving equity and inclusion for those on the margins, letting go in the classroom, her department’s Global Educators program, and her kayaking travelogue. Click here for a transcript.
Dr. Chia Vang '94, Professor of History at the University Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the first Hmong graduate of Gustavus, talks about her family’s journey from Laos to Minnesota—part of the Hmong diaspora to the United States and elsewhere—Hmong history, the agency of Hmong women, Hmong pilots during the Vietnam War, her experiences at Gustavus, and how the College helped her become who she is. Click here for a transcript.
Professor Kate Knutson of the Department of Political Science at Gustavus and winner of the college’s most prestigious teaching award talks about teaching in person amid the constraints of COVID-19, growing up in Hawaii, her undergraduate experience at Linfield College, her research on interfaith advocacy and politics in Minnesota, her religious faith and identity, effective teaching at a liberal arts college like Gustavus, the case for studying political science, and the Senate filibuster. Click here for a transcript.
Learning for Life @ Gustavus host Greg Kaster interviews Gustavus alum and American Swedish Institute experience director Ingrid Nyholm-Lange. Click here for a transcript.
Inventor-entrepreneur Mark Bergman ’79 talks about his less-than-straightforward path to Gustavus graduate, creating the Handy Paint Pail and founding the paint accessories company, Handy Products, that grew out of it, turning an idea into a viable and successful product, the business side of Handy Products, and philanthropy in his company and life. Click here for a transcript.
Luther Hagen ’88, founder of Infinity Wealth Alliance in Apple Valley, Minn., on why Gustavus and the business major, his experiences (both academic and amusing) there, his career in the financial services industry as first an employee and then an owner, and giving back to his alma mater. Click here for a transcript.
Student athlete, leader, and biology-classics double major Tyra Banks, ’21 on her Liberian background, why she chose Gustavus and added classics to her biology major, her leadership in equity and inclusion on campus, including the Pan-African Student Organization, being Black and African at Gustavus, participating in track and field, and her senior year amid COVID-19.. Click here for a transcript.
Jason Haaheim ’01 talks about how he went from majoring in Music and Physics at Gustavus to performing as principal timpanist of the world-renowned Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York, and the impact of COVID-19 on the institution and its musicians. Click here for a transcript.
Dean of Students and Vice President for Student Life, JoNes VanHecke ’88, reflects on attending Gustavus, embarking on a career in student affairs, the purpose, responsibilities, and rewards of her current position, the qualities that make for a successful dean of students, and the special appeal of her alma mater. Click here for a transcript.
Luanne Bigbear ’91, an educator in Shelton, Washington, recalls her time at Gustavus, where she double-majored in History and Art and Art History, recounts her path from there to high-school teacher (including learning about her birth family along the way), and describes the innovative curricular initiatives she has participated in, among them Native-infused curriculum through a program at the Smithsonian’s Museum of the American Indian. Click here for a transcript.
The Rev. Dr. Matthew Cadwell ’95, on his journey from Scandinavian Studies and Religion major (Phi Beta Kappa) at Gustavus to Vicar-in-Charge at the venerable Old North Church in Boston, the impact of Covid-19 on Old North, his “theological hero,” the English Christian socialist F. D. Maurice, and the history of and his vision for Old North’s congregation. Click here for a transcript.
Gustavus graduate and psychological science major Conrad Oddoye ’20 on his Ghanaian origins, his path from Edmonton, Canada, to Gustavus, sports and music in his life, his experience and perspective as a student of African background, composing and recording for the theatre and dance department’s online production of Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage, and his position with The Emily Program in Minneapolis.
Dr. Rodney A. Caruthers II, the 2020-21 Bruce Gray Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Religion at Gustavus, discusses his northern/southern family background, his A.M.E pastor mother and the impact of his parents on him, his path from studying architectural design and psychology to seminary to scholar of the composition of ancient Jewish and Christian texts, and his perspective as a Black man on his work and the death of Mr. George Floyd and its aftermath. Click here for a transcript.
Valerie Heider, ’11, on her path from Honors History and Scandinavian Studies at Gustavus to a graduate degree and career in historic preservation, currently with the Minnesota Historical Society, where among the projects she manages is the National Historic Landmark Washburn-Crosby A Mill Complex in Minneapolis. Click here for a transcript.
Hayley Russell, professor of health and exercise science and recipient of the Swenson-Bunn Teaching Award at Gustavus, on her education, research, and teaching in kinesiology and the psychology of sport injury, connecting with faculty colleagues at Gustavus, her love of teaching and role in fostering faculty conversations about improving it, the factors that shape individual responses to sport injury, and the exercise physiology major. Click here for a transcript.
Donald Myers, Gustavus Class of ’83 and Director and Senior Curator of the College’s Hillstrom Museum of Art, talks about his education and career in art, the origins and collections of the Hillstrom Museum, his responsibilities as director, some of the museum’s memorable exhibitions, including two focused on infamous art forger Elmyr de Hory, and why creating and studying art matters so much. Click here for a transcript.
Gustavus junior and triple-major Emily Joan Falk '22 (Political Science, Spanish, and Latin American, Latinx, and Caribbean Studies) discusses her social justice activism on and off campus, including her involvement in Indivisible-St. Peter/Greater Mankato, Students for Reproductive Freedom, and the annual student-run Building Bridges conference. Click here for a transcript.
Jeff Dahlseid, Gustavus Class of ’90 and Professor in the Departments of Biology and Chemistry and Biochemistry program at his alma mater, recalls his undergraduate and graduate experiences, and talks about researching messenger RNA and “nonsense-mediated mRNA decay,” collaborating with and mentoring undergraduates in the lab, changes in science education and Gustavus itself, and what the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology program offers. Click here for a transcript.
Mason Bultje ’18 talks about majoring in exercise physiology and playing tennis at Gustavus, assisting Minneapolis children and youth through nonprofit InnerCity Tennis, and his experience as a young Black man both on and off “the Hill.” Click here for a transcript.
Historian Joy Lintelman, Gustavus Class of ’80 and Professor of History at Concordia College – Moorhead, on the life of Mina Anderson (the inspiration for Wilhelm Moberg’s fictional Katrina in his novel The Emigrants and subject of Lintelman’s award-winning study of Swedish immigrant women in the US), researching the now vanished Eastside Flats neighborhood of Minneapolis, and developing an exhibit about Swede Peter Bergstrom in Moorhead, Minnesota. Click here for a transcript.
Charlie Kelley, Gustavus Class of ’75 and founder of the asset management firm Compass Capital, recalls some memorable professors and experiences at Gustavus and talks about his brief and formative stint as a repo man, his career in financial services and decision to start his own firm, and the Gustavus Hong Kong Travel Program for Economics and Management students that he started and, with his wife Emily, leads. Click here for a transcript.
Gustavus chemistry professor Brian O’Brien on the origins of his fascination with plants, cheese, and chemistry, his research with students in fluorine and phosphorous chemistry, Perry the Gustavus corpse flower phenom, wondrous botanical Minnesota, and the case for majoring in chemistry at Gustavus. Click here for a transcript.
Ellen Goodwin, Gustavus Class of ’84 and author of Done: How to Work When No One Is Watching, talks about her path from political science and sociology/anthropology student to acclaimed productivity expert, speaker, writer, and coach, how to get things done without wasting time, and (you are reading this correctly) what dive bars have to do with productivity. Click here for a transcript.
Professor Carlos Mejía Suárez of the modern languages, literatures, and cultures department at Gustavus on growing up in the center of oil production in Colombia, his path to professor of Spanish language and Latin American literature, his literary scholarship and fiction writing, his digital humanities teaching and course on masculinities in Latin America and the US, and the approach and opportunities of his department. Click here for a transcript.
Gustavus alum Katie Schlangen ’14 on her challenging background and path to Gustavus, living and teaching in Seoul and Hong Kong, working and traveling internationally for a Minnesota-based NGO focused on healthcare, her commitment to health access and policy, and graduate study in global health policy through the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Click here for a transcript.
Professor Marco Cabrera Geserick of the Gustavus history department talks about his family background, his path from psychology major in Costa Rica to PhD student and professor of Latin American history in the U.S., the revisionist findings of his 2019 book The Legacy of the Filibuster War: National Identify and Collective Memory in Central America, and baking baguettes in the time of COVID-19. Click here for a link.
Dr. Laura Triplett of the Gustavus Geology Department and Environmental Studies Program talks about how she became a geologist, her research on rivers and collaboration with students, and how she became involved as a teacher-scientist in actions for climate justice. Click here for a transcript.
The Rev. Dr. Dan Poffenberger, Gustavus Class of ’82 and past chair of the Gustavus Board of Trustees, talks about his unplanned path to the Lutheran ministry, his work as Senior Pastor of Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church in Prior Lake, Minnesota, virtual Sunday services amid a pandemic, church membership past and present, and the compatibility of religion and science. Click here for a transcript.
For this 50th episode, previous podcast guest Kathy Lund Dean of the Department of Economics and Management at Gustavus interviews host Greg Kaster about the origins of the podcast, influences on his love of history, his work as inaugural holder of the James M. McPherson Endowed Professorship in American History at Gustavus, and engaging with the public as a historian. Click here for a transcript.
Gustavus Professor of Theatre and Dance Michele Rusinko on how she went from science to dance while never quite leaving science behind, the happenstance that led her to Gustavus, her choreographic process, Positive Psychology, teaching dance, and the liberal-arts wellspring of her artistry. Click here for a transcript.
Recent graduate Katie Aney ’18 on her path to Gustavus and from there to Harvard Medical School, her love of science and tennis, her research into pancreatic cancer, and what her alma mater offers those who choose it as their college. Click here for a transcript.
Gustavus alum Joel Johnson,’96, the Sanford Peter Schotten Distinguished Professor and member of the Department of Government and International Affairs at Augustana University, talks about his experiences at Gustavus and then Harvard, why democracy requires an argument for it, defending liberal democracy through literature, and the case for studying political science. Click here for a transcript.
Professor Melissa Lynn of the Department of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Statistics at Gustavus on hating and then loving math, researching sums-of-squares formulas, teaching math and programing, machine learning, and gender inequities and discrimination in mathematics and the sciences. Click here for a transcript.
Gustavus Head Football Coach Peter Haugen on his path to coaching, football as a vehicle for bringing diverse people together and promoting growth on and off the field, and the challenges, responsibilities, and rewards of being a college head coach. Click here for a transcript.
Professor Amy Seham of the Gustavus Department of Theatre and Dance talks about researching and performing improv, social justice theatre, directing in an educational setting, the benefits of majoring in theatre, this spring’s play on campus and adjusting its production due to COVID-19. Click here for a transcript.
Professor Anna Versluis of the Gustavus geography department talks about how and why she became a geographer, researching, living in, and rethinking Haiti, southern Minnesota farmers’ attitudes toward changes in farming, the 2019 Gustavus Nobel Conference on climate change, the weekly Reconciliation Circles on campus, innovating her teaching, and the case for majoring in geography at Gustavus. Click here for a transcript.
Richard Aune, Gustavus Class of ’81 and the College’s Associate Vice President and Dean of Admission, on his path to Gustavus and eventually its admission office, the changes and continuities in that office over time, and the crucial, challenging, and rewarding work (now amid a pandemic hammering higher ed) of building a new entering class each year. Click here for a transcript.
Pianist Esther Wang, the Ethel and Edgar F. Johnson Professor of Fine Arts and member of the music department at Gustavus, on her path to music and the piano, performing as a soloist and accompanist, interpretation in music, teaching a course on music and nature, and what is special about the music major at Gustavus. Bonus: A piano interlude. Click here for a transcript.
Sarah Ruble, Professor of Religion at Gustavus, on her love of history, Free Methodist background, book on American Protestant missionaries after World War II, and innovative adult Sunday School video series on Race and Christianity in the United States, as well as white evangelicals’ support for Donald Trump and why learning about religion matters both generally and at Gustavus specifically. Click here for a transcript.
Kathy Lund Dean, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Leadership and Ethics at Gustavus, talks about her education and research in management and ethics, ethics and academe, religious discrimination disputes in the workplace, corporate sustainability, and the case for studying economics and management at a liberal arts college. Click here for a transcript.
Historian and alumnus Timothy Thurber ’89 of Virginia Commonwealth University, talks about his research and book on the Republican Party and race in the three decades after World War II (it’s more complicated than we might think from today’s vantage point), his book on and assessment of Hubert Humphrey, his undergraduate education, and the personal rewards and helpful perspectives historical study offers. Click here for a transcript.
Alum Joy Dunna ’20, whose parents came to the United States from Liberia, reflects on her path to Gustavus, her education as a double major in history and gender, women, and sexuality studies, her varied co-curricular activities like Student Senate and the annual Building Bridges Conference, student teaching online in the time of COVID-19, and what makes Gustavus so compelling. Click here for a transcript.
James Peterson, Gustavus Class of ’64, offers his memories and insights (leavened with humor) about his undergraduate experience, career in science (culminating in his position as CEO of the Science Museum of Minnesota), and the challenges, responsibilities, and rewards of serving, unexpectedly, as the 14th president of his alma mater. Click here for a transcript.
Kate Keller, Professor of history and chair of the history department at Gustavus, on becoming a historian, her research and book on French officials’ surveillance of “colonial suspects” in interwar French West Africa and how she came to that topic, her current book project on one of the suspects, and the case for studying history. Click here for a transcript.
Professor Yurie Hong of the Gustavus classics department reflects on her love of classics (and the musical Hamilton), helping students see connections, the origins and nature of her award-winning community activism, and her activism’s relationship to her teaching. Click here for a transcript.
Educator, lawyer, professor of history, award-winning author, and Gustavus graduate William Green ’72 talks about coming to Gustavus from New Orleans as an African American student in 1968, his time at the College, the social and political history of Black Minnesotans in the 19th and early-20th centuries (including the little-known story of enslaved woman Eliza Winston’s emancipation), and how that history informs Black-white relations in Minnesota today. Click here for a transcript.
Steve Kjellgren, Gustavus Class of ‘86 and Associate Vice President of Auxiliary Services at the College, on the innovations he and his team, with the input of students, have introduced in the campus Dining Service over the years, bringing national distinction to the dining program and making it an integral part of students’ liberal arts education. You are advised not to listen on an empty stomach. Click here for a transcript.
Mimi Gerstbauer, Professor of Political Science, Raymond and Florence Sponberg Professor of Ethics, and past director of the Peace Studies program at Gustavus, talks about her path to political science and peace studies, her research on peace-building and interstate reconciliation, and the role of contrition in international relations. Click here for a transcript.
Gustavus alum Joseph Gaugler ’95, Professor and Robert L. Kane Endowed Chair in Long-Term Care and Aging at the University of Minnesota and Director of the Center on Healthy Aging and Innovation there, on the impact of his Gustavus education in psychology, history, and football; the focus, rewards, and policy implications of his research; accessible and effective long-term care systems; anti-science in the U.S.; and what to look for when choosing a college. Click here for a link.
Professor, podcaster, and Spanglish author Angelique Dwyer of the Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Department at Gustavus talks about her personal story as a “gringa Mexicana,” her education and approach to teaching, her award-winning community-based learning projects, and her own podcast. Click here for a transcript.
Paul Finkelman, President of Gratz College, a distinguished visitor to Gustavus, and the leading historian of slavery and the law, talks about the proslavery U.S. Constitution, Chief Justice John Marshall’s buying and selling of enslaved people, the proslavery jurisprudence of the antebellum Supreme Court, and the present-day monuments conflict. Click here for a link.
Educator Crystal Polski ’04 on why she aspired to be a teacher, her new position aimed at fostering future educators of color for the Minneapolis Public Schools district, what she learned as a Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching recipient in Finland, learning standards, and reopening schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Click here for a transcript.
Professor Lisa Heldke of the Gustavus philosophy department on what philosophy entails, her research and teaching about the philosophy of food, and the College’s annual Nobel Conference which she directs and will focus this fall 2020 on Cancer in the Age of Biotechnology. Click here for a transcript.
Gustavus graduate Hope Crenshaw ‘04, Executive Director of Teen Health Mississippi, recalls her experience as a young black woman from Mississippi at mostly white Gustavus, and talks about her response to the murder of Mr. George Floyd by Minneapolis police, the mission and impact of Teen Health, and leadership. Click here for a transcript.
Rebecca Taylor Fremo, Professor of English and Director of Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) at Gustavus, and author of Moving this Body, her recently published collection of poems, talks about the power of writing in constructing one’s identity and story, the WAC program, her memoir in progress, and what students gain from English courses. Click here for a transcript.
Thomas Flunker, Director of the Center for Inclusive Excellence (formerly the Diversity Center) at Gustavus, talks about his varied background and how it informs his work around diversity, equity, and inclusion, the Center’s role on campus, the annual Building Bridges Conference organized by Gustavus students, and his personal response to the murder of Mr. George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. Click here for a transcript.
Gustavus physicist Chuck Niederitter describes the research he and some of his students are conducting into muons (a kind of particle), high altitude research ballooning, the challenges and progress of green energy initiatives on campus, the many doors opened by majoring in physics, and Gustavus’s trip to the moon and back. Click here for a transcript.
Photographer Priscilla Briggs, professor of art and art history at Gustavus, talks about her photographic project in China, her most recent exhibit, “Reading Between the Lines,” her approach to her work, and the importance of art to undergraduate education. Click here for a transcript.
Marine biologist, professor of biology, and Gustavus graduate Nadine Lysiak, ’03, on majoring in biology and history at Gustavus, researching North Atlantic right whales both in the lab and up close at sea, the Shoals Marine Laboratory in Maine, and the rewards of teaching. Click here for a transcript.
Gustavus English professor and poet Philip Bryant, Class of ’73, on his path from Chicago’s Southside to Gustavus, the impact of his undergraduate mentor, his experience as a black student on a virtually all-white small campus at the tail end of the long 1960s, the police killing of Mr. George Floyd, and poetry, including three of his own poems. Click here for a transcript.
Gustavus student Nathan Baring ’22 discusses Julianna v. United States, a groundbreaking lawsuit in which he and 20 other young people are suing the federal government for its climate-damaging policies in disregard of scientific evidence. Click here for a transcript.
Recently retired CEO of the Children’s Cancer Research Fund and Gustavus trustee John Hallberg, Class of ’79, recalls his undergraduate years and discusses his work and vision as a member of his alma mater’s Board. Click here for a transcript.
The Rev. Dr. Siri Erickson, Chaplain at Gustavus, on spirituality, religion and science, her many roles as chaplain on a liberal arts campus, and her own faith journey. Click here for a transcript.
Renowned Civil War historian James M. McPherson, Gustavus Class of ’58, reflects on his Gustavus education, his path from there to leading scholar of the war, his civil rights activism as a graduate student in Baltimore, and the searing conflict that preserved the Union and gave it, in Lincoln’s magnificent words, “a new birth of freedom.” Click here for a transcript.
Paschal Kyoore, Professor of French and Director of African Studies at Gustavus, explains the meanings and functions of proverbs and folktales in his native Ghana, and the importance of foreign language study. Featuring also Spider, Guinea Fowl, and Rabbit. Click here for a transcript.
Professor Jennifer Ackil of the Gustavus Department of Psychological Science and an expert in memory talks about remembering and misremembering, memory and trauma among children and mothers, whether women remember better than men, and why studying psychology matters. Click here for a transcript.
Distinguished historian of Scandinavia and Gustavus Professor Emeritus of History and Scandinavian Studies Byron Nordstrom on Sweden’s novel response to the novel coronavirus, the life of Swedish immigrant Swan Turnblad in Minnesota, and learning and teaching at liberal arts colleges. Click here for a transcript.
Dr. Misti Harper, Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Gustavus, discusses the role of “respectability politics” among black women in the integration of Little Rock’s Central High School, the Minnesota context of Mr. George Floyd’s murder by police in Minneapolis 63 years later, and her undergraduate course on musical legend Prince. Click here for a transcript.
Gustavus immigration historian Maddalena Marinari, author of the important and timely new book, Unwanted: Italian and Jewish Mobilization against Restrictive Immigration Law, 1882-1965 (2020), on the history of “Italian and Jewish reformers” combating restriction, and her own transatlantic story. Click here for a transcript.
Gustavus chemistry professor and chromatography expert Dwight Stoll on working with students in his highly-regarded campus lab, facilitating their development as individuals and scientists, and enjoying the College’s newly renovated and expanded Nobel Hall for state-of-the-art science research and education in the 21st century. Click here for a transcript.
Political theorist Jill Locke of the Gustavus political science department talks about her critique of “The Lament that Shame Is Dead” in her engaging and provocative book, Democracy and the Death of Shame (2016). Click here for a transcript.
Jeff Jeremiason, professor of chemistry and director of environmental studies at Gustavus, on the science and politics of climate change, researching rising levels of mercury in lakes, rivers, and wetlands with students, and the impressive benefits of majoring in environmental studies. Click here for a transcript.
Eric Vrooman—English professor, award-winning author, and director of the Writing Center at Gustavus—discusses his path to a career in writing, the Writing Center’s role on campus, and teaching creative writing. Click here for a transcript.
Laura Burrack, professor of biology at Gustavus, on her love of microbiology and science, innovative team teaching with a historian, researching with and mentoring biology students at a small liberal arts college, and her students’ impressive accomplishments and career trajectories. Click here for a transcript.
Bryan Messerly, interim director of the Gustavus Center for International and Cultural Education, discusses bringing students abroad home safely during the COVID-19 pandemic and the life-changing potential of study away experiences. Click here for a transcript.
Casey Elledge, religion professor and chair at Gustavus, discusses the influence of his minister uncle and writer aunt on his trajectory, his impressive and fascinating scholarship on the idea of resurrection and Jewish texts informing the New Testament, and teaching religion at a liberal arts college. Click here for a transcript.
Provost and Dean of the College Brenda Kelly talks Gustavus leadership amid COVID-19. The former chemistry professor discusses plans and decisions, stresses and successes, uncertainties and jigsaw puzzles from the College’s transition to online teaching and learning. Click here for a transcript.
In this inaugural episode, Pamela Connors, professor and chair of communication studies at Gustavus, and director of the Gustavus Deliberation and Dialogue Program, speaks about becoming a rhetorician, cultivating civic discourse in a polarized time, and directing a fascinating student-faculty research project on World War II refugees in Minnesota. Click here for a transcript.
How does a liberal arts education equip people to engage with real-world problems? How do science researchers at small, residential colleges work with students to act on the great challenges of our time? Why is it important to talk, listen, and connect with people from different backgrounds? And how do decisions get made at colleges and universities, anyway? Professional lifelong learner and historian Greg Kaster asks these questions and more in Learning for Life @ Gustavus, a new podcast from the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota. Click here for a transcript.
Host and Creator:Greg Kaster, PhD
James M. and Patricia McPherson Professor of American History
Technical Director/Audio Engineer:Will Clark '20
Producers:Matt Dobosenski '99, Assistant Director of Event Technical Services
JJ Akin '11, Director of Media Relations and Internal Communication
Music:
"Jazz it Up" by Wesly Thomas via Artlist.io.
The views expressed on the Learning for Life @ Gustavus podcast are not necessarily those of Gustavus Adolphus College.