2022 Concurrent Sessions
Offered from 2:30-3:15 p.m. and repeated from 3:30-4:15 p.m. unless otherwise noted
Birkeland Alumni Lounge, Offutt Concourse
*2:30 p.m. Session Only
Moderators:
Dr. James Postema, Chair/Professor of English; Principal Investigator for the Crafting Democratic Futures Grant
Ricky White, Cultural Specialist, Fargo Public Schools; Mellon Grant Community Fellow
Panel Members:
Brandon Baity, Youthworks; Director of the Indigenous Association
Delores Gabbard, Coordinator, Moorhead Public Schools Indian Education Program
Ashley Littlewolf, Whole Family and Career Coach Lead, SENDCAA
The Crafting Democratic Futures Grant required Concordia to work with members of the local community to frame and carry out the goals of the grant. For this purpose, we invited several people from the local Native American community to be members of a community panel. In this session, three members of the community panel will reflect on their own views of what has happened with the creation, existence, and work of the panel itself. How has the panel helped shape "citizenship" in Fargo-Moorhead, both within the Indigenous community but also in the larger community? Or how has it changed/shaped "community" in any given context? How has it changed things in terms of Concordia's relationship to the Indigenous community — what has helped and where is there room to improve, for Concordia?
Birkeland Alumni Lounge, Offutt Concourse
*3:30 Session Only
Moderator: Dr. Elijah Bender, Assistant Professor of History; Associate Investigator for the Crafting Democratic Futures Grant
Panel Members:
Melody Staebner, Coordinator for the Indian Education Program, Fargo and West Fargo Public Schools
Arlan Littlewolf, Liaison, Moorhead Public Schools Indian Education Program
Tanya Red Road, Community Organizer and Advocate
The Crafting Democratic Futures Grant seeks to implement locally based reparations activities for Native Americans in Fargo-Moorhead, a group that has traditionally been marginalized. Our work has been guided by a community panel composed of members of the local Indigenous community. As the group worked, we realized the need to share and reflect upon local Native peoples’ experiences. We embarked on an oral history project with the goal of creating an archive of Native voices that will supplement our work on the grant and hopefully be of use for many years after. Assembled panelists will reflect upon the creation of the oral history project and discuss ideas for how this archive might contribute to the community in the future. How can an archive be a tool of engaged citizenship? How can Concordia facilitate greater engagement with the Native community? Crucially, how can Concordia act as responsible stewards of an archive for Native voices?
Presenter: Jennie Archer, First-Year Experience Librarian
Library Instruction Lab (Library 226)
Your legislators want to hear from you. Writing to them is one way to speak up, share your opinions, and make your voice heard. This concurrent session will teach attendees how to contact their elected officials and write effective letters that follow letter-writing etiquette.
Presenters: Dr. Elna Solvang, Chair/Professor of Religion, and Michael A. Johnson, Assistant Professor of Religion
ISC 101
Our comprehensive religious and/or moral convictions form important bases for how we engage in democratic citizenship, though we do not share the same convictions. What are the promise and pitfalls of religiously motivated civic engagement? In this session, we will use the current ELCA “social message” on government and civic engagement as a case study and springboard for discussion about the larger question of civic engagement by persons with religious convictions. We will use this example to generate a discussion on the following kinds of questions: How should persons of religious convictions participate in discussions and formation of public policy or serve in governmental offices or roles? How ought we conceive civic engagement based on religious convictions while recognizing that we live in a pluralistic society of multiple religious (and non-religious) perspectives and that our U.S. constitutional framework prohibits government establishment of any religion? This session invites students to a civil conversation about this topic, is open to all students, and does not assume membership of any religion or denomination or having any religious commitment at all.
Presenter: Dr. Lisa Sethre-Hofstad, Vice President for Student Development and Campus Life
*2:30 p.m. Session Only
ISC 201
Note: This session is prepared for an audience of staff who work alongside students to help them gain skills to productively engage around disagreement.
Dr. Yuval Levin, in his 2020 book “A Time to Build,” argues that we have not forgotten how to agree. Rather, he suggests that we have forgotten how to disagree. This session will explore the college context as a space for helping students learn how to productively engage with, and even disagree about, matters of importance to them. Drawing heavily on Levin’s work, I will share ideas designed to provoke discussion about the following questions: What is the purpose of a college in terms of civic engagement? How does the current socio-political environment shape campus activism? How do social media influence, react to, or promote online “virtue signaling” in a way that cultivates polarization? How can we work alongside our students to help them gain the skills needed to influence the affairs of a complex and often polarized world?
Presenter: Noelle Harden, UMN Extension and Cass-Clay Food Partners
*2:30 p.m. Session Only
Concordia Campus Garden located at 12th Avenue and 11th Street South
Join Noelle Harden at the Concordia campus garden for a lively discussion of our local food community and the multitude of ways to get involved. Session attendees will glean knowledge about key food policy issues in local government and how they are being addressed in the FM community. The conversation will also highlight the role that Concordia students have played in advocating for greater food access on campus and beyond.
Presenter: Crystal Rayamajhi, City of Moorhead Sustainability
ISC 132
Learn how Crystal Rayamajhi is promoting action to make Moorhead more sustainable and resilient through the promotion of pollinator plantings, recycling, and other initiatives. Rayamajhi has a background in psychology as well as environmental studies. She will discuss how she has used both of her backgrounds to create policies and programming to encourage sustainability in the Moorhead community. Drawing from her current position, as well as previous work in Grand Forks and Bemidji State University, Rayamajhi will provide insights into how students can get involved in promoting change.
Presenter: Gabrielle Lommel, Sustainability Coordinator, Concordia College
*3:30 p.m. Session Only
Participants should meet in front of the Carl B. Ylvisaker Library
Join Concordia’s sustainability coordinator and a few of the sustainability student interns on a walking tour of sustainability efforts on campus. This session will allow participants to learn about our efforts and vision while providing the opportunity to give input on how they think Concordia can best pursue sustainability and environmental justice.
Presenters: Cani Aden, Moorhead Human Rights Commission and Afro American Development Association, and Matuor Alier, Fargo Fargo Human Rights Commission and Moorhead Public Schools Director of Equity and Inclusion
ISC 152
Cani Aden (originally from Somalia) and Matuor Alier (originally from Sudan) will share their stories of promoting human rights and social equity in Fargo and Moorhead. Both have served as chair of their city's Human Rights Commission, working at the intersection of government policy and socio-cultural forces. With experience in nonprofit leadership and deep community engagement, they will offer insights and ideas that can help students to understand better how to promote change in their own communities.
Presenter: Dr. Eric R. Schmidt, Teaching Fellow, Political Science
Old Main 332
Engaged citizenship demands that we listen to (and learn from) our political opponents. Democracy is impossible without disagreement, even though disagreements can be uncomfortable or scary. At this session, we’ll brainstorm ways to improve political discourse at Concordia. In the process, we’ll learn how to listen to people that disagree with us — a process that requires empathy, courage, compassion, and humility.
Presenters: Laetitia Hellerud, UBUNTU Consulting, and Karen Pifher, Creating Community Consulting
ISC 154
If you are interested in learning how to build inclusive communities and organizations and how to get involved in your community, then this is the session for you! Join Laetitia Hellerud and Karen Pifher as they share their combined experiences and engage with participants. This session will be interactive and informative and will specifically highlight the ongoing process of creating an “inclusive Moorhead.” Students will also learn about how they can engage in broader community efforts.
Presenters: Grace Halvorson '25, Hannah Paysse '24, Timea Vrabcova '25, and SGA Representatives
Jones A, Knutson Campus Center
At this concurrent session, members of Concordia’s Student Government Association will share steps they’ve been taking to promote their initiatives on campus and create tangible change. SGA will discuss how students can be involved in the initiatives and how to connect with SGA with concerns, questions, or ideas. There will also be time for a listening session to have conversations about goals and ideas that the student body may wish to share.
Presenters: Laura Probst, Carl B. Ylvisaker Library and RIDE Co-Director; Julie VanWatermulen, Horizon Middle School and RIDE Co-Director; Dr. Teri Langlie, Associate Professor of Education and RIDE PEAK Coordinator; Kayla Mostre '25 and Pedro Ochoa '24, Concordia Peer Mentors
Olin 124
The RIDE Program is a collaboration between the Carl B. Ylvisaker Library, the Education Department, and Moorhead’s Horizon Middle School. During the 2021-22 academic year, 14 Concordia students were peer mentors to 33 Horizon eighth graders as they read books exploring diverse identities and learned to be advocates for books whose characters look like them and their classmates. Join a panel of program leaders and peer mentors to learn about the program and how it fosters community engagement at Horizon Middle School.
Dr. Trygve Throntveit, Minnesota Humanities Center
Jones C/D, Knutson Campus Center
Note: This is a 90-minute session.
Educators across the country and at all levels are coming to recognize the importance of a democracy-building education: an education that not only includes all students on equitable terms but fosters skills needed to maintain the nation's civic fabric and work across differences to achieve public goals. Dr. Throntveit will introduce and demonstrate one approach to democratizing the classroom in these ways without politicizing the content or polarizing the students: the Third Way Civics (3WC) approach. Originally developed for humanities courses, 3WC is garnering interest nationwide from instructors in the social and natural sciences. Participants will receive an overview of the methodology, experience a "lesson," and contribute to ongoing efforts to adapt 3WC to new disciplines and settings.