Stuart and History Prof. Greg Kaster caught up with one another in January 2019 over lunch at Pat’s Tap in Minneapolis. They had not seen each other in nearly 20 years.
Contrary to what one might assume, majoring in History at Gustavus prepares students to succeed in a host of fields which, at first glance, would seem to have nothing to do with studying the past. Stuart Grande, ’99, is yet another wonderful case in point.
Following graduation, Stuart taught English in Eastern Europe, where he was struck by the class disparities around him. That experience led him to earn a PhD in Health Behavior from Indiana University and go on from there to teach and research at Dartmouth University and now the University of Minnesota. Stuart’s teaching, research, and numerous presentations and publications focus on “Health Disparities, Cultural Competency (humility), Structural Competency, Shared Decision-Making, and Community Based Participatory Research.” He stresses the importance of his Gustavus liberal arts education and History-major skills, including writing evidence-based arguments in clear prose, to his current work, work that is thoroughly inflected with the Gustavus mission. As he explains, “I conduct my research through the lens of social justice, community-based principles of co-development, and person-centered outcomes.”
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Greg Kaster
Professor of History