We are excited to announce six unique Spotlight Sessions for the Crossings and Connections Conference!
Spotlight I: Thursday, June 19th, 12.30-1.30 pm & 1.45-2.45 pm
The Blanket Exercise
National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS)
Deidre Whiteman, Sandy White Hawk, Sam Torres
The Blanket Exercise is an experiential learning tool that leads a group of participants through 500+ years of Indigenous history that highlights Native American relationships with European explorers, colonial settlers, and the U.S. federal and state governments.
The exercise is interactive and requires participants, as they are able, to stand and move throughout the experience. The Blanket Exercise was first created in Canada and has been used to educate general populations there and in the United States and in many other parts of the world. The Exercise does engage participants both intellectually and emotionally and can in some instances affect individuals deeply.
Each session is limited to 40 participants. Pre-registration required.
Spotlight II: Friday, June 20th, 8.15-8.45 am
NAHA and NAHA-Norge: A Century of Making History
Amy Boxrud, Kristina Warner, and Ellen Vollebækk
Location: Viking Theater
It’s no coincidence that 2025 marks both the bicentennial of Norwegian migration and the centennial of the Norwegian American Historical Association. The NAHA staff will highlight a century of NAHA publications, archives, and membership. In addition, we’ll hear about its more than 40 year relationship with NAHA-Norge, which was originally founded as a Norwegian chapter of NAHA. The organizations now enjoy cooperation in their closely related goals of supporting and promoting research in Norwegian American history.
Spotlight III: Friday, June 20th, 10.45-11.30 am
200 Years of Norwegian Immigration: A Conversation with Odd Lovoll
Moderator: Kyle Jansson
Location: Sun Ballroom
Join this special conversation with St. Olaf Professor emeritus, Dr. Odd Sverre Lovoll. Moderated by NAHA President, Kyle Jansson conference attendees will have a special opportunity to join in conversation with our esteemed Norwegian-American historian.
Professor Lovoll taught at St. Olaf College for 30 years, holding the King Olav V Chair in Scandinavian-American Studies from 1992 to 2000. Additionally, he served as publication editor for The Norwegian-American Historical Association from 1980 until 2001. Dr. Lovoll spent his entire career chronicling the stories of Norwegian immigrants to the United States and Canada, and that hasn’t ended with his retirement!
His most well known publications include:
- A Folk Epic: The Bygdelag in America (1975)
- The Promise of America: a History of the Norwegian-American people (1983) and updated in 2025.
- A Century of Urban Life: the Norwegians in Chicago before 1930 (1988)
- The Promise Fulfilled: a Portrait of Norwegian Americans today (1998)
- Norwegians on the Prairie: Ethnicity and the Development of the Country Town (2006)
- Norwegian newspapers in America: connecting Norway and the new land (2010)
- Across the deep blue sea: the saga of early Norwegian immigrants (2015)
- Two Homelands: A Historian Considers His Life and Work (2018)
- Colonel Hans Christian Heg and the Norwegian American Experience (2023)
Spotlight IV: Friday, June 20th, 1.15-3.15pm
Film Screening and Talk
Gunhild Westhagen Magnor & Siv Ringdal
Location: TOH 280
Title: On high heels in America
Genre: Documentary
Duration: 62 minutes
Written and directed by: Gunhild Westhagen Magnor
Based on the book: På høye hæler i Amerika by Siv Ringdal (published by: Pax forlag)
Producer: Stine Blichfeldt, Them Girls
A documentary about the courage to leave everything you know behind, the freedom to live, and how the dream of New York changed everything.
In the years 1946 to 1965, many young, unmarried women from the Agder counties, in the southern part of Norway, emigrated to New York to find work. They left their villages and hometowns where material scarcity and pietistic Christianity had affected their upbringing. In New York they gradually became modern, liberated women. Many returned home eventually and brought with them their new lifestyle with them – influencing Norwegian society.
Through intimate and heartfelt stories from six of the women, combined with unique archive footage, we get an insight into their lives at the time. They each tell the story of their grand life journey with humor and wit. The documentary film sheds light on timeless topics, such as social control, women’s liberation, migration, and the American dream – topics that are still highly relevant today. This is the last chance to hear these women tell their own stories, which makes this documentary both touching, entertaining and historically valuable.
1.15-1.35: Introduction Talk (20 minutes)
1.35-2.35: Film Screening
2.45-3.15: Q&A w/ Lori Lahlum and Olivia Gunn (30 minutes)
Special thanks to the Norwegian Film Institute for sponsoring Gunhild’s attendance.
Spotlight V: Friday, June 20th, 3.45-4.45 pm
Fred Kavli: A Legacy of Innovation, Philanthropy, and Scientific Vision
Hans-Olav Solli, Petra Hand
Moderator: Jenna Coughlin
Location: Viking Theater
Fred Kavli (1927–2013) was a Norwegian-American entrepreneur, physicist, and philanthropist whose life journey – from a small farm in Norway to California where he founded one of the world’s leading sensor technology companies and philanthropic science foundations – embodies the spirit of innovation and global impact. This session explores Kavli’s remarkable contributions to science and society, including the founding of The Kavli Foundation, which supports cutting-edge research in astrophysics, nanoscience, neuroscience, and theoretical physics; the establishment of The Kavli Prize that recognizes scientific breakthroughs; and the creation of the Fred Kavli Knowledge Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Norway. Presented by Hans-Olav Solli, Director of The Romsdal Museum (Norway) and Petra Hand, Kavli Prize Manager and Fred Kavli Knowledge Center Liaison (Norway), the session will examine Kavli’s life and influences as well as how his vision continues to shape the scientific landscape for the benefit of humanity. Attendees will gain a deeper appreciation for how one individual’s courage, curiosity and passion for knowledge can leave a lasting legacy that transcends borders and disciplines.
Spotlight VI: Reception and Exhibit
Location: Groot Gallery, Center for Art and Dance
Reception: Friday, June 20th, 5.00-6.15 w/ remarks at 5.30
Reception generously sponsored by the Kavli Foundation.
Remarks by Hanne Monclair, Norwegian Embassy in Washington D.C. and Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research at 5.30
Exhibit: Illuminating 200 Years of Norwegians in North America, ongoing
This exhibit commemorates 200 years of Norwegian immigration to North America, tracing the stories of individuals and communities who helped shape the American landscape while preserving deep ties to their heritage. From the bravery of wartime efforts to the creativity of artists, writers, and entrepreneurs, these narratives reflect resilience, identity, and connection. Through photographs, letters, newspapers, and artifacts, visitors are invited to explore how Norwegian Americans built community, navigated change, and contributed tothe cultural fabric of the United States and Canada.
For a century, the Norwegian American Historical Association has safeguarded the stories of these individuals and communities. This exhibit marks the centennial of NAHA’s founding in 1925. Drawing from the association’s vast archival collections, this exhibit reflects two centuries of movement, memory, and meaning. From handwritten letters to photographs, each item on display is a voice from the past, illuminating the lives, struggles, and dreams of those who came to North America. This exhibit is not only a commemoration of history preserved, but a call to remember that heritage is not static, but living—carried forward in the stories that are shared and the power of memory.