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Biology majors/minors investigate living systems' structures, functions, and responses, from organisms to populations and ecosystems. You will have lab experiences and abundant research opportunities, and sharpen your scientific reasoning. Sample courses and career paths here, including medicine. 

Pre-pharmacy students major in Chemistry, Biology, or Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. You'll receive a strong science foundation for graduate school, plus the freedom to explore through elective courses. It's academic rigor, a supportive community, and the advantages of an immersive on-campus experience. Plus, the Office of Health Professions provides comprehensive support, from navigating prerequisites to pharmacy school applications.

The Gustavus Elementary Education program prepares you to lead inclusive and innovative classrooms. You will begin observing and participating in practicum teaching experiences as soon as you enter the program. Graduates teach students across the country and around the world, with 90% of students placed in teaching jobs upon graduation.

You'll delve deeply into the Roman Republic and Empire through the study of its official language, classical civilizations, and how the modern world continues to reimagine ancient Rome. And through the adjacent Latin Teaching major, you'll prepare to educate others. More on the major, including sample courses, here. 

Lisa Ortmann, PhD is the Grace and Bertil Pehrson Endowed Professor and Associate Professor of Education at Gustavus. Dr. Ortmann’s education courses prepare future teachers across the grade levels and content areas to build a deep understanding of how children and adolescents learn to read and write, and the research-based methods of teaching literacy for all students. She was awarded the Innovation in Teaching Award from the Kendall Center for Engaged Learning for her “Literacy Histories” project, where education majors critically examine their own experiences of learning to read, write, and use language, identifying the ways their history shapes their teaching. She teaches a First Term Seminar course called “For the Love of Books!” where first-year students follow their curiosity as readers, reflecting on the value of literacy in their lives as citizens of a free and democratic society. Together, students build a reading community that sustains their values, shapes their identities, and expands their worldviews.

Dr. Ortmann’s scholarly work informs, and is informed by, her teaching and professional activities at the College and in the state. Her research areas include teachers’ uses of culturally responsive teaching practices and diverse literature, the instructional methods that support literacies of multilingual adolescent learners, and the impact of instructional coaching models to enhance teaching. Recent peer-reviewed publications include a co-authored study with a former Gustie student, “Developing Responsive Disciplinary Literacies for Student Teaching in Social Studies” in The Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, and a state-wide study, "Surveying the Landscape: Minnesota's English Language Arts Teachers' Perspectives on Intellectual Freedom" in The Minnesota English Journal.

Dr. Ortmann’s professional service is in partnership with teachers and schools both locally and nationally. She is an engaged collaborator with Saint Peter and Mankato educators to design and facilitate real-world teaching opportunities for Gustie education majors at all stages of the four-year program. She serves the state of Minnesota as the Intellectual Freedom Chair for the board of the Minnesota Council of Teachers of English where she provides professional development to English Language Arts teachers across the state. She was selected to serve as a This Story Matters Teacher Corp Member on the National Council of Teachers of English to develop book rationales for teaching diverse literature. She consults and provides guidance on statewide reading initiatives for the Minnesota Association of Colleges of Teacher Education, and for the English Language Arts 2020 Standards development project with the Minnesota Department of Education.

In her moments of free time, you can find Dr. Ortmann outdoors at the lake or in her garden, reading a novel, running with her yellow lab Harley, or cheering loudly at her daughter’s performances and games. She is a passionate educator, who has found a home at Gustavus due to the life-long relationships that are built on campus. Mentoring new teachers into the profession is one of the greatest gifts of her career, especially when they return to campus with their own students.

Major/minor in Classical Languages (Greek and Latin) and you connect to an ancient, vibrant legacy relevant to today's world. It's language, and its history, culture, and literature, too. Check out sample courses and explore careers here. 

French majors/minors explore speaking, listening, reading, and writing in an immersive language environment with native French-speaking faculty in the Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Department (MLLC). You'll study art and literature, discuss politics, colonization, and history, and grow your understanding of French-speaking cultures.