![Kara Atkinson sits on a bench on PLU's upper campus with Xavier Hall behind her. She is smiling and has one of her arms wrapped around the drop of the bench.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2023/04/atkinson-feature-banner-725x408.jpg)
Former military linguist Kara Atkinson ’23 discusses her service on campus, academic research, and graduate school plans
Kara Atkinson ’23 earned an associate degree while serving as an Arabic linguist in the United States Army prior to her arrival at PLU. A history major with minors in religion and Holocaust and genocide studies , Atkinson’s passion for research, academia, and higher education…
![Teranejah Lucas runs her hand through her her daughter, Alanna's, hair. Alanna is holding a mirror and making a silly face. A gold background is behind them.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2023/03/teranejah-lucas-2-725x408.jpg)
Social work major and working mom Teranejah Lucas ’23 explores the politics and power of Black hair in her capstone
Teranejah Lucas, 28, is now in her senior year at Pacific Lutheran University, and majoring in social work. She’s preparing to do great things—after already accomplishing significant wins—and wrapping up a fascinating capstone. “As a single parent, first-generation college student, I’m out here defying the…
![Lauren Loftis standing in a library isle filled with books. She is smiling and wearing a purple cardigan.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2023/03/loftis-featured-news-725x408.jpg)
A Trip to the Archives? Book It, PLU Librarian Says
Sometimes you’re drawn to a career path, and other times you discover it by serendipity, as Lauren Loftis, Archivist & Special Collections Librarian at Pacific Lutheran University, did. “I carelessly stumbled into it. In fact, the first time I entered an archive was when I…
![Brandi Hilliard poses in front of a greenery background that could be a bush or a tree with green leaves. Brandi is smiling and wearing a grey blazer with a purple tee in a headshot style photo.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2023/02/brandi-web-725x408.png)
Full Circle: Brandi Hilliard, Director of Career, Learning & Engagement
As a first-generation college student, Brandi Hilliard was nervous when she began her studies at Pacific Lutheran University. But those uncomfortable feelings soon diminished. “I found PLU to be a warm, supportive and an intimate community, which made it an easy place to fit in,”…
![Amanda Sweger is sitting in a chair that is on a stage in a performance hall with her legs crossed. Auditorium row of seats serves as the backdrop with a spot light illuminating in the background.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2023/02/sweger-web-725x408.png)
Theatre Professor Amanda Sweger Finds Family in the Theatre
Like it did for so many, the theatre called to Associate Professor Amanda Sweger when she was in those awkward teen years. “For the first time, I felt accepted,” she said. Yet she quickly realized she didn’t like acting or auditioning. So, she spent a…
![Two PLU students and their professor have a discussion about the plants sitting on a table in front of them. They are in the PLU research greenhouse.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2023/02/seed-research-1-725x408.jpg)
Beautiful mutants: a PLU biology class harvests for the future
About two years ago, PLU professor Neva Laurie-Berry partnered with a world-class plant research center. The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Mo., sends Laurie-Berry’s BIOL 358 Plant Physiology class millet seeds with random mutations. Student teams study plants in PLU’s warm, sunny…
![Professor Michelle Crites and two students stand around the virtual dissection table. The table's large screen displays a lifesize human skeleton system.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2023/01/ap-lab-1-725x408.jpg)
PLU’s new anatomy and physiology lab is the first in a series of science upgrades
When PLU science students returned to campus in fall 2022 they were in for a surprise. The previously outdated anatomy and physiology lab in the Rieke Science Center had been transformed into a cutting-edge learning facility, complete with best-of-its-kind educational technology, thanks to contributions from…
Campus Tour: PLU’s newly renovated anatomy and physiology lab
PLU Resident Instructor of Biology Michelle Crites gives a tour of the newly renovated anatomy and physiology lab in the Rieke Science Center. Learn more about the PLU Department of Biology.
![Holocaust survivor Peter Metzelaar stands in front of a classroom giving a presentation to about a dozen PLU students who are seated at small desks.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2023/01/img_5122-crop-725x408.jpg)
Uncomfortable Truths: Introduction to Holocaust and Genocide Studies class examines the past to change the future
“There is nothing comfortable about studying genocide,” Beth Griech-Polelle, a Pacific Lutheran University history professor and the Kurt Mayer Chair in Holocaust Studies, says. “It’s filthy, violent, degrading, and the worst of humanity.” Yet Griech-Polelle says the study and discussion of these atrocities are crucial…
![Students work on building terraria in Prof. Daniel Heath's IHON class, Tuesday, April 5, 2022, at PLU](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2022/10/ihon-biosphere-cover-725x408.jpg)
Saving the World with a Starship
On day one of PLU Professor of Mathematics Daniel Heath’s Designing a Starship class, students have no idea what they have signed up for — and that’s exactly how Heath wants it. The course is part of PLU’s International Honors Program (IHON), which means it…
![Beth Griech-Polelle wearing a pink dress giving a lecture in front of a classroom](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2022/10/beth-resolute-featured-725x408.jpg)
Asking Historic Questions: Beth Griech-Polelle, PLU Kurt Mayer Chair of Holocaust Studies
I think we have all heard the infamous phrase, “Those who do not know the past are condemned to repeat it.” For most historians, asking questions about our shared past forces all of us to confront uncomfortable truths about the past with the hope that…
![Marnie Ritchie poses with arms crossed in front of an artwork resembling a collage in the back ground.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2022/11/marnie-ritchie-web-725x408.png)
WATCH THIS: Professor Marnie Ritchie discusses surveillance, rhetoric and media
Do you ever worry about history-tracking web browsers, “smart” kitchen appliances, and the even smarter phones we sleep next to? PLU Assistant Professor of Communication Marnie Ritchie thinks about these things. She thinks about them A LOT. Ritchie is an award-winning researcher and writer in…