Religion

 

Dr. Richard Bowman
Professor
605.274.5485
richard.bowman@augie.edu

Dr. Richard Bowman has a Ph.D. in biblical studies from Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. In addition to the freshman introductory course in religion, he teaches courses in the Hebrew prophets and Hebrew wisdom literature and seminars on Hebrew narrative literature and on hermeneutical methodological traditions. His interest in theology and popular culture has produced courses on the detective story and the history of baseball. Dr. Bowman’s current research projects involve a literary analysis of direction language in I & II Samuel and the interpretive method of Martin Luther in his exposition of the book of Jonah.

Dr. Chris Croghan
Assistant Professor
605.274.5488
chris.croghan@augie.edu

Dr. Croghan teaches Reformation history, Lutheran Confessional writings, history of Christian worship, and introductory religion courses. He is the founder and Director of the Luther House of Study, a partnership involving Augustana and Sioux Falls Seminary to develop and enhance Lutheran congregational leadership in the Northern Plains region. In addition to his academic work, few things spark his interest more than wilderness camping with his family and St. Louis Cardinal baseball. He received his Ph.D. from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN.

Dr. Murray Haar
Professor, Department Chair
605.274.5484
murray.haar@augie.edu

Murray Haar is the Chairperson of the Religion, Philosophy, Classics department. Dr. Haar is a professor of Religion and Jewish Studies. He teaches courses dealing with the Holocaust, Judaism and Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, Religion and Violence and Courage and Evil. He also teaches Hebrew and Jewish Philosophy. Dr. Haar has taken students to Israel and India. He has published a number of articles and given a variety of papers dealing with Israel and the Holocaust. He holds a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. Dr. Haar enjoys classical music, old movies, baseball (Yankees and Twins) and playing racquetball.

Dr. Laurie Jungling
Assistant Professor
605.274.5484
laurie.jungling@augie.edu

Dr. Laurie Jungling teaches courses in Christian ethics, Christian theology, and introductory religion. She is interested in the Lutheran concept of vocation as a positive framework for engaging difficult moral issues, particularly issues surrounding sexuality. Dr. Jungling received her Ph.D. from the Graduate Theological Union and is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She loves to “Hike Montana!” especially Glacier National Park and enjoys music of (almost) all kinds.

Kirsten Mebust
Assistant Professor
605.274.5484
kirsten.mebust@augie.edu

Kirsten Mebust is new to the Augustana faculty (Fall 2009). She teaches courses in religion.

 

Dr. Ann Milliken Pederson
Professor
605.274.5489
ann.pederson@augie.edu

Ann Milliken Pederson teaches Christian theology, with particular emphases in religion and medical sciences, feminist theologies, and Lutheran constructive theology. She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Section for Ethics and Humanities at the Sanford School of Medicine of the University of South Dakota. Dr. Pederson has written three books, entries in the Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science, and numerous articles in Zygon, Word and World, and other periodicals. She received her doctorate in theology from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

Dr. Richard Swanson
Professor
605.274.5487
richard.swanson@augie.edu

Dr. Richard Swanson teaches course that explore biblical interpretation, interpretive theory, and the ways people live and hope. He also teaches Biblical Greek on occasion, and co-teaches (with Dr. Michael Mullin, History) “Peopling Paradise: Migrants, Missionaries, and Money,” a course that travels to Hawaii to study the effects of colonization on traditional cultures. His research focuses on the interaction between religion and culture and on the interpretive implications of ancient and modern performances of biblical narratives. He has written four books and numerous articles, and is currently finishing work on a performance-critical commentary, Provoking the Gospel of John: A Storyteller’s Commentary. Dr. Swanson serves a co-chair of the Bible in Ancient and Modern Media Section for the Society of Biblical Literature, and is a member of the Executive Board for the Network of Biblical Storytellers. He is the Director of the Provoking the Gospel Storytelling Project, a troupe of actors drawn from among Augustana students and alums. He received his M.Div. and Ph.D. from Luther Seminary. Before beginning his doctoral studies he was a parish pastor for six years.
 

Philosophy

Dr. Stephen Minister (click for webpage)
Assistant Professor
605.274.5492
stephen.minister@augie.edu

Dr. Minister teaches courses in philosophy of religion, ethics, modern philosophy, existentialism, and continental philosophy, as well as a capstone on global poverty. His research engages the continental tradition, especially the writings of Emmanuel Levinas, and focuses on the relationship between reason and responsibility, the role of commitment in ethics and religion, and practical issues such as human rights and global poverty. He received bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and mathematics at Seattle Pacific University and his Ph.D. in philosophy at Fordham University in New York.

Dr. David O'Hara
Assistant Professor
605.274.4890
david.ohara@augie.edu

Dr. O’Hara teaches Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, American Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion and a variety of other courses. He sometimes teaches Classical Greek language, and most years he teaches a course in Greece called “Tracing the Roots of Western Civilization.” His research interests include Religion and Aesthetics, the Philosophy of Literature, and Environmental Philosophy, and the writings of Plato, Charles Peirce, and C.S. Lewis. He is a graduate of Middlebury College and of the “Great Books” graduate school at St. John’s College in Santa Fe. He received his Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University.
 

Classics

Dr. Rocki Wentzel
Assistant Professor
605.274.5484
rocki.wentzel@augie.edu

Dr. Rocki Wentzel is fairly new to the Augustana faculty (Fall 2008). She teaches ancient Greek, Latin, and classics courses, such as mythology and drama, that utilize texts in translation. She taught for a year at The Ohio State University, where she also earned her Ph.D. Her dissertation was on the reception of Vergil’s Aeneid in Augustine’s Confessions. Her areas interests include gift theory, desire, and gender.