Laura Ingalls Wilder: Global Migration & Midwestern Sensibilities

Laura Ingalls Wilder is an American icon, known for her novels about her family’s experience as American pioneers in the 1870s.  But does her Little House on the Prairie series have meaning for today’s immigrants and refugees to the Midwest?  Indeed it does.  Now the themes of courage, hard work, and dedication to family and tradition play out in modern riffs, such as hit Canadian TV series Little Mosque on the Prairie and Minneapolis-based blog Little Laos on the Prairie. Contemporary immigrants have adapted the iconic pioneer girl’s story about overland migration to explore current immigration controversies, facts, and myths.  In this talk, immigrant history expert, Emily Anderson will facilitate a discussion about how immigration is perceived today in light of American history, ideals, and representations in pop culture. Emily is a writer, literary scholar and City Council member in her hometown of Eau Claire, WI. Co-hosted with the WI Humanities Council, Working Lives Project.