On 26-27 September 2026, the Lao American Archive Project (LAAP), which is based at the Center of Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, organized a training workshop regarding Lao American archival materials.
Lao community members from six states: Arizona, Georgia, New York, Minnesota, Illinois (Rockford and Elgin), and Wisconsin (Green Bay and Milwaukee) participated in the 1½ day training workshop, which was organized to recruit important Lao American community members and train them regarding how to find and acquire Lao American archival collections that can be deposited at the national repository for Lao American archival materials at the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison.
The participants had the chance to visit the Wisconsin Historical Society archives to view some of the already deposited Lao American archival collections there. They learned about the importance of Lao American archival materials, and what types of materials can be deposited with the Wisconsin Historical Society.
On the last day of the workshop, participants prepared strategic plans for potentially obtaining Lao American collections in their own communities. The training workshop was entirely in Lao language, and was led by Dr. Ian Baird, a Geography professor at UW-Madison and Dr. Akarath Soukhaphon, who recently completed his PhD at UW-Madison. Other LAAP steering community members participated in the workshop, including Saengmany Ratsabout and Dr. Mike Rattanasaengchanh. The workshop was generously funded through a grant provided by the Henry Luce Foundation.
Workshop participants 
One of the workshop activities
Discussions during the workshop