The 16th Annual Louisiana Studies Conference will be held September 14, 2024, at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. The conference committee is now accepting presentation proposals for the upcoming conference. Presentation proposals on any aspect of the 2024 conference theme “Lyrical Louisiana,” as well as creative texts by, about, and/or for Louisiana and Louisianans, are sought for this year’s conference.

Although we are especially interested in proposals that deal with the theme of Lyrical Louisiana, all papers, creative writing, and short performances (dance, music, or theatric) that address ANY aspect of Louisiana studies are welcome. Proposals are being solicited for fifteen-minute presentations from scholars at all career stages as well as graduate students. Creative work (film, creative non-fiction, lyric or instrumental music compositions, short fiction, and poetry) is welcome. Undergraduates are invited to submit, provided they are working with the guidance of a trained scholar. (All undergraduate presenters under 18 years of age must have written permission from a parent or legal guardian.) Registration for students is FREE. Registration for all other Conference participants will be $50.

Abstracts (300 words max.) for scholarly proposals and creative writing should be sent as e-mail attachments to Dr. Shane Rasmussen, rasmussens@nsula.edu. Presentations should run no longer than 15 minutes.

Please include a separate cover page with your name, affiliation, mailing and e-mail address, and the title of your presentation. E-mails should be entitled: 2024 Louisiana Studies Conference Submission. We will send an e-mail acknowledgement of having received each abstract within one week of having received it. If you do not receive an acknowledgment, please resend your submission as we may not have received it. The deadline for submissions is July 15, 2024. Accepted presenters will be notified via e-mail by August 1, 2024, if not before.

This interdisciplinary conference will be accepting proposals from the following disciplines: American studies, anthropology, architecture, archival studies, communications, craft, creative writing, criminal justice, cultural studies, cultural tourism, dance, design, education, English and literary studies, environmental studies, ethnic studies, fashion design, film studies, fine arts, folklore, gender studies, geography, heritage resources, history, interior design, journalism, linguistics, media studies, museum studies, musicology, music performance, philosophy, photography, political science, preservation studies, psychology, queer studies, religious studies, Romance languages, social work, sociology, theatre, and vernacular architecture.

Read broadly, consider the following possibilities for presentation topics relating to the theme of Lyrical Louisiana. The following list of suggestions is not meant to be comprehensive.

NOTE: Louisiana, its cultures, history, literature, peoples, places, etc. should be an intrinsic aspect of the proposed presentation. For example, “thematic motifs in Southern literature” in itself would not be an appropriate presentation topic proposal for the Louisiana Studies Conference, while “thematic motifs in 21st century Louisiana short fiction” or “thematic motifs in the contemporary legends of Evangeline Parish” would both be highly appropriate.

Archived Music and Lyrics

Arts and Artists

Composing Louisiana

Crafting Louisiana

Dance in Louisiana

Depictions of Music and Poetry

Ethnic Music and Lyrics

Feminist Music and Lyricism

Flash Fiction

Folklore

Folk Music and Musicians

Forgotten Music and Poetry

Gendered Lyrics

Inspirations

Instruments

Louisiana Beauty

Louisiana Literature(s)

Louisiana Lyrics

Louisiana Mythologies

Louisiana Writers

Lyrical Descriptions

Lyrical Film

Lyrics/Music and the Environment

Mardi Gras

Memorials, Monuments, and Murals

Music and Musicians

Music History

Orators and Orations

Parades

Percussion

Poetry vs. Prose

Poets, Poetics, and Poetries

Rap and Rappers

Religious and Spiritual Music and Poetry

Slam Poetry, Poetics, and Poets

Songs, Singers, and Songwriters

Vernacular Lyrics, Musicalities, and Poetries

Visions and Visionaries

A selection of scholarly and creative work presented at the conference will be solicited for publication in the Louisiana Folklife Journal, a peer reviewed academic journal produced by the Louisiana Folklife Center, Northwestern State University, General Editor, Shane Rasmussen. Additional information is available on the website for the Louisiana Folklife Center at Northwestern State University: https://www.nsula.edu/folklife/louisianastudies/.

Conference Co-chairs:

Donna Baker, University Archivist and Records Officer, Northwestern State University

Jason Church, Chief, Technical Services, National Center for Preservation Technology and Training

Daniel Gordy, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice and English, Northwestern State University

Dr. Charles Pellegrin, Professor of History and Director of the Southern Studies Institute, Northwestern State University

Dr. Shane Rasmussen, Director of the Louisiana Folklife Center and Professor of English, Northwestern State University

The Conference is co-sponsored by the Louisiana Folklife Center, the Department of English, Languages, and Cultural Studies, and the Northwestern State University College of Arts and Sciences.