Sponsored by the newly formed Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association and the Department of Mass Communications at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
We invite submissions of paper proposals for review and possible acceptance for presentation at the first LauraPalooza conference, to be held on the campus of Minnesota State University, Mankato, July 15-17, 2010.
The theme of this year’s conference, Legacies, reflects interest in the continuing influence of the lives and stories of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, on American culture, history, values and ideological practice. Such influence includes:
- The broad influence the stories have had on American popular culture in the last 75 years
- The history of the books and their cultural, educational, political, and social influences
- The renewed interest in women’s handwork as cultural artifacts of women’s history
- The preservation of American folk music ways
- The preservation of American food ways
- The strategic and political influence of farming and farming culture in American history
- The long-term ramifications of the 1862 Homestead Act on Western culture
- The ever-widening circle of Lane’s politically Libertarian belief structures
- Historical racism and its lasting effects
- New discoveries in individual research that add to the Lane and Wilder legacies
- Any other way you might interpret the legacies of Wilder and Lane.
Submit your proposal in the form of a 700 to 1,000 word abstract, outlining your idea and research, by midnight on December 15, 2009. Be sure to include all contact information. Abstracts should be sent via email to amy.lauters@mnsu.edu, program chair. Acceptance notifications will be sent out via email on the birthdate of Laura Ingalls Wilder: February 7, 2010. Those with accepted proposals will be expected to register for and attend the LauraPalooza 2010: Legacies conference.
Information and updates about LP 2010 may be found at http://www.beyondlittlehouse.com.