The Center for the Study of New Orleans’ first event included music, stories, a documentary — and a packed hall.
The standing-room-only crowd filled Nunemaker Hall Sept. 3 for “An Evening of Jazz and History” to see the event planned by the newly created center, which leaders hope will prompt the creation of a new minor.
The center was formed by a committee of professors and led by mass communication professor Leslie Parr, from various fields throughout the university starting early in the spring of 2009. The idea was to create a minor in the study of New Orleans and hold events to educate the community and the university.
“This is a way to give our students a broader and more critical understanding of the history and culture of New Orleans,” Parr said. “A way to help in community aid by studying the issues in the city and to connect with the city through programming that is of interest to the community.”
Classes in all fields including the liberal arts, social sciences, music and visual arts, and the natural sciences, from the past, present and future will be considered, she said.
Plans to form classes based around this minor are already being discussed, and previous and present classes also back up the center’s request for a minor. Parr said the likelihood of the new minor is high.
Officials are focusing on the center’s programming and minor for now. There is also a strong interest towards community service requirements for classes and New Orleans minors. If approved, the minor will be in place a year from now, and there is a lot of interest from both Loyola faculty and students to be a part of it, Parr said.
The committee is looking for as much student input as they can get, she said, and students can get in touch with any of the committee members by checking out their Web site, http://www.loyno.edu/csno.
“Culture Prevailed”
To kick off its programming season, the center offered “An Evening of Jazz and History,” where New Orleans author Jason Berry read excerpts from his latest edition of “Up From the Cradle of Jazz: New Orleans Music Since World War II.” Berry’s stories were then blended with music by a band featuring clarinetist Michael White and vocalist John Boutte. To add to the mix was an excerpt from a documentary about jazz funerals and the decline of the dirge. Following the movie was a dirge rendition of “Sweet By and By” and then a dance version of the same song, to show that most classic New Orleans songs are adaptable. Other songs played were “Bugle Boy,” “St. James Infirmary,” “Iko, Iko” which got everyone singing along, the Dr. John tune “Tipitina,” the Fats Domino song “I’m Walkin’,” White’s version of the songs “Burgundy Street Blues” and “Sunday Morning,” and John Boutte’s song “Sisters.”
Berry’s faith in New Orleans’ culture and art was summed up in one sentence: “Politics failed, but culture prevailed.”
The center’s next event, “What Is New Orleans?,” will take place at 7 p.m. Oct. 21 in Nunemaker Hall. It will discuss the people, culture and geography of New Orleans and will feature Susan Saulny, New Orleans native and New York Times writer; Larry Powell, Tulane University history professor; and Richard Campanella, geographer and author.
Garrett Cleland can be reached at [email protected]
