Anna M. Peterson researches and teaches within the fields of immigration history, women’s and gender history, social history, and indigenous history with a geographic focus on Europe, Scandinavia, Norway, and the U.S. Her current research project sits at the nexus of immigration and indigenous history and explores the topics of gender, education, and ethnicity at the Norwegian-American-run Bethany Indian Mission outside Wittenberg, Wisconsin.

Peterson currently serves as editor for the Norwegian-American Historical Association, overseeing its robust journal and book publications program.

She has won numerous awards and fellowships for her work, including the Nena Amundson Distinguished Professorship (2018-2020), and the Norwegian Historical Association’s award for most innovative contribution to its journal, Historisk tidsskrift (2016).

A specialist in modern Norwegian history, Peterson has spent considerable time researching and teaching in Norway. Most recently she participated in an academic exchange with a Norwegian historian in which she taught his courses at University of Southeastern Norway and he taught her courses at Luther (Spring 2020).

She maintains an active presence in the local and regional birth communities, where she practices as a doula and co-leads the Decorah Breastfeeding Support Group.

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