News Archives - 2000

Congressman Martin Olav Sabo (D-MN) today congratulated Augsburg College for receiving a $64,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education. This grant will support a five-week research trip this summer to Namibia, led by an African Studies research specialist, for 11 teachers from the Twin Cities area.

"The announcement of this $64,000 Fulbright grant is great news for Augsburg College," said Congressman Sabo, a 1959 Augsburg graduate. "With these federal funds, Augsburg will select 11 Minnesota teachers to participate in an important research trip to this new nation -- which was established in 1990. As a result of their unique experiences, these teachers will bring a greater understanding of global and sociological issues to each of their classrooms."

According to Regina McGoff, Director of Augsburg's Center for Global Education, this year marks the third in which Augsburg has been selected to receive federal funds for its Namibia study project. A total of 22 Minnesota teachers have benefited from the study trip in years past: 11 teachers during the first trip in 1995, and 11 more in 1997.

The teachers participating in the research trip meet with citizens from all sectors of Namibian life during their visit to allow for a diverse experience, explained McGoff. As a result of these meetings, the teachers write curriculum for their own classrooms. This curriculum is divided into three main themes: family life; environmental issues; and government -- in particular, how a country such as Namibia progresses from a culture of apartheid to a democracy.

Augsburg College instructors, stationed at the school's study center in Namibia, manage and oversee the five-week research trip.

Now that Augsburg has learned it will receive federal funds to send another 11 teachers on a Namibia research trip this year, McGoff said, the participant selection process will move forward. McGoff said that within the next few months, Augsburg officials will review applications from teachers in grades K-12 from around the Twin Cities area, aiming to select a diverse 11-person group for the trip, which is scheduled for July 2000.