Students of all ages struggle to have fun engaging with and understanding foreign cultures and global citizenship. Levi Bird, Luther College sophomore of Muscoda, Wisconsin, is researching and creating historically based role-playing simulations in order to stimulate and to engage students in the learning of modern languages.

Luther College held commencement ceremonies for the class of 2018 at 10 a.m. Sunday, May 27, in Luther's Carlson Stadium.

Unit testing involves testing individual components of software to assure each smaller section performs as it was designed before testing the larger unit's functionality. Through his summer research project, David Oniani, Luther College first-year of Tbilisi, Georgia, is exploring whether unit testing could be used in a classroom setting to provide immediate feedback for students.

Roughly five million Americans live with fibromyalgia, a chronic disease with no standard treatment or cure that involves musculoskeletal pain. Shannon Lunn, Luther College junior of Farmington, Minnesota, is exploring experiences men have with fibromyalgia for her summer research project.

Luther College's Center for Sustainable Communities will host a presentation and discussion on floodplain management in Northeast Iowa at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 27. Kamyar Enshayan, director of the Center for Energy and environmental Education at the  University of Northern Iowa will present the talk "Floodplain Management and Community Resilience" in Room 206 of Valders Hall of Science on the Luther campus.

Thanks to a generous donation by lifetime conservation enthusiast Donald Nelson, the Luther College Land Stewardship Program has new longevity and stability. Nelson, who established the Donald H. Nelson Endowment, most recently donated $500,000 to Luther, with $40,000 set aside to create the Lionberger Preserve Wetland Restoration Project.

Luther College has added Visual Communication and Musical Theatre to their 2019-20 academic lineup. Considered the fastest growing form of marketing communication, visual communication is expected to account for 84 percent of all marketing communication by the end of 2018. After unanimous approval from Luther's Board of Regents, Visual Communication has been added as a major and minor to the college's curriculum.

Luther College's spring 2018 Dean's List includes 732 students; 96 first-years, 135 sophomores, 184 juniors and 317 seniors. To be named to the Dean's List, a student must earn a semester grade point average of 3.5 or better on a 4.0 scale and must complete at least 12 credit hours with 10 hours of conventional grades (A, B, C, D).

Paula J. Carlson, the 10th president of Luther College, has communicated to the Board of Regents her decision to retire from Luther College effective at the end of the 2018-19 academic year. As a result, the Board of Regents will initiate a search process in the coming months to identify President Carlson's successor to begin serving Luther in the summer of 2019.

Luther College students Tyler Conzett, Catelyn Janda and Liliana Mondragon have each received a Karen Julesberg Scholarship for the 2018-19 academic year. The $1,000 scholarship, created by Karen Julesberg of Madison, Wisconsin, Luther class of 1960, benefits Luther students involved in the TRIO Achievement Program. TRIO is a federally-funded program providing holistic, individualized support and comprehensive programming that promotes students' academic success, personal development and sense of community.

The Luther College Admissions Office is hosting the first of three Summer Preview Days Friday, June 29, from 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Registration is open until midnight Sunday, June 24, at https://tinyurl.com/LutherSummerPreview1. This visit provides prospective students with a total immersive visit to the campus, as well as the Decorah community.

Luther College President Paula Carlson announced that Luther alumni Chris Gade and Chip Norris will join Luther's Board of Regents.