scene DeCember 1989
2 Cen tennial
'Shaping society's values' Theme Of 1990 Cent nnial Homecoming Symposium
H
Dr. Paul Reigstad
Scand inavian Heritage Week A S u m mer '90 Centennial H i g h l ight The theme of the fi rst phase of n ext year's PLU cente n n i a l celeb ration i s "Reflecting on Heritage." A Scand i navian Heritage Week J u ly 2-6 is one of the m ajor events supporti ng that theme. Heritage Week visitors may antici pate sessions throug hout each of the special days. Mond ay's sessions focus on "Art and Design." Among the speakers a re Marion Nelson, professor of art history at the Uni versity of M i n nesota and d i rector of the Norweg ian-Am erican M useum in Decorah : la.; and Laila Nelson, cu rator at the muse um. "Geneology" is the theme of Tuesday's events. Dr. Terge Leiren, professo r of h is tory in the Scand i navian department at the University of Washi ngton, will lecture on the Scandi navia the i m migra nts left to set the stage fo r workshops on tracing fam i ly histories. Wed nesday partici pa nts w i l l have an opportunity to celeb rate the 4th of J u ly, Northwest style. Dr. Paul Reigstad, PLU English professor emeritus, is among the featured Thursday speakers on "Im m igrant History and litera tu re." Reigstad is a uthor of a biog raphy of Ole Rolvaag, a pionee r ed u cator at St. Olaf Col lege, N orthfield, M i n n ., and author of the acclaimed i m m igra nt classic, Giants in the Earth.
Rolvaag will be the enti re focus of Fri day's sessions. Featu red spea kers include Dr. Solveig Zempel, a St. Olaf professor and granddaug hter of Rolvaag, Dr. Ingeborg Kongsl ien, professor of i m m ig rant l itera ture at the U n iversity of Oslo, and Dr. Harold Si monson, professo r of Engl ish at the University of washi ngton and author of Prairies Within: The Tragic Trilogy of Ole Rolvaag.
Scand i navian enterta i n m ent i s p l a n n ed for both Tuesday and Friday evenings. For more i nformation contact PLU Nor wegian p rofessor Aud u n Toven, (206) 535-2314.
ow does PLU, especia l ly the faculty at PLU, shape the va lu es of its students . . . who then go on to shape those of the larger society? The d i vlisions of H u m a n i t i es andl Soci a l ' Sciences have i nvited Dr. Russel l Edgerton, preSident of the American Association of H ig her Educati on, to add ress th is critical question next October d u ring a Homecom i ng symposi u m on the theme of "Shaping Society's Val ues: The Role of the Universi ty. " F o r the past 1 2 yea rs D r . Edgerton has served as president of American Associa tion for H i gher Ed ucation, an association of col l ege/un iversity ad m i nistrators a n d faculty that performs w h a t he ca lls a " Paul Revere" role by ca lling attention to emerg I ng IS�.ues and developments in American h i gher education. Edgerton earned a PhD. in public law and government from Colum bia U n i versity and has held several posi tions in federal education agen cies. Call For Voices
Beca use PLU has trad ition a l ly pl aced st ro ng emphasis on "ed ucating fo r ser vice," shaping students' awareness of and comm itment to soci al respo nsi b i l ity, the two d i visions hope to i nvo lve the whole un iversity com m u n ity in the d iscussion of how PLU shapes its students' va lues. In conjunction with Edgerton's add ress, they i ntend to publ ish a collection of short essays written by PlU a l u m n i , stude nts and faculty as well as i nterested com m u ni ty members, that reflects on the lea rning of values at PlU. Each selected essayist will receive a $ 1 00 honora ri u m and an invita tion to partici pate i n the October forum. What to write? Edgerton u rges w riters to " reflect on the ideals that PLU holds u p t o i t s students, and n o t o n ly t h e ideals consciously upheld , but the ideals i m pl icit in the way the faculty and others i n the PlU com munity live and work." More particu larly, Edgerton asks essay ists to consider: * Not only what the faculty do but what facu lty are. Kenneth Eble has written of the u rgent need for students to encou n ter not merely men and women of special ized com petence, but men and women of character. Do PLU stu dents see facu lty outside the classroom? Do they know what other roles faculty play? For exam ple, fac u lty who value com m u n ity and public ser vice wou ld do well to share their own com m u n ity and public service l ives with their students. * H ow the scientific method that u nder p i ns most of o u r acad e m i c l ife d etached, a n a lytical, objectivist, etc. itself shapes the values of o u r students. Are there other m ethods of knowing that students should a lso lea r n to val u e? If socia l scientists "model" o n ly detached, social criticism, where will students lea rn the va lues of affirmation a n d p a rtici pa tion? * The va lues-shaping effects, not only of what we teach (a topic that gets an inord i nate amou nt of attention), but how we teach. For how we teach is what we teach. Some have poi nted out, for example, that while we "preach" cooperation, our meth ods of i nstructing and grading, fac u lty eva luation, etc., "model" the i m portance
Dr. Russell Edgerton
of individ ualism and competition. This is an occasion to be personal, to write to and fo r each other in the PLU com m u nity. Tell stories! Share you r stories - real and i magi native - of encou nters with values both in and beyond the class rooms. Essays must be received before M a rch 3 1 , 1 990, so start t h i n king now of how yo u r experience at PlU has shaped the system of va lues by which you l ive in you r world. Please send you r 1 000 to 1 500 wo rd essay to D r. J o h n Sch i l l er, Dean of the Division of Social Sciences, at PLU . The publ ished anthology of essays w i l l be distributed in Septem ber. A variety of voic es, from different eras and d ifferent per spect i ves, it may serve as a small but i m portant autobiog raphy of a com m u n ity dedicated to the service of society.
Two Distli ng u ished Poets Join Facu lty Du ring Spring Semester Poets W i l l i a m Pi tt Root a n d Pa m e l a Ushuk of New York City w i l l j o i n t h e PLU faculty d u ring the spring semester under auspices of the Disti ngu ished Writers pro gram. Root is d i rector of the creative writi ng program at H u nter College and is author of eight books and many other p u b l i ca tions. Ushuk, author of five books and many publications, is a visiting writer i n New York City schools and a writing instructor at Green Haven Maxi m u m Security Prison. Root w i l l teach "The Writer's C raft," a workshop foc u s i n g o n broade n i n g the technical ra nge of student poets. Ushuk will teach "The Writer as Reader," a su rvey of work that has i nfluenced contemporary writers. They will team teach "World Poets in Transition."