Kwame-Ross: As an African American coming from Chicago or African American living in Minneapolis, versus a white teacher who teaches in Minneapolis, but comes from Minnetonka, you have a discrepancy of knowledge. How do you get white teachers who grew up differently, who have different experiences, in other words, have different knowledge sets to teach a group of kids with a whole different knowledge set?

Paul Pribbenow: Augsburg University educates students to be informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers and responsible leaders. I'm Paul Pribbenow, the president of Augsburg University, and it's my great privilege to present The Augsburg Podcast, one way you can get to know some of the faculty and staff I'm honored to work with every day.

Catherine Day: I'm Catherine Reid Day, host of The Augsburg podcast. Today we're speaking with Terrance Kwame-Ross, associate professor of education, and we're going to touch on a number of topics about the crucial nature of education. Welcome.

Kwame-Ross: Thank you.

Catherine Day: I'd love to start with where you came from, what your origins were.

Kwame-Ross: I grew up in Chicago, Illinois on the south side. The way I describe it is I had a wonderful childhood related to the geography. The place that I grew up at, it was close to the Museum of Science and Industry at University of Chicago, Jackson Park, so it was a place that was an environment for constant learning. Even though financially we didn't have a lot of financial means. But I feel as though that particular geographical place that I grew up was rich with resources, and I really think that that was foreshadowing how I think about learning. That it happens all the time, everywhere, in many different places. Chicago was that place.

When people think of Chicago, they probably think of this big scary place, which sometimes it is. I've learned when things are scary in some places, how do we still survive and still learn? My roots from Chicago, and still they are. My mom still live there, my family live there, so I go back there. 62nd and Stony was my stomping grounds, as they say.

Catherine Day: Your stomping grounds, yeah. For anyone who has been to the University of Chicago or the Museum of Science and Industry ... and I think so many people ... I went there probably in fifth grade on the train or something-

Kwame-Ross: Yes. Exactly.

Catherine Day: ... it's an amazing ... as you say, it's just a rich learning environment. In what ways do you think place continues to inform the way you're thinking about educating?

Kwame-Ross: There's this idea called ... well, people call it context. I like to think about it as an ecology. That there's different places, and we know it, it's a fact that there's places inside of ourselves that we have conversations with about morality or our ethics, what we're seeing in the world. There's ecological places in terms of our families and our homes that knowledge come from and we learn. There's neighborhoods and communities and society and laws. I think that place, the physical place that you grew up or that you're currently at or live in is a fertile ground for knowledge and learning.

I believe that place, geographical,