2026 Concurrent Sessions

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The symposium is free and open to the public.

First Concurrent Sessions | 9:15-10 a.m.

Campus Prayer Walk

  • Dr. Joylyn Anderson, DNP, APRN, Chair and Assistant Professor of Nursing; Program Director, Accelerated Nursing
  • Dr. Dan Biebighauser, Professor of Mathematics
  • Toni Dahlmeier, MSN Ed, RN, Simulation Lab Coordinator
  • Dr. Jake Goering, Director, Longterm Care Administration; Assistant Professor of Healthcare Leadership
  • Dr. Teri Langlie, Chair, Associate Professor of Education
  • Carrie Rogers, Senior Executive Assistant to the President and Board of Regents
  • Dawn Rude, Executive Assistant to the Provost and Dean of the College

Olson Forum 139

Prayer is one of the most effective and meaningful practices of the Christian faith. The Bible encourages us to pray in numerous places — we are to be “devoted to prayer” (Colossians 4:2) and to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Attendees in this session will walk as a group around campus, offering up prayers and praise to God. Alternate plans for praying for our campus will be in place in case of inclement weather. Please join us for a powerful session of prayer. 

"Nourishing During Your Vocational Journey: The Importance of Mindfulness Even at Mealtime"

Dr. Betsy Cogan, Assistant Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics and Director of the Didactic Program in Dietetics

Facilitator: SAND Student Organization, led by Jennifer Rupp '27 and Carli Olson '27

Theatre Lawn/FNS 351-52 in case of rain

For this hands-on session, I plan to lead students through a mindful eating meditation using Skittles. Students in attendance will be guided through a mindful eating exercise encouraging self-reflection, intention, and enjoyment. At the end of the meditation, students will turn to each other and compare this experience with less mindful eating, considering how reconnecting with the body may engender better health and peace. Other messages addressing the morality of food and self-worth related to food choices will also be explored. This will be an interactive event offered twice during the symposium. Volunteers from the Student Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics will also join to help lead students through the meditation and small group reflection. 

"Let's Jam"

  • Jennifer Ristau, Acquisitions and Cataloging Coordinator
  • Lisa Eggebraaten, Head of Learning, Research, and Engagement Services
  • Kevin Baggett, Head of Collections Management and Discovery

Facilitator: Sinjin Roming, PhD

Library Fishbowl

Taking our cue from this year’s selection for the FMWF One Book, One Community shared reading project, "The Birth of Loud" by Ian S. Port, as well as finding inspiration in Beethoven’s "Ode to Joy," Ross Gay’s "Book of Delights," and The New York Times’ "Tiny Love Stories," we invite attendees to tell us what you love in this jam session of joy. What makes you feel most like you, what gives you glee and purpose, frees your mind, and centers you? Is it tennis, coffee, running, writing, meditation, D&D, gardening, cats, weight lifting, music, painting, macaroni and cheese? Tell us about it or show us with a poem, essay, photograph, song, dance, video — it can be as short as 100 words or as long as 3 minutes. Use your words or those of someone who inspires you. Share what makes you happy — let’s jam! 

Second Concurrent Sessions | 1:15-2 p.m.

"What If Your Major Doesn’t Matter?"

Jill Wenger, Director of the Career Center

Facilitator: Chad Lystad

Jones A/B

This interactive workshop introduces ideas from the book "Hacking College: Why the Major Doesn’t Matter and What Really Does" and invites participants to think about college success as more than choosing the "right" major or following a linear path from college to career. Instead, it explores how students can build a more meaningful college experience by paying attention to what draws them in, their interests and strengths, and the questions or “wicked problems” that hold their attention. Participants will examine common assumptions about success, identity, and career paths, then remix those narratives by asking deeper questions about what they genuinely care about and how those concerns can inform an emerging sense of vocation and future career possibilities. The session will also introduce the idea of a "hidden job market," helping participants see that meaningful work often exists beyond obvious job titles and traditional careers. Students will leave with new ways to think about how their interests, experiences, and academic choices can shape their next steps, while faculty and staff will gain language and perspective for supporting students in these conversations. 

"Integrating Grief and Resilience in Vocational Development: A Practice‑Informed Framework for Understanding Calling"

Dr. Karen Arnold Truax, Program Director and Assistant Professor of Social Work

Facilitator: Kate Syverson

Barry Auditorium

We are called to change and be change agents in the world, sometimes through loss, building strengths and offering new paths forward. My calling has been rerouted twice through loss. The first time, a traumatic death followed by a serious illness sent me back to a place I thought I would never return. The second time, I lost myself in work, rediscovering purpose and meaning after a leap of faith led me to a former educational home. How do experiences of loss and grief shape us? How can we harness these formative events to deepen interpersonal connections and better understand our place in the world?

This workshop will allow participants to learn about building resilience in the face of adversity and how using these abilities can help us realize our many vocations throughout our lives, finding purpose and meaning.

"Rooted and Open: What is Your Concordia Story and Where Do You Show Up for Neighbors in Need?"

Dr. Gay Rawson, Director of External Affairs and Strategic Initiatives for Concordia Language Villages and Professor of French at Concordia College

Facilitator: Bree Langemo

Olson Forum 139

Concordia has received a grant from NetVUE and the Council of Independent Colleges to explore our institutional saga. Our project is called “Rooted and Open” because we believe that Concordia’s mission is a foundation for so many of us, but who we are and how we accomplish that is open. Some of the themes we hope to explore in these grant conversations include: multiculturality, immigration, radical welcome, Concordia roots, Concordia traditions, how you found your vocation, how you hope to live your vocation (i.e., it does not have to be your job), how and where ethics, empathy, and intercultural competence fit in to the Concordia story. Participants in this workshop will explore storytelling: What is your Concordia story? What brought you here? How do you plan to live out our mission of influencing the affairs of the world? Please come to this session to share your Concordia story! We want many perspectives represented.

"Paths We Never Planned: Conversations on Vocation and Calling"

  • Eric Johnson, Former Director of Concordia Alumni Relations
  • Dr. Lisa Sethre-Hofstad, Minister for Generosity, Northwestern Minnesota Synod of the ELCA
  • Mike Slette, past president of Oak Grove Lutheran School
  • Dr. Mark Jensen, Professor of Chemistry and Director of the CLIMB and STEM Discovery Scholarship Programs

Facilitator: Dr. Mark Jensen

Christiansen Recital Hall

Many of us imagine vocation as a destination reached through careful planning and deliberate choices. Yet for many people, vocational journeys are shaped by unexpected opportunities, setbacks, changing interests, and moments of discovery. In this panel discussion, panelists will share the stories of their own vocational paths, reflecting on the experiences, decisions, and influences that led them to where they are today. Through guided conversation and audience questions, participants will explore how vocation often unfolds over time and how purpose and calling can emerge in ways we never anticipated. This session invites us to embrace uncertainty, remain open to new possibilities, and recognize that meaningful vocational lives are rarely defined by a straight line. 

Third Concurrent Sessions | 2:15-3 p.m.

"Nourishing During Your Vocational Journey: The Importance of Mindfulness Even at Mealtime" (Repeated)

Dr. Betsy Cogan, Assistant Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics and Director of the Didactic Program in Dietetics

Facilitator: SAND Student Organization

Theatre Lawn/FNS 351-52 in case of rain

For this hands-on session, I plan to lead students through a mindful eating meditation using Skittles. Students in attendance will be guided through a mindful eating exercise encouraging self-reflection, intention, and enjoyment. At the end of the meditation, students will turn to each other and compare this experience with less mindful eating, considering how reconnecting with the body may engender better health and peace. Other messages addressing the morality of food and self-worth related to food choices will also be explored. This will be an interactive event offered twice during the symposium. Volunteers from the Student Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics will also join to help lead students through the meditation and small group reflection. 

"Living My Vocation Means I'm Happy, Right?!" 

  • Sheerah Paintsil '27, Orientation Chair
  • Rachel Huynh '27, Student Body President
  • Nader Said '29, Pre-Med, Black Student Union President

Facilitator: Glory Ames

 
Knutson Center Centrum
 
There can be the assumption that anything one is good at or consistently chosen for must be part of a calling. But as those responsibilities build up, you may start to question how much of that path you had actually chosen and how much of it was shaped by the environment. This student panel explores the dynamics between pressure and calling, focusing on how culture, expectations, and socialization influence what we come to see as purpose.
 
In spaces that reward reliability, achievement, and constant availability, it can become difficult to distinguish external expectations and personal calling. Simultaneously, questions about vocation can intersect race, gender, and belonging, and these pressures are not experienced equally. What is often labeled as passion or drive may also reflect how power and difference shape who is expected to carry responsibility.
 
This session invites participants to consider not only what they feel called to do, but how their environments and their identities within them have shaped what they believe they are meant to carry.

"Your Rug's Been Yanked: How To Get Back Up, Bruised Ego and All" 

The Rev. Devlyn Brooks, Faith Lutheran Church, Wolverton, Minnesota, and CEO of Churches United

Facilitator: Tracy Briggs, Forum Communications Journalist

Olson Forum 139

In May 2024, the very month I celebrated 30 years in the local media industry, I was laid off from the media software company that I had built from scratch after it was acquired by a larger software company. Yes, I was serving in my call at my church at the time, but the main profession that I had worked in for three decades and had built my personal identity on was gone in a two-minute video call with the new company's executives. This would lead to a three-month odyssey to find myself spiritually, mentally, and relationally with all of the people who loved me, and ultimately with me landing at a large faith-based nonprofit that allows me to wear my pastoral identity 24/7. I would never have been here without that detour, and I believe my story may help others. 

"Liberal Arts at Work"

  • Dr. Susan Larson, Provost and Dean, Professor of Psychology, and Interim Executive Director for Concordia Language Villages
  • Dr. Jasi O'Connor, Director of Institutional Effectiveness
  • Dr. Lisa Twomey, Director of Community Engagement and Integrative Learning and Associate Professor of Spanish
  • Dr. Darren Valenta, Director of Core Curriculum and First-Year Experience, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies, and Director of Speech and Debate
  • Jill Wenger, Director of the Career Center

Facilitator: Dr. Lisa Twomey

Barry Auditorium

Join faculty, staff, administrators, and students in an open discussion about how the liberal arts (and our core guiding principle of engaged citizenship) develop career readiness skills and prepare students for lives of purpose. Inside and outside the classroom, students develop the habits and skills employers seek, such as communication, critical thinking, teamwork, leadership, and ethical decision-making, while they also engage their communities as thoughtful and responsible citizens. At this concurrent session, participants will explore how career preparation and the liberal arts are not competing priorities but rather offer students a connected pathway that leads toward vocation and meaningful lives as engaged citizens.

Reflective Spaces and Activities | 3-4 p.m.

What’s Calling Me Now? 

Centrum, Knutson Campus Center. 

Join Chad Lystad, Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Student Engagement, for time to reflect on the topics from the day and what it means for you, at this place, and at this time. Come prepared for interaction. 

Follow Your Bliss 

Frida Nilsen Lounge. 

Reflection time with Dr. Miller-McLemore. Join our keynote speaker for an opportunity of reflective discussion on the topics of the day. Free copies of her book “Follow Your Bliss and Other Lies about Calling” available while supplies last to participants.

Vocation and the Environment
 
Knutson Campus Center Atrium
 
Student Environmental Alliance members have been asking professors around campus how sustainability and the environment relate to their work. The responses they received will be displayed at a table in the Atrium during the Symposium. SEA will also have students answering a similar question about how they see environmental issues relating to their vocation. SEA members will be at the table during the reflection time to talk to students and answer questions about how sustainability can be relevant in many different fields.