Oct. 2nd Listening Party for the latest radio documentary from David Kunian
On October 2nd, the LHC will present our first listening party and you won't want to miss this one. "Jonathan Freilich's Freedom Double-O Naked Klezmer Jazz Latin Boogaloo: The Radio Documentary" is the latest LEH-funded work by WWOZ DJ and award-winning documentarian David Kunian. David will be on-hand to discuss the documentary about the New Orleans guitarist, composer, and bandleader.
Doors open at 7pm and admission is free. A short reception will follow. To make a reservation, contact Brian Boyles at 504-620-2632 or boyles@leh.org.
LEH and Smithsonian "Museum on Main Street" events
Kaplan: A major traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibition on the roots of American music will be on display Sept. 11-Oct. 15 at Le Musée de la Kaplan and its special exhibition site steps from the museum. "New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music" explores the American story through the diverse musical genres that evolved from our nation's unique blending of cultures and experiences. Through panel displays and interactive kiosks, the exhibition includes material on sacred songs, blues, country, rock'n'roll and more. Each of the six Louisiana communities hosting the exhibition through 2009 mounts a local exhibition, and presents public humanities programs that showcase our state's rich and diverse musical heritage. For more information, contact the museum at 337-643-1528.
In conjunction with the exhibition, Le Musée is presenting the following activities:
Sept. 10: Dr. Barry Jean Ancelet, author of Cajun and Creole Music Makers, will discuss his works and present a slide show conveying the enormous contributions of the late painter Elemore Morgan, Jr., and his father, a distinguished photographer. Prior to his death, Morgan was looking forward to participating in this program himself; his widow, Mary Morgan, will be on hand to interpret her husband's works. Scheduled for 7-9 p.m. at the Kaplan branch of the Vermilion Parish Library.
Sept. 11: Audiences are invited to meet the artists who contributed to an exhibition of youth artwork inspired by Acadiana's roots music genres at the gala opening of New Harmonies. Scheduled for 7-9 p.m. at the museum.
Sept. 20: Scholar Steve Simon will present an informance on the musical traditions of the Native American Metis people. Scheduled for 7-9 p.m. at the museum.
Grants Program
Public Humanities grants
Like the majority of LEH programs, Public Humanities programs should be designed for the general out-of-school, adult public. Public Humanities Grants support carefully planned public presentations that have a clear and central humanities component. They should involve audience participation and discussion - the backbone of the humanities themselves - and they should seek to incorporate new audiences and approaches in making the humanities a part of daily experience. The Fall Public Humanities Grant deadline is Oct. 1 for projects beginning after Jan. 1.
Grants review process
All Public Humanities Grant applications follow a standard application and review process. Applicants are encouraged to submit a Preliminary Application (by mail, fax or email) to the LEH staff at least 4 to 6 weeks prior to the appropriate grant deadline. This draft is circulated among staff members who probe the proposal for weaknesses and strengths. These attributes are then communicated to the project director in writing. This written response is followed by telephone consultations as needed and, when necessary and feasible, a personal meeting. Public Humanities Grant applicants who submit preliminary applications at least 4 weeks before the deadline are eligible for $10,001 or more in funding; applicants who do not submit a preliminary proposal are limited to a maximum request of $10,000 in funds.
Teacher Institutes for Advanced Study grants
Deadlines
Application Deadline: Receipt by 5:00 p.m. on Oct. 1.
Optional Review Deadline: Receipt by Sept. 1 for staff critique of draft proposals. All applicants, especially first-time applicants, are encouraged to seek technical advice prior to the application deadline by submitting a narrative and budget for the optional review deadline. Applicants who do not submit a full narrative and budget for review by Sept. 1 are limited to a maximum grant request of $30,000.
Awards Announcement: December.
For more information, contact Erik Charpentier, Assistant Director - Grants Program, at 504-620-2478 or charpentier@leh.org.
We the People American history grants available at LEH
LEH Receives We the People grant from NEH
LEH was awarded a grant of $96,730 by the National Endowment for the Humanities for its We the People initiative. We the People is a NEH program designed to encourage and enhance the teaching, study and understanding of American history, culture and democratic principles. A portion of this grant will be re-granted to eligible nonprofit organizations in Louisiana for public programs that explore themes in American history and culture. Contact LEH grants director Walker Lasiter at lasiter@leh.org, 800-909-7990 x132 or 504-620-2631.
LEH grant deadlines
• Public Humanities grants: Oct. 1
• Teacher Institutes for Advanced Study: Oct. 1
Contact Eric Charpentier at 800-909-7990 x125, 504-620-2478 or charpentier@leh.org
Shreveport's Sixth Grade Academy to host fall PRIME TIME
Through the sponsorship of the Shreveport-Bossier Foundation, the Sixth Grade Academy on Laurel Street in Shreveport will host an important PRIME TIME program for 11- and 12-year olds. The usual ages for PRIME TIME participants range from 6 to 10. The program will take place from Oct. 21 to Dec. 9. In response to requests to extend the older age limit of the PRIME TIME audience, PRIME TIME FAMILY READING TIME® will use the chapter book Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman, along with other books from its usual syllabi, to offer PRIME TIME's open-ended question and discussion techniques to help develop the love of reading among at-risk students.
Heading up the program's organization are Linda Evans and Sixth Grade Academy counselor Dr. Elizabeth Sullivan. The Scholar/Discussion Leader will be Shreveport PRIME TIME veteran LSU-S English professor Dr. Helen Taylor. PRIME TIME newcomer and fellow LSUS English instructor Lonnie McGray will be the storyteller. The younger siblings of students participating in the program will be cared for by Shirley Davis, who will serve as the preschool coordinator.
Last spring, teachers at the Sixth Grade Academy received instruction in PRIME TIMEmethodology to increase awareness within the school of this open-ended-discussion technique. "I am so excited about this particular PRIME TIME," said Dr. Olivia Pass, LEH PRIME TIME site monitor for the Sixth Grade Academy. "I have heard many wonderful things about the Sixth Grade Academy, and I strongly feel that PRIME TIME will bring even more positive results in achievement for the terrific students there."
PRIME TIME goes to Michigan!
The LEH's PRIME TIME FAMILY READING TIME® program is underway in Michigan, where the Michigan Humanities Council (MHC) is implementing its NEH Bilingual Expansion Grant at four libraries across the state. "The Michigan Humanities Council clearly supports and is looking forward to continuing PRIME TIME," said Jan Fedewa, MHC's Executive Director. "In the two programs conducted to date, Saginaw and South Haven, Michigan, we've had tremendous impact on families' lives. The goal is to get people reading and get them into libraries and we've succeeded in doing that through PRIME TIME."
PRIME TIME Assistant Director Miranda Restovic and MHC's Grants Director and PRIME TIME State Project Director Cynthia Dimitrijevic visited the South Haven Memorial Library in July. "I was most impressed by this PRIME TIME team," said Restovic. "They demonstrated incredible flexibility with moving the start time to 7:30 p.m. to accommodate participating families, most of whom were Hispanic seasonal workers in the fields until sundown." Deborah Root Jones, PRIME TIME program coordinator, generated community support for the program, including the support of the local school system, which purchased gas cards to be given to families to compensate them for traveling to the library from the remote farms where most worked. Children as well as parents were enthralled by the phenomenal bilingual storytelling and discussion that took place throughout the evening facilitated by discussion leaders Leonor Murphy and Dr. Ruth Heinig.
For more information on PRIME TIME programming, contact Miranda Restovic at restovic@leh.org or visit www.michiganhumanities.org/primetime/index.
PRIME TIME gears up for fall 2008 programming across Louisiana
Drawing from state funds as well as numerous private foundation grants, PRIME TIME will implement 23 programs across 17 Louisiana parishes this fall. "We are particularly pleased to be able to serve Catahoula and Tensas parishes for the first time this fall," said Faye Flanagan, PRIME TIME Project Director. By the end of 2008, PRIME TIME will have implemented 466 programs across 63 of Louisiana's 64 parishes!
Out of the 23 scheduled programs, PRIME TIME will work closely with a few special programs, including two pilot programs scheduled at Sixth Grade Academy in Shreveport and Benjamin Banneker Elementary School in New Orleans. Both pilot programs will target middle school children and their families using the chapter book Seadfolks by Paul Fleishman. The third "special project" will be the second installation of PRIME TIME at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, where families from near-by schools are invited to attend PRIME TIME hosted in the museum's galleries. The last two weeks of this program engage the families in an arts and crafts project designed around literature. To view the fall 2008 PRIME TIME schedule, visit www.leh.org/html/ptschedule.html.
RELIC: Liz rocks Lincoln Parish
"Elizabeth I of England and Her Times," the newest reading and discussion program in the RELIC firmament, continues to rock the Louisiana humanities world with record-shattering audience attendance. The Lincoln Parish Library began its program on Aug.19-traditionally a deadly time to attract an audience of active seniors and other groups-and filled its cavernous Conference Room. "We had a wonderful beginning program tonight! We had 61 in attendance. We have given out all our books and have a list of 5 more folks who want a change to join," reported LPL director Vivian McCain. "I think we will have a good showing for the rest of this RELIC Series," predicted Louisiana Tech's Dr. Jeffery Hankins, one of the scholars leading the program. Vivian agreed: "I can hardly wait to see what happens next week."
The program, now in its first full year, has struck a very responsive chord with Louisiana's reading public. Held earlier in Shreveport, it drew over 90 people. One attendee stated: "The program offers access to subjects with instructors who have a true passion for the material." Even in Terrebonne Parish the traditionally Anglophobic Acadians embraced the English-speaking ruler as one of their own. "I loved it. I wish that it could continue for a longer period of time," lamented one Houma resident. Ask your library to offer the Queen lodging in your community. For complete schedule, go to www.leh.org/html/relicschedule.html.
LEH online encyclopedia, Tulane, UNO partnerships
KnowLA staff continues to make good progress in the initial development of the online encyclopedia. At present, we are experimenting with different navigational methods to determine the best ways that users may access the site, both through self-directed explorations and through specific, guided pathways.
An important key to the success of this project is the partnerships and collaborations that will facilitate the sharing of resources important in the history and culture of the state. To that end, LEH/KnowLA hosted the August meeting of Informal Educators of New Orleans, a collaboration of informal educators from museums, parks, and cultural and interpretive organizations. Cathy Corder and Joyce Miller, KnowLA editors, and Andrea Ferguson, KnowLA digital media editor, met with Genny Nadler, executive director of the Louisiana Association of Museums, and discussed ways in which KnowLA can work with smaller museums to identify images and media files for encyclopedia entries and to give these institutions a presence on the web. KnowLA editors also took a tour of the new Southern Food and Beverage Museum and got an overview of that museum's library, a collection of some 4,000 volumes, which will be a rich source for historic cookbooks, menus, and cocktails.
In addition, LEH/KnowLA has joined the Tulane University Community Partnership program, which encourages Tulane students to get involved in service learning and research through internships with local organizations. KnowLA internships might involve research, image identification and collection, writing, fact checking, and even programming. (We already have one student eager to work with us this fall!) KnowLA staff is working as well with Professor Michael Mizell-Nelson, director of the Public History program at the University of New Orleans, to integrate work for the encyclopedia as part of his graduate-level Introduction to Public History course this fall. We hope to involve more graduate and undergraduate students in this project.
For more information about KnowLA, contact Cathy Corder, Editor, at corder@leh.org.
LEH-sponsored events
Lake Charles: The Imperial Calcasieu Museum presents a new multimedia exhibition entitled "Java: Louisiana's Coffee Roasters," which chronicles the rich story of Louisiana's coffee industry. Coinciding with the 90th anniversary of the Community Coffee Company, the exhibition will include oral histories from industry pioneers and historians, folk crafts inspired by coffee, a collection of early memorabilia, and examples of period equipment and bean types. The exhibition is scheduled to open to the public Sept. 26. For more information, please contact the Imperial Calcasieu Museum at 337-439-3797.
Metairie: The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival presents the seventh annual season of "Coffee and Conversations: A Series of Library Discussions." A collaborative effort with the Jefferson Parish Library, the series consists of four scholar-led public interviews with noted authors, followed by a question-and-answer session. All presentations take place at the Jefferson Parish Library's East Bank Regional branch. This month's presentation, a discussion with novelist Bill Loehfelm (author of Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award-winning Fresh Kills), will be facilitated by journalist Arin Black. The session is scheduled for 7-9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 18. Additional presentations are scheduled through November. For more information, contact the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival at 504-581-1144.
New Orleans: The Louisiana Himalaya Association presents a series of lectures from Tibetan Buddhist scholar and monk, Lama Chamtrul Rinpoche, who is visiting Louisiana from Dharamsala, India. Designed to explore basic topics in Buddhist philosophy, each lecture will be introduced by philosophy and religious studies scholars from Tulane and Loyola universities to place each presentation within a broader historical, cultural and philosophical context. For more information, contact susandunlap@hotmail.com. The lecture schedule is as follows:
- Friday, Sept. 19, 7-9 p.m., Freeman Auditorium, Tulane University
- Tuesday, Sept. 23, 7-9 p.m., Audubon Room, Danna Center, Loyola University
- Friday, Sept. 26, 7-9 p.m., St. Charles Room, Danna Center, Loyola University
Shreveport: As part of the inaugural Southern Black Theatre Festival scheduled for Sept.18-28, the MECCA Foundation is presenting a scholar-led humanities forum entitled "Black Out: A Historical and Social Discourse on Black Theatre in America." The symposium features prominent theatre history scholars from several Louisiana universities. Discussion topics will include the role of theatre in the evolving American conception of race and ethnicity; theatre as a catalyst for social and political change; and the legacy of black theatre in the South. Other festival events include theatrical performances, a staged reading series, and youth- and collegiate-level showcases. The forum is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 26, at the East Bank Theatre in Bossier City. For more information, please visit www.southernblacktheatrefest.org.
Thibodaux: Fletcher Technical Community College presents a series of readings and discussions with 2007-2008 Louisiana Poet Laureate Dr. Darrell Bourque. The first of four public sessions planned for locations in Lafourche, Terrebonne, and Assumption parishes is scheduled for 5:30-7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30 at the Lafourche Parish Public Library in Thibodaux. Three additional sessions are planned for early October at Fletcher Technical Community College and the Terrebonne Parish Public Library in Houma, as well as the Assumption Parish Public Library in Napoleonville. For more information, please contact project director Suzanne Martin at 985-858-5744
NEH Picturing America initiative Great art speaks powerfully, inspires fresh thinking, and connects us to our past.
Picturing America, an exciting new initiative from the National Endowment for the Humanities, brings masterpieces of American art into classrooms and libraries nationwide. Through this innovative program, students and citizens will gain a deeper appreciation of our country's history and character through the study and understanding of its art.
The nation's artistic heritage-our paintings, sculpture, architecture, fine crafts, and photography-offers unique insights into the character, ideals, and aspirations of our country. Picturing America, a far-reaching new program from the National Endowment for the Humanities in cooperation with the American Library Association, brings this vital heritage to all Americans.
By bringing high-quality reproductions of notable American art into public and private schools, libraries, and communities, Picturing America gives participants the opportunity to learn about our nation's history and culture in a fresh and engaging way. The program uses art as a catalyst for the study of America-the cultural, political, and historical threads woven into our nation's fabric over time.
Collectively, the masterpieces in Picturing America, used in conjunction with the Teachers Resource Book and program web site, help students experience the humanity of history and enhance the teaching and understanding of America's past. NEH's application deadline is Oct. 31, 2008. For more info: http://picturingamerica.neh.gov/.
Louisiana schools and public libraries are encouraged to apply to NEH for the reproductions and resource guide. Successful applicants may then apply for LEH grants to produce supplemental programs. Contact LEH grants director Walker Lasiter at lasiter@leh.org or 504-620-2631 or 800-909-7990 x132.
Upcoming LCV Fall 2008 Edition
The Fall 2008 edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas, due for circulation in October, features the cover story, "Krista Jurisich's New Orleans Immortelle," about kaleidoscopic photographic quilts of New Orleans inspired by the French tradition of immortelles, icons created to revere the deceased. Other features will include:
- Highland-Fairfield: The Historic Heart of Shreveport by Eric J. Brock
- Perils of the Mississippi River by Sally K. Reeves
- Harvest of Life by Daniel d'Oney, Ph.D.
- King Oliver: The Forgotten King of Jazz by Roger Hahn
- Eye of the Storm photo essay by Sandra Burshell
- Soul Resin, fiction by C.W. Cannon, Ph.D.
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