LSU Experts Available to Speak on Mardi Gras History and Traditions
February 06, 2024
LSU faculty experts are available for media interviews about Mardi Gras history and traditions.
BATON ROUGE – A number of LSU faculty experts are available for media interviews about topics surrounding Mardi Gras history and traditions. To schedule interviews, contact Abbi Rocha Laymoun at 225-916-0350 or abbirocha@lsu.edu
LSU researchers available to speak on topics related to Mardi Gras include:
Joyce Marie Jackson, professor of folklore-ethnomusicology, Department of Geography & Anthropology chair and the James J. Parsons Endowed Professor
Contact: 225-578-5942 / jjackso@lsu.edu
Areas of expertise: Mardi Gras Indians and other black masking traditions; carnivalesque street theater and resistance; transforming identities and public space; diasporic relationships including Haiti and Trinidad.
Naohiro Kato, associate professor, Department of Biological Sciences
Contact: 225-578-2004 / kato@lsu.edu
Areas of expertise: Developing biodegradable Mardi Gras beads and doubloons from algae
Michael Pasquier, professor, Departments of Religious Studies and History and associate dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Contact: 225-578-1389 / mpasquier@lsu.edu
Areas of expertise: Roman Catholicism in the South, Roman Catholic traditions surrounding Mardi Gras and into Lent
Helen Regis, associate professor, Department of Geography & Anthropology
Contact: 225-578-6171 / hregis1@lsu.edu
Areas of expertise: Mardi Gras marching groups, innovation and tradition, alternative parades, New Orleans, gender, neighborhoods, race/racism, public space
Wes Shrum, professor, Department of Sociology
Contact: 225-578-5319 / shrum@lsu.edu
Areas of expertise: Ritual disrobement at Mardi Gras, nudity, new traditions
LSU Libraries Special Collections: The LSU Libraries have a number of collections related to Mardi Gras history and traditions:
Selection of articles covering this topic in the digitized Louisiana newspapers
LSU Libraries Mardi Gras Collection
For more information, contact LSU Libraries Special Collections at 225-578-6544 or special@lsu.edu