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 

    Mardi Gras

    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

    Mardi Gras Indians

    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:

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

     

    Related:

    Do You Kneaux Mardi Gras?

    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