From the Crossings and Connections Conference Commemorating 200 years of Norwegian Immigration to the U.S.A. at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the Crossings & Connections conference thanks to the MNLCP. While I only attended for one day, Friday, June 20th, I was still able to experience so much related to organized Norwegian immigration to the United States.

One highlight for me was being able to connect with the public through an event called The Exchange, where we were able to share information about Mindekirken’s Language Program with anyone who was willing to listen. It is always so heartwarming to hear from people about why they started to learn Norwegian, or how they have been able to use their language skills in the wild. I was even able to see a couple of my students in person instead of just through my computer screen! The other standout experience for me would be a workshop I attended dedicated to the Reacting to the Past project, where my former advisor Maren Johnson and her colleague Erik Mustad from the University of Agder presented on how roleplaying games can be used in second language acquisition classrooms to increase student engagement and encourage students to go out of their comfort zones. I actually worked on the project as an undergraduate student and it was fascinating to be able to see both the finished product and the successful examples from real classrooms. 

Above photo from left to right: MNLCP Administrator Krista Schweppe and Instructors Signe Ilstrup and Nick Rogness