LSU Experts Available to Speak about Mardi Gras History and Traditions
Experts can speak on a variety of Mardi Gras-related topics ranging from rituals and folklore to economic impact and tourism
LSU researchers are available to speak on all aspects of the Mardi Gras season – from
history and rituals to economic impact and tourism. Photo: LSU Strategic Communications
BATON ROUGE – A number of LSU faculty experts are available for media interviews about toics surrounding Mardi Gras history and traditions.
To schedule interviews, contact 225-578-5685/eballa1@lsu.edu or 225-578-3870/asatake@lsu.edu.
LSU researchers available to speak on Mardi Gras include:
Alecia P. Long, 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
Helen Regis, 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, tourism and
social sustainability
Joyce Marie Jackson, professor of folklore-ethnomusicology, Department of Geography & Anthropology
Contact: 225-578-6078, 225-578-5942 / jjackso@lsu.edu
Areas of expertise: New Orleans Black Mardi Gras Indian; street rituals as resistance
and transformative agents; Circum-Caribbean (Haiti and Trinidad) carnivalesque culture
associations; changing identities; cultural and community sustainability.
Mark Benfield, professor, Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences
Contact: 225-578-6372 / mbenfie@lsu.edu
Areas of expertise: How Mardi Gras beads can become micro plastics that end up in the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico
Mark Martin, LSU 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’s Firemen’s
Parade of the late-19th and early-20th centuries, which was the Baton Rouge substitute
for Mardi Gras
LSU researchers study all aspects of Louisiana Mardi Gras with expertise ranging from rural Mardi Gras traditions and folklore to how to create a more environmentally friendly Mardi Gras bead.
Photo: LSU Strategic Communications
Melissa Lee Smith, assistant curator of manuscripts
Contact: 225-578-5511 / msmith11@lsu.edu
Areas of expertise: 19th and 20th century social and cultural history of New Orleans,
including the traditions of old line Carnival krewes and African American traditions
of social aid and pleasure clubs, the formation of benevolent societies, and Mardi
Gras Indians.
Michael Pasquier, 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
Naohiro Kato, associate professor, biological sciences
Contact: 225-578-2004 / kato@lsu.edu
Areas of expertise: Traffic control of molecules such as proteins and lipids in plant
cells; developing biodegradable Mardi Gras beads and doubloons from algae
Wes Shrum, professor, 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.
Related:
King Cake, baby! (Recipe and video)
LSU School of Veterinary Medicine:
Mardi Gras Dos and Don'ts for Pets
Contact Ernie Ballard
LSU Media Relations
225-578-5685
eballa1@lsu.edu
or
Alison Satake
LSU Media Relations
225-578-3870
asatake@lsu.edu