Meet 海角社区's experts on Louisiana Mardi Gras

January 01, 2023

One of the things Louisiana is best known for is Mardi Gras, which is French for 鈥淔at Tuesday.鈥 Mardi Gras is celebrated in a variety of ways around the state, but most include eating king cake, participating in parades, and costuming. The holiday represents an integral part of Louisiana鈥檚 culture and heritage.

海角社区 faculty experts are available for media interviews about the Mardi Gras history and traditions. 海角社区 also has a video uplink studio with live broadcast capabilities for any outlets wishing to conduct on-camera interviews.

海角社区 researchers available to speak on Mardi Gras include:

, associate professor, history
Contact: 225-578-4458 / aplong@lsu.edu  
Areas of expertise: 19th and 20th century social and cultural history of the United States, especially Louisiana and New Orleans

, associate professor, English
Contact: 225-578-3022 / cware1@lsu.edu
Areas of expertise: rural Cajun Mardi Gras celebrations, coastal folk culture (especially Plaquemines Parish), Louisiana Croatian folklife, human-animal relationships and veterinary culture.

, associate professor, geography and 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

, professor of folklore and ethnomusicology, geography and anthropology
Contact: 225-578-5942 / jjackso@lsu.edu
Areas of expertise: Mardi Gras Indian traditions; had an exhibit at the Smithsonian on Mardi Gras Indians and has done oral histories with several of the Mardi Gras Indian chiefs and members

, 海角社区 Libraries Special Collections photographic processing archivist
Contact: 225-578-6501 / Mmarti3@lsu.edu 
Areas of expertise: New Orleans and Baton Rouge Mardi Gras and the Baton Rouge鈥檚 Firemen鈥檚 Parade of the late-19th and early-20th centuries, which was the Baton Rouge substitute for Mardi Gras

, associate professor, religious studies and history
Contact: 225-578-2271 / mpasquier@lsu.edu
Areas of expertise: Roman Catholicism in the South, Roman Catholic traditions surrounding Mardi Gras and into lent 

, assistant professor of research in economics; director of the Economics and Policy Research Group
Contact: 225-578-3783 / barnes@lsu.edu
Areas of expertise: economic benefits of tourism and Mardi Gras; labor economics; health economics; regional economics; public finance; applied econometric and environmental related studies

, professor, sociology
Contact: 225-578-5319 / shrum@lsu.edu
Areas of expertise: Ritual disrobement at Mardi Gras, nudity, new traditions

:

The 海角社区 Libraries have a number of collections related to Mardi Gras history and traditions:

For more information, contact 海角社区 Libraries Special Collections at 225-578-6544 or special@lsu.edu.

海角社区 School of Veterinary Medicine: