March 11, 2025
17th annual event will focus on ‘Louisiana Dramas’
By Dr. Shane Rasmussen, Director of the Louisiana Folk Life Center
NATCHITOCHES – The 17th annual Louisiana Studies Conference will be held Sept. 13 at Northwestern State University. The conference committee is now accepting presentation proposals for the upcoming conference on any aspect of the 2025 conference theme “Louisiana Dramas,” as well as creative texts by, about, and/or for Louisiana and Louisianans.
“Although we are especially interested in proposals that deal with the theme of ‘Louisiana Dramas,’ all papers, creative writing and short performances (dance, music or theatric) that address any aspect of Louisiana studies are welcome,” said Dr. Shane Rasmussen, director of the Louisiana Folklife Center.
Proposals are being solicited for 15-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 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.
Applicants should include a separate cover page with name, affiliation, mailing and e-mail address and the title of the presentation. E-mails should be titled “2025 Louisiana Studies Conference Submission.” An e-mail acknowledgement of having received each abstract will be send within one week of having received it. Applicants who do not receive an acknowledgment should resend the submission.
The deadline for submissions is June 1. Accepted presenters will be notified via e-mail by July 1, 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, 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 Louisiana Dramas. 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 appropriate.
The following list of suggestions is not meant to be comprehensive.
Archetypes & Stereotypes
Depictions of Louisiana in Theater and Film
Documentaries
Drama and the Environment
Ethnographies
Festivals and Celebrations
Folk Theater & Drama
Forgotten and Neglected Louisiana Dramas
The Free Southern Theater
Lillian Hellman
Louisiana Actors & Actresses
Louisiana Dramatists
Louisiana History
Louisiana Literature(s)
Louisiana on Film & TV
Louisiana Melodrama
Louisiana Reality Shows
Louisiana Theater
Mardi Gras
Musical Theater
Parades and Parading
Radio Dramas
Religious and Spiritual Drama and Theater
Representations of Louisiana
Tennessee Williams
Theater Festivals
Tony Kushner
Spectacles
Vernacular Dramas
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 are Donna Baker, NSU archivist and records officer; Jason Church, chief of Technical Services, National Center for Preservation Technology and Training; NSU faculty Dr. Daniel Gordy, assistant professor of Criminal Justice and English, Dr. Charles Pellegrin, professor of History and director of the Southern Studies Institute, and Rasmussen, professor of English.
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.
