Category: Community

A Luther College professor will have his work featured on Wisconsin Public Radio this month. Beginning on Monday, March 14, WPR will feature “As the Twig is Bent: A Memoir” on its “Chapter a Day” program. The book, by Wallace Byron Grange, was co-edited by Joseph L. Breitenstein, Luther College professor of psychology.

“Along with my co-editor, Richard Thiel, an accomplished naturalist in his own right, we are honored that ‘Chapter a Day’ selected ‘As the Twig is Bent: A Memoir.’ This program has been a mainstay of Wisconsin Public Radio since it was first broadcast in 1931,” said Breitenstein. “When editing this book, Richard and I agreed early on that our main goal was to bring attention to Grange’s life work. His observations about saving the environment are more salient than ever, and we are very appreciative that WPR’s audience will be able to hear about this amazing man.”

            The memoir elicits admiration for a largely self-taught man whose early relationship with nature formed him into a pioneering conservationist, including leading the fight to ban DDT.

            “The book we edited is essentially a memoir of Grange’s childhood placed in the context of his entire life. The most important years of his childhood were spent in Northern Wisconsin where he lived at the nexus between pristine forests and devastation from clear-cut logging. How to nurture damaged land back to productivity became Grange’s life work,” said Breitenstein.

            This project allowed Breitenstein to channel his psychological interests in personal development, environmentalism and politics. He collaborated with other faculty experts at Luther College to gain necessary technical information including Mark Eichinger and Tex Sordahl of the biology department.

            Read by Norman Gilliland, “As the Twig is Bent: A Memoir” can be heard at 12:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. on WPR’s Ideas Network Monday, March 14, through Friday, March 25.  Episodes are available online a week after being broadcast.

About Luther College

Luther College is home to about 1,800 undergraduates who explore big questions and take action to benefit people, communities and society. Our 60+ academic programs, experiential approach to learning and welcoming community inspire students to learn actively, live purposefully and lead courageously for a lifetime of impact. Learn more at luther.edu.

In recognition of Women’s History Month, Luther College will host the Sihler Lecture “Jingle Dress: Ojibwe People & Pandemics,” by Brenda J. Child at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, in the Center for Faith and Life Recital Hall.

“I am very much looking forward to hearing Brenda Child’s lecture on Ojibwe people and pandemics,” said Anna Peterson, associate professor of history. “This is a chance to hear from one of the foremost scholars of American Indian history on an important and relevant topic. Her research on Ojibwe culture, music, dance and medicine as sources of healing offers a timely approach to understanding Indigenous epistemologies and responses to illness and disease.”

Born on the Red Lake Ojibwe Reservation in northern Minnesota and now a leading scholar of American Indian history, Child’s work focuses on topics such as the legacy of American Indian boarding schools in the U.S. and the role of Ojibwe women in the preservation of indigenous culture, education and history. She is the author of several award-winning books.

Child currently serves as the Northrop Professor of American Studies at the University of Minnesota and is the former chair of the departments of American studies (2016-19) and American Indian studies (2009-2012). She also served on the board of trustees at the National Museum of the American Indian-Smithsonian, and as president of the Native American & Indigenous Studies association from 2017-18.

            During her lecture, Child will discuss the history, tradition and evolution of the jingle dress dance.

“Ojibwe people believe in the healing power of music and dance. I’ve discovered that the jingle dress dance and tradition first emerged during a global epidemic of influenza a century ago, one that was devastating to Ojibwe communities,” said Child in a 2020 interview. “This was also a time when the United States outlawed ritualistic dancing, making the jingle dress dance a radical tradition from its beginning. More recently, jingle dress dancers were at Standing Rock to protest a pipeline project that threatens our water. The tradition is very much alive today, invigorated by the passion and creativity of a new generation of women.”

This event is sponsored by the Sihler Family Endowment which funds lectures with an emphasis on women in church music. Minnesota Public radio is also sponsoring the lecture. It is open to the public with no charge for admission and will be livestreamed with a link found at luther.edu/events.

About Luther College

Luther College is home to about 1,800 undergraduates who explore big questions and take action to benefit people, communities and society. Our 60+ academic programs, experiential approach to learning and welcoming community inspire students to learn actively, live purposefully and lead courageously for a lifetime of impact. Learn more at luther.edu.

The Decorah Goodwill Store is part of Goodwill Industries of Northeast Iowa based in Waterloo. They accept donations of: clothing, shoes, jewelry, accessories, handbags, luggage, housewares, home goods, hand tools, cell phones, computers, and other items.

Goodwill cannot accept the following items: auto parts, construction materials, medical equipment, baby furniture, mattresses and box springs, plumbing fixtures. These should be taken to the landfill.

Goodwill cannot accept the following items but they can be taken to the Freeport Recycling Facility M-F 6am-3pm: large appliances like washers and stoves (but not refrigerators, freezers, and dehumidifiers), small appliances like microwaves, household chemicals, exercise equipment and weight sets, metal desks, batteries, damaged bicycles, outdoor items like grills, snow blowers and lawn mowers.

Goodwill cannot accept the following items but they can be taken to landfill for recycling by paying a fee: TV’s, refrigerators, freezers and dehumidifiers.

Luther College’s Nordic Choir was selected to perform at the American Choral Directors Association conference held at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Chicago on Feb. 18.

“In the choral music world, an invitation to perform at one of the ACDA conventions is one of the great honors,” said Andrew Last, conductor of Nordic Choir. “The convention itself is an opportunity for teachers/conductors from around the country to come and share ideas, learn from master teachers and perform for one another.”

The selection process for the prestigious conference is multifaceted. Choirs must anonymously submit three years  worth of audio recordings to a panel of judges. Invitations for various categories are based on the panel rankings. Being selected is an honor, and Last expressed the “huge sense of responsibility” that the ensemble felt in representing Luther College.

“This is an opportunity for choral musicians at all levels to get a first-hand look at the excellence of music at Luther,” said Last.

The theme of Nordic Choir’s program was “Our COVID Journey.” It featured five songs that aimed, in part, to reflect on emotions felt when students and faculty were sent home in 2020. The program also sought to inspire a sense of hope and community.

“There were definitely tears shed both on and off stage,” said Brenna Reiland, Nordic Choir member. “Knowing we got to share such real and raw moments with an esteemed audience was very cool. I am proud of how we conveyed the story, I am proud of the performance we shared, and I am proud to call myself a member of the ensemble.”

The theme of the Midwest ACDA conference was “Sing Together as One,” something this choir is happy to be doing again, on the road.

“It was a wonderful taste of the touring experience that we’ve been longing for since January 2020 and it made us feel much closer to each other,” said Rhylan Peterson, Nordic Choir member. “It was emotionally and physically draining, but we would all do it again in a heartbeat, for the message we gave and the friendships we strengthened.”

“The music we make feels like it is coming from our souls, in a sense. Everyone I have spoken to about the conference is just ecstatic about how it went. I cannot wait for more amazing opportunities like this,” said Reiland.

About Luther College

Luther College is home to about 1,800 undergraduates who explore big questions and take action to benefit people, communities and society. Our 60+ academic programs, experiential approach to learning and welcoming community inspire students to learn actively, live purposefully and lead courageously for a lifetime of impact. Learn more at luther.edu.