Darnell Marie Brunet
February 18, 2025
The Foundation for Terrebonne General Health System announces three new board members for 2025-2026
February 18, 2025
The Bayou Culture Collaborative is excited to present their February gathering of people and organizations focused on preserving Louisiana’s heritage and examining the effects of land loss on local culture– with a special emphasis on Mardi Gras.
Dr. Jennifer Morrison, Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Xavier University of Louisiana, will serve as the guest speaker for this event, where she will discuss the cultural implication of John Weatherall’s reconstruction of Acadiana rural Mardi Gras and what it means for understanding community.
Dr. Morrison obtained a B.A. in English from Dillard University, an M.A. from Northwestern State University, and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, before joining the Department of English as an Assistant Professor in 2022. Her research focuses on the nuances and specifics of African American culture in American literary and cultural studies, with her current projects examining how Black southern writers have articulated a cultural and geographic landscape, the Gulf South, in contemporary literature.
Dr. Morrison also currently serves as the Vice President of the Louisiana Folklore Society and the Advisory Board Member of the Ernest J. Gaines Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
“Mardi Gras offers us an opportunity to look at community heritage and traditions as indicators of community strength. In this presentation, Dr. Jennifer Morrison will discuss how in recent years, Acadiana Mardi Gras has undergone an interesting evolution,” reads a statement from the Louisiana Folklore Society. “Due to John Weatherall’s camera, and the rise of social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram; Acadiana’s Mardi Gras celebration has become a space where community is forming.”
The February Bayou Culture Collaborative will take place on Friday, February 21, 2025 from 12:00 PM-1:30 PM via Zoom. Interested participants can register here.
The Louisiana Folklore Society offers these gatherings to share perspectives on the human dimension of coastal land loss. In partnership with the Center for Bayou Studies at Nicholls State University and the South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center, the Bayou Culture Gatherings are supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Louisiana Division of the Arts, the Office of Cultural Development and the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, and the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program.
For more information, please visit the Louisiana Folklore Society on Facebook.
