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Greetings from the Dean 2018 Posted by: Matthew / May 7, 2018 May 7, 2018 By Kevin J. O'BrienDean of HumanitiesEach year, the PLU Division of Humanities puts together a collection of stories into Prism, offering a few reflections of the great work our faculty do in classrooms and beyond. This year’s stories will introduce you to a new Philosophy professor, a Nordic Studies professor who returned to teach at his alma mater, and our new Director of the Scandinavian Cultural Center. You will get

, Melody Ferguson worked 40 hours a week to help pay her way through the University of Washington – 20 hours at the academic advising office, plus 20 hours off-campus in the Seattle Supersonics’ media relations office. Now, in her role as PLU associate dean of admission, she still feels the weight of her heartstrings when students from her old neighborhood receive the support they need to attend PLU.  “I’m passionate about working here because we value serving our regional community,” she says. “Of

globally focused university.” Sobania noted the focus on global scholarship began more than 30 years ago, when PLU became one of the first universities to establish a Global Studies Program in 1977. Now, more than 40 percent of the students participate in at least one study-abroad program before they graduate. This compares to the national average of 3 percent, and puts PLU among the top comprehensive masters-level universities in the country with the percentage of students studying abroad. When

-Hays Award to do curriculum work in Namibia during July. Jennifer Jenkins, assistant professor of German, was selected to participate during the summer of 2010 in the Baden-Württemberg Seminar for American Faculty in German and German Studies, funded by the German American Fulbright Commission and the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of Baden- Württemberg. Read Previous Crime of My Very Existence Read Next Transfer student finds his home at PLU COMMENTS*Note: All comments are moderated If

’04 used to be PLU study buddies with seventh-grade Social Studies teacher Brent Anderson ’97; •    Brooke Gustafson ’05 and Tawana Bens ’05 not only graduated from PLU the same year; they now teach together in a combined English/Special Education classroom; and •    one current Lute—who is a Ferrucci graduate!—to this day credits Leifsen and teacher Ron Baltazar ’00 with, basically, changing the course of her life. Ferrucci’s extraordinary concentration of Lutes could be coincidental (or

that talks about how being a friend ultimately makes one’s life more meaningful,  and I think that is an important message to pass on to children. How did your Children’s Literature minor play into your decision? My Children’s Literature minor has encouraged me to look deeper into the meaning of stories, and I feel that Charlotte’s Web has a very deep message. Most children’s books do not deal with death, and Charlotte’s Web handles it so delicately. During my studies, I came to the realization

carpenter of all things, and he didn’t preach, he said ‘this is what the Christian faith is.’” Blagg’s Christianity classes inspired her to take a fresh look at religion as a whole. She eventually returned to Catholicism years after her family stopped attending church. “Those two classes got me thinking more than anything else that I took,” Blagg said.   After she graduated with her bachelor’s degree, Blagg’s graduate studies at PLU focused on how companies approach conflict resolution with their