“For us, it provided the opportunity to show how sociology is applicable in lots of different ways,” Pippert said in an about the group’s experience. “So I asked [the students] to think about this trip and the experience in the museum, as how does their sociological training inform what they witnessed? How did the theories that they’ve read about, how does that play out in the symbolic representation of a horrific tragedy? How do you choose to tell that story? And what are the symbols that are used to tell that story?”

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Christiansen described the successes of the Friendly Streets Initiative to author Jay Walljasper for a chapter of the new book, “America’s Walking Renaissance: How cities, suburbs, and towns are getting back on their feet.” Walljasper serves as a senior fellow in Augsburg’s Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship, and his writing explores how new ideas in urban planning, tourism, community development, sustainability, politics and culture can improve citizens’ lives.

An excerpt from “America’s Walking Renaissance” was published by MinnPost and included a photo of Darius Gray ’15, a community organizer with FSI.

Read, “” on the MinnPost site.

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MinnPost recently published an article covering efforts by the City of St. Paul to more strictly enforce crosswalk laws and change a driving culture that places drivers and vehicles ahead of pedestrians. State crosswalk laws dictate that drivers should stop for pedestrians at every crosswalk, marked or unmarked, but drivers in the city rarely comply. This has led to fatalities and, more recently, sting operations designed to ticket drivers who fail to stop for pedestrians.

Lars Christiansen, associate professor of sociology and urban studies at Augsburg College, feels that the problem is larger, and less easily addressed, than simply ticketing individuals. “This isn’t about an individual flouting the law, it’s a very real feeling of pressure from motorists,” he said. “One feels the heat of the other cars around you as you’re moving, so to do something unusual [like stopping for a pedestrian] feels dangerous.”

Read on the MinnPost site.

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Moving beyond public processes that merely pay lip service to community inclusion takes time, according to Christiansen. The MinnPost article quotes him as saying, “The community organizing approach to public engagement [that I prefer] takes a lot longer. Like any other community organizing, it involves trust building, relationship building, and lengthy listening. It’s really aiming for co-creation.”

In the article, Christiansen stresses that one important aspect of processes that successfully engage the public in city planning projects is timing. The earlier that planners can involve the public and establish communication with them about a project, the more likely it is that their involvement and communication will see a project through to completion. “The holy grail is the notion of inclusion. How do you do it for the whole duration of the project?” Christiansen says in the article.

Read:  on the MinnPost site.

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Each year, Augsburg College honors the legacy of an individual who helped shape the College’s mission by hosting the Torstenson Lecture in Sociology, and—for the first time—the 2013 presentation will highlight the important work of a current Augsburg faculty member.

The Torstenson Lecture is an opportunity for a sociologist from the Twin Cities area to share with the Augsburg community the contemporary scholarship, research, and thinking on a sociological topic.

This year’s speaker, Garry Hesser, is the first Augsburg professor selected to be the Torstenson lecturer, and Hesser will present “Place Matters…So?” at 5 p.m., April 2 in Hoversten Chapel, Foss Center.

A college in the city

Hesser’s lecture will focus on concepts with a clear connection to the legacy of the event’s namesake. The annual lecture acknowledges the contributions Augsburg professor emeritus Joel S. Torstenson ’38 made to the College by founding the Sociology Department in the late 1940s; laying the foundation for the Metro-Urban Studies and Social Work programs as well as the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs; expanding experiential education; and uplifting Augsburg’s identity as “a college in the city,” according to Nancy Fischer, associate professor of sociology and presentation coordinator.

Augsburg College educates students to be informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders, and—as acknowledged in the institutional mission—the College is shaped by its urban and global settings.

“Joel Torstenson shaped that part of the College mission, and Garry became the bearer of that torch when Joel retired,” Fischer said.

In 2012, the National Society for Experiential Education (NSEE) presented President Paul C. Pribbenow with the William M. Burke Presidential Award for Excellence in Experiential Education. Pribbenow, in an acceptance speech delivered on his behalf, said the award was possible because of the work of Hesser and others who have dedicated themselves to the experiential learning that is at the heart of the identity and character of the College.

Hesser is regarded as one of the pre-eminent experts on experiential education and urban education, according to Lars Christiansen, chair of sociology. In his lecture, Hesser said he will illustrate how “cities can be both the ‘best’ and the ‘worst’ places to live and grow, depending upon your resources and where you live in the city.” He will then discuss examples of what citizens and policy-makers are doing and might do to address some of the disparities and inequities in “our own tale of two cities.”

About the presenter

Hesser is the Martin Olav Sabo Professor of Citizenship and Learning and professor of sociology and metro-urban studies. He chaired the Augsburg Natural and Social Sciences Division from 1996 to 2006 and chaired the Augsburg Metro-Urban Studies program for more than 30 years.

Hesser will retire at the conclusion of the 2012-13 academic year, and the Torstenson event will include a celebration of Hesser’s career immediately following the lecture (schedule below).

Hesser is the author of Experiential Education as a Liberating Art; “Principles of Good Practice in Service-Learning”; “Examining Communities and Urban Change”; “Benefits and Educational Outcomes of Internships”; and more than 30 other publications that include research in the area of housing, community building, planning, and neighborhood revitalization. He received his doctorate from the University of Notre Dame after earning a bachelor’s degree from Phillips University and a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York City.

2013 Torstenson Lecture event schedule

Tuesday, April 2

Hoversten Chapel, Foss Center

5 p.m. – Lecture by Garry Hesser

6 p.m. – Remarks by Hesser’s colleagues

6:30 p.m. – Reception

Event hashtags

Share your event experience using social media. The hashtag for the lecture is #Torstenson.

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As Sabo professor, Hesser’s activities will include collaboration with the Center for Service, Work, and Learning concerning student civic engagement and leadership; leadership in campus initiatives to practice democracy and civic engagement, such as issues forums and student programs; collaboration with Augsburg’s annual convocation series, and connections with the Christensen and Batalden symposiums; and identification of new opportunities to develop the Sabo Scholars Program and community outreach programs.

“I am deeply honored and humbled by the opportunity to work closely with Martin, Sylvia and the Sabo family as we in the Augsburg community deepen and expand our understanding and practice of citizenship,” said Hesser. “Martin’s steady leadership and civil discourse in the political process and the making of public policy will be a North Star for us as we design and offer programs and opportunities to explore the vocation of citizenship and public service.”

Professor Hesser has taught in sociology and metro-urban studies at Augsburg for more than 30 years and is recognized nationally as a pioneer in the field of experiential education. He was honored in 1997 with the Thomas Ehrlich Award for leadership in service-learning, and in 2004 was named the Minnesota Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation and Council for Advancement and Support of Education. He has been honored by his sociology colleagues in Minnesota and within our Augsburg community for distinguished contributions to teaching and learning.

Pribbenow said, “I believe Garry is exceptionally qualified to honor the life and work of Martin Sabo, whose political leadership has been combined with an abiding faith in the role of public service as part of democratic citizenship.”

The Sabo Chair in Citizenship and Learning is the culmination of nearly 20 years of fundraising and advocacy by Martin Sabo’s friends and colleagues. The development of the Sabo Center and its related programs closely reflect Augsburg’s historic and deep commitment to education for democracy.

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So much of Augsburg’s identity today as a college of the city stems from Torstenson’s work at Augsburg. He founded the sociology and social work departments, and the metro-urban studies program. He developed urban programs in Minneapolis that launched HECUA (the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs) and that led to the work of our Center for Service, Work, and Learning, including Engaging Minneapolis, which requires all students to connect with the city in their studies.

Torstenson came to Augsburg as a student in history from Dawson, Minnesota, and graduated in 1938. He went on for his master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of Minnesota in history and sociology. In 1947, Augsburg president Bernhard Christensen invited him back to Augsburg, even while still completing his PhD, to develop programs in sociology and social work.

Torstenson’s deep commitment to social issues led him to explore and work in farmers’ cooperative movements, rural community life, church-labor relations, racial justice and human rights, and urban studies, especially studying the question of the role of a liberal arts college in a metropolis.

In 1977, Garry Hesser was appointed to succeed Torstenson as he retired. With his memoir, Takk for Alt: A Life Story, Torstenson opens a window into his life’s work and thought and leaves a rich legacy for future generations of Augsburg students.

Two weeks ago, as the Department of Sociology celebrated its 60th anniversary, Torstenson was honored as the “father of sociology” at Augsburg.

Torstenson is survived by his wife, Frances, whom he met at Augsburg while she was a nursing student at Fairview, and four daughters, Carol, Janice, Ruth Ann, and Linnea; grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and nieces and nephews.

Pictured: Joel Torstenson and his wife, Frances.

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Joel Torstenson came to Augsburg as a history major from rural West Central Minnesota. After graduating in 1938, he worked in education for Farmer’s Co-ops. He began teaching part-time at Augsburg upon earning a master’s degree in history and sociology.

During the war years, he became involved in the Peace Movement and participated in establishing a cooperative farm community, which led to employment with Midland Cooperatives as an educational director and community organizer. In the fall of 1947, President Christensen invited him back to Augsburg to develop its programs in social work and sociology while completing his PhD in sociology at the University.

The objectives set before Torstenson in developing the sociology major were: 1) to help students attain a better understanding of society; 2) to prepare students for social service, graduate training in social work or sociology, and 3) to explore the relevance of Christianity to effective social service.

“In developing the department of sociology,” Torstenson writes in his memoirs, Takk for Alt: A Life Story, “I consciously sought to promote a rigorous and dispassionate, as well as a sympathetic understanding of society, the human community, and personality. I thought it important for both student and teacher to wrestle with the tension between a ‘rigorous and dispassionate’ quest for societal understanding, and the more ‘compassionate and sympathetic’ concern for the fate of the human community.”

Joel Torstenson teaching a Sociology class.Besides the introductory courses in sociology and social problems, he added courses in sociological theory, social psychology, racial and inter-group relations, and rural sociology.

“As the instructor in rural sociology,” Torstenson writes, “I sought to relate my experiences in the rural communities of my early life and those as an elementary school teacher in a rural community.”

His involvement in rural community life and culture continued through his service on the American Lutheran Church’s Rural Life Commission and through representing Augsburg at a conference on Lutheran Higher Education in Service to Rural People. “Through such participation in rural life activities, I sought to enliven my teaching with reflections on contemporary developments in rural America.”

In the 1950s, Torstenson became involved with Church-Labor relations. “From my very beginnings as college student and resident of Minneapolis, I became intensely interested in the momentous labor-management struggle that led to the historic Truck Drivers Strike in 1934.” This interest led him to serve on and later chair a Church-Labor Committee to address the question of what role organized religion and church-related colleges play in the struggle. One of the consequences of his work on the committee was his decision to add a course in industrial relations to the sociology curriculum. “Again, the labor leaders visited the class and told their story, thereby adding some additional drama to the class deliberation.”

In his pursuit of racial justice and human rights, these programs provided a natural foundation for urban studies, which surfaced 20 years later. “The more we became involved in urban affairs, the more we began to ask the question—what is the appropriate role of a liberal arts college located at the center of an exploding metropolis?”

Torstenson used his sabbatical during the academic year of 1965-66 to explore this question. He visited east coast schools that had urban studies programs. Upon his return, he wrote a position paper, “The Liberal Arts College in the Modern Metropolis” which built the case for a metro-urban studies program at Augsburg. In it, he provided the rationale for an interdisciplinary program that would actively take advantage of the Minneapolis location.

Torstenson’s work also gave birth to the college-wide requirement that started as the “Urban Concern,” which was succeeded by the “City Perspective,” and is now known as the “Engaging Minneapolis” requirement.

Joel TorstensonWhen Martin Luther King, Jr., was killed in 1968, Joe Bash, director of youth programs for the American Lutheran Church, picked up the phone and asked people what college would be responsive to some of his ideas. Torstenson’s name arose again and again.

Out of their conversation “The Crisis Colony” was born. Students lived on the north side of Minneapolis, first in public housing and later in an abandoned synagogue, while learning from people who lived and worked in the community. Led by Torstenson and Gordon Nelson, it became an intense summer program first, then a semester program, where students were immersed in the culture. This program became the Metro Urban Studies Term, or “MUST,” which was the first academic program of HECUA, the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs, which today is a key element for all urban studies majors and is one of the premier interdisciplinary experiential education programs in the nation.

Torstenson’s sabbatical to Scandinavia led to the development of the Scandinavian Urban Studies Term, or “SUST,” the second program of HECUA.

Today, the legacy of Joel Torstenson lives on through the sociology and metro-urban studies majors, the Center for Service, Work, and Learning, HECUA, and the college-wide “Engaging Minneapolis” requirement. Indeed, the fingerprint of Joel Torstenson will be a permanent marking at Augsburg College for generations to come.

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