Events

Gustavus Adolphus College was founded in 1862 during the same months as the Dakota-U.S. War, which resulted in the removal of Dakota people from their homeland. Learn about the Dakota War and a two-year grant project that has brought together faculty, students, staff, Dakota leaders, and other community partners for a series of listening sessions and critical conversations about the college's presence on Dakota lands, its settler history, and its relationship with Dakota people today.

Speakers: 

• Dr. Ursula Lindqvist: Thorstensson, McKnight, Nordstrom Endowed Chair; Professor of Scandinavian Studies at Gustavus Adolphus College; and director of a college-wide grant entitled “Storytelling and Sensemaking at a Settler Institution: Walking a Shared Path with Dakota Neighbors,” funded by the Council for Independent Colleges and the Lilly Endowment.
• John Kellen: Executive Director of the Grand Center for Arts & Culture in New Ulm as well as a photographer, documentary filmmaker, and arts leader whose current work has focused on Minnesota’s Dakota history, Indigenous communities, and reconciliation.

Join CAB and OLAS to play Loteria! Grand prizes include two fully paid packages for six people to Kato Escape, an escape room in Mankato. 

Join us for the inaugural session of the Cornerstones of Belonging series, which will introduce a framework for understanding and advancing community and belonging on campus.

The initial Lunch & Learn session will focus primarily on the Unwritten Curriculum—the implicit norms, expectations, practices, and assumed knowledge that influence how students understand and navigate the campus environment. We will explore how these often-unspoken elements of campus life can shape students’ experiences, sense of connection, and capacity to fully participate in the academic community.

The session will also introduce the 8 Cornerstones of Belonging that will serve as the framework for the Cornerstones of Belonging and guide future conversations and learning experiences. During this and future sessions, participants will explore how intentional practices can foster a more inclusive and connected campus community.

Join us for morning praise with Gustavus Choir and Christ Chapel Ringers at Tuesday Chapel Break.

Since 2023, the Department of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies has organized a lecture on the theme of the year's Nobel Conference in the week following the conference. Dr. Georgia Irby of William and Mary College, an expert on rivers in Greco-Roman antiquity, delivers this year's lecture, "Ancient Rivers: Anthropomorphized, Rationalized, Politicized."

Please join us for the opening reception and artist talk of Sobia Ahmad's "As One They Quake" on Wednesday, October 14, from 5–7 p.m. The new exhibition will be on display in the Schaefer Gallery from September 10 to November 13. Composed of celluloid-based film and photographic works, Ahmad's pieces have emerged from her ongoing engagement with Pando, an ancient aspen forest in south-central Utah. 

Emotional Resonance in Oscar Navarro’s “Things of Destiny”

Oscar Navarro (1981, Spain) “Things of Destiny" 

Mr. Navarro composed this trio in 2009, dedicated to his girlfriend Noelia Belijar, now his beloved wife. Preston Deck ’29 (violin), Sharon Mautner-Rodgers (cello), and Yumiko Oshima-Ryan (piano) present this work to illustrate a narrative of a love story.

Navarro states: “This work is divided into four parts in which two main contrasting themes are presented, both rhythmically and melodically. Throughout the entirety of this piece, each instrument becomes a protagonist, being for each of them an ambitious and attractive challenge in which the enjoyment of music is the cornerstone of feeling the magic of 'Things of Destiny.'"

During the colloquium, we look forward to exploring these musical insights further, culminating in our performance of the piano trio.