At present, this page provides alumni with the annual newsletter. This particular newsletter addresses 2002-2003. If you have ideas on how to improve or add to this page, please e-mail 
Susan L. Schrader, Chair of the Department.
This is the sixth newsletter for Sociology at Augustana. We are enthused about this as a way of communicating with you as alumni. We are hopeful you will find the Sociology newsletter to be an informative addition to the news you regularly receive through Augustana Today and other college publications.
Eleven people graduated from Augustana in May with degrees in Sociology. They are Elisa Cyre, Ally Graham, Ky Guse, Kurt Krallman, Margoux Lovig, Nicole Neist, Leah Niezwaag, Audrey Otto, Brendan Plageman, Kyle Posthumus, and Kelly Quist. Congratulations to these fine people on their accomplishments here at Augustana! We will miss them!
As a department, our goals were to engage in excellent teaching in the classroom, to increase the number of students declaring Sociology as a major, and to invest ourselves in departmental assessment. Much of the faculty's efforts were directed towards these aspirations, with good results. Numbers of majors doubled from 2002 to 2003, student evaluations of courses remain high, and a new document detailing our efforts in the area of departmental assessment will be forwarded to the Curriculum Council in Fall 2003.
Returning from sabbatical, Susan Schrader resumed the Chair responsibilities. The task at hand was to fill the vacancy left by Denise Copelton. With incredible fortune, the department was able to secure Dr. Carolyn Dunham for a one-year appointment. Later in the year, the College's Academic Task Force (that had recommended the reduction of one tenure-track position in 2002) reconsidered their decision in light of additional information provided by the department. The result was that Sociology was given permission to fill a tenure-track Assistant Professorship for 2003. A national search yielded many fine candidates, and Dr. Susan Wortmann was hired to begin in Fall 2003.
The 2002-2003 year has been the year in which Bill Swart was granted tenure and promotion. As a department, we are delighted with Bill's accomplishments to date and eagerly support him as he makes plans for a sabbatical in 2004-2005.
Another landmark change for the Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Native American Studies has been the end of the Social Work Program at Augustana. The Social Work Program (headed by Dr. Harriet Scott) is transitioning to the University of Sioux Falls. This has been a painful transition. Dr.Scott has dedicated 30 years of service to Augustana students, the Social Work profession, and to the broader social service network throughout the region, and she will be missed.
So, as we look forward to Fall 2003, we will be bidding farewell to Dr. Carolyn Dunham and to Dr. Harriet Scott. We will welcome Dr. Susan Wortmann who will join Susan Schrader, Bill Swart, and Martin Brokenleg. It will be a new composition once again, but one for which we are enthusiastic.
This has been a good and lively year. Returning refreshed from sabbatical, I revisited my own courses with rekindled interest in what is the heart of Sociology and Gerontology. New projects, emphases, and strategies were employed, and overall, I was pleased with the results in the classroom. It continues to be fun to teach at Augustana!
My sabbatical left me with many research threads to be woven into a tapestry. I have shared information from my Pine Ridge experience with the faculty during a weekly luncheon and have advanced the centenarian studies I conducted by presenting two papers at the Midwest Sociological Society convention in Chicago. I have struggled to find a published for the stories of the 35 South Dakota centenarians I interviewed, but remain hopeful that I will succeed in sharing these rich stories with a broader audience somehow.
Another research and educational interest has grown this year, too. I have assumed responsibilities as the Chair of the Partnership to Improve End of Life Care in South Dakota. This interdisciplinary, inter-institutional coalition has developed a five-week seminar for students in medicine, nursing, social work (and gerontology), chaplaincy, and pharmacy. We have collected data on this endeavor and hope to publish it soon.
On a personal note, I purchased a 14' camping trailer this spring. It's a 1967 Forester, so my friends say that the trailer is "retro." I guess so! I am eager to enjoy traveling to outdoor locations to hike and read and enjoy life. It makes for a fine combination--rigorous school year and some summer downtime to savor quality of life.
I have a rather eclectic set of research interests. First, my dissertation, “Well-Being Among Married Women at Midlife and Married Younger Adult Women,” focuses on the broad range of issues associated with life after 45. While much has been written about the biological/physiological aspects of midlife, there is not much literature on whatever else is going on in the lives of the Baby Boomer generation, neither men nor women. My research into this broad area of interest has resulted in a J-Term course in 2003 in which we considered the place and numbers of people at midlife. Since then, I have been working on enlarging my bibliography of materials in hopes of revising the course.
In addition to issues of midlife, I am also interested in ongoing research in the area of race and prejudice, building on my research in the former Soviet Union and in the United States, with more recent data regarding the phenomenon of Islamophobia.
And, third, my research interests have developed in the area of crime and the internet, particularly with work being done by the South Dakota Attorney General’s office with regard to child pornography on the Internet.
In spite of getting to know the new culture here at Augustana College, I have managed to spend some quality time with all of these areas of interest. In all of these projects, I am constantly looking for ways in which to use student-researchers, to help them develop their skills in research as well as to show them just what it is that sociologists “do.”
This past year I have taught five courses at Augustana College: Contemporary Society (SOCI 110), Sociological Theory (SOCI 360), Social Inequalities (SOC 340), Sociology of GenderCI 260), and The Sociology of Midlife (SOCI 255).
Even though I have only taught one year at Augustana College, it has been a remarkable experience. The liberal arts setting has been so conducive to open and honest discussion and debate on all sorts of issues related to sociology. My students have been exceptionally attentive, creative, and insightful, and show a real respect for learning and acquiring the needed thinking skills for life beyond Augustana. Time and time again I feel rewarded by the continuing inter-personal relationships I have developed with both students and faculty at Augustana College. It has been a privilege to have been part of the Augie family this past year.
[Carolyn has accepted a position as Associate Professor of Sociology at Sterling College in Kansas. She may be reached via e-mail Carolyn Dunham ]
As a department, we have regreted the College's decision to eliminate the Social Work Program. It is not only a loss of a quality, accredited program, but a loss of a dedicated colleague in Dr. Harriet Scott, who will be moving with the Social Work Program to the University of Sioux Falls. A farewell thank you party was given for Harriet in May, and the photos of that event follow. Augustana has been blessed by Harriet's contributions in the classroom and community, and she will be missed.
Obviously, you are reading this newsletter on the Internet. However, some of your Sociology alumni friends may not be connected to the web. Our yearly newsletter is available only on the Internet, so if you'd like to share your web newsletter with them, do so! Otherwise, please suggest to them that they request a paper copy of the newsletter in the mail by completing the following information and sending it to us at:
So, all in all, we have had a good year. We watched with pride as eleven Sociology majors graduated in the Class of 2003 and we are pleased with growing enrollment within the major and the College at large.
Should you have occasion to return to campus, please know that the welcome mat is out for you!