Wednesday, November 9, 7:00 p.m.

“Theology of the Cross and Higher Education”

Thursday, November 10, 10:00 a.m.

“Martin Luther and Interfaith Connections on Campus”

Note: Thursday is not a “convocation schedule” day; the second lecture takes place during second hour classes.

Our speaker is Darrell Jodock, Gustavus Adolphus College. He helped found the Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding (Muhlenberg, PA) and is a recognized expert in inter-faith connection, conversation, and cooperation on college campuses.

The Augsburg College Founders Day Reformation Lectures are sponsored by the Office of the President. According to Paul Pribbenow, “The Founders Day Reformation Lecture, now in its sixth year, connects Augsburg’s history and heritage to the founding of the Lutheran Church and helps us link Luther’s theology to issues we face in living our mission and vision as a college. As we move closer to the 500th anniversary celebration of the Reformation in 2017, these lectures help us build a strong Augsburg tradition around the 95 Theses and the issues of the Reformation that inform our vocational education today.”

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The idea for the trip began when deVries joined a Lilly grant-sponsored trip in Europe to study Martin Luther and the Reformation. There she met tour director Andreas Brecht, and the two discovered a common interest in post-World War II history.

Back at Augsburg, deVries shared her idea for a study abroad program with English and film instructor Bob Cowgill. The two created a curriculum combining post-modern film and literature to explore themes such as of the construction of memory, the discovery of moral lessons through art, and attempts to preserve the past.

“In Germany, the themes of division and reunification scream at you in the face,” said deVries. The aftermath of WWII is visible, from the bullet holes and graffiti that remain in the Reichstag to the building’s new mirrored glass dome, designed in the late 1990s by architect Norman Foster to symbolize Germany’s reunification.

Cowgill encouraged students to reflect on how horror has been commemorated in literature but also in places like the Jewish Museum, the Holocaust Memorial, and Auschwitz. There is a difference, he said, between a personal narrative that generates an emotional response and a rigorous analysis that asks the reader, or viewer, to come to his or her own realization.

Gabrielle Miller is a senior communications major who had never been to Europe before this opportunity. She wanted to learn about the Holocaust because she said, “I couldn’t believe that someone could hate another person so much just because of their religion, that they would want to kill them.” Seeing places like Auschwitz firsthand gave Miller a better understanding of life before and after the war.

“It’s one thing to read about history; it’s another to walk were the famous politicians, heroes, villains, geniuses, and musicians walked. You get an experience that can’t be equaled in the classroom,” Miller said.

Fifth-year elementary education major Teresa Barnhill went because WWII history has always been one of her favorite subjects. She’d also never been out of the country. “I was never interested in studying abroad until this trip came around,” she said. For Barnhill, the two-week trip was the best way for her to travel and study.

“Short-term study abroad programs are perfect for students who are working and paying bills, and even for students who want to travel but are apprehensive about being away from home for too long,” said Barnhill. She said she is looking forward to her next adventure, perhaps a trip to Japan.

The group toured the cities of Berlin, Leipzig, Wittenberg, and Dresden in Germany; Krakow and Auschwitz/Birkenau in Poland; and Theresienstadt and Prague in the Czech Republic. In addition to visiting memorials and museums, they also enjoyed sightseeing excursions and wonderful German and Polish meals, deVries said.

“WWII and its Aftermath” was a short-term study abroad program through Augsburg Abroad. For information about future trips or faculty resources for creating a short-term experience, go to .

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