Hating Bourbon Street
In this excerpt from this 2014 book Bourbon Street: A History (LSU Press), Tulane geographer Richard Campanella explains the curious cultural phenomenon of hating Bourbon Street—who hates it, why they need you to know they hate it, and what they’re missing when they hate it. Courtesy Places Journal. New Orleans: Place Portraits — Over the next…
A Night on the Town in 1930s New Orleans
If AAG came to New Orleans 85 years ago, you might be hitting a “nitery” on Rampart Street or a dance hall in the “Tango Belt” tonight. Tulane geographer Richard Campanella takes you out for a night on the town in 1930s New Orleans, courtesy Preservation in Print Magazine (PDF). New Orleans: Place Portraits — Over…
Southwest Louisiana’s Creole Trail Riding Clubs
Jeanerette Trail Ride, Jeanerette, LA, 2015, Photo by Jeremiah Ariaz By Alexandra Giancarlo Photos by Jeremiah Ariaz You could say trail riding and horse culture is in Acynthia Villery’s blood. “I was going to rodeos in my mother’s womb,” she explained to me. A Texas transplant, Acynthia hails from a long line of Creoles in…
Mapping the Geography of Cool
Coolness, by its very nature, explores edgy terrain; thus, in cities, it becomes geographical, occupying certain spaces, disdaining others, and seeking new ones when uncoolness approaches. And that’s when, and where, coolness affects real estate. Tulane geographer Richard Campanella maps the geography of cool in New Orleans, courtesy The Times-Picayune (PDF). New Orleans: Place Portraits…
New Orleans, Unmonumentalized
Much has been said and written about the recent removal of four New Orleanian monuments to Confederate leaders and an 1874 white supremacist uprising . More will be said at the Annual Meeting. The wide-ranging struggle over New Orleanian monuments includes how those memorials (re)defined New Orleans’ place in American space and time around Lost…
Flood Control Infrastructure and ‘Political Hydrology’ along the LA-TX Gulf Coast
An intact portion of the 17th Street Canal (flooded after Hurricane Katrina). Concrete flood walls top the levees. CC by Wikimedia Commons, by Infrogmation The nation’s costliest natural disasters continue to be caused by flooding. Every year, with enormous personal and financial cost to citizens, floods damage crops, infrastructure, businesses, personal property and, most unfortunately,…
Continuing Creolization in New Orleans Foodways
Among other points of distinction, New Orleans is often and enthusiastically celebrated as a great place to eat. Boosters of the city’s cuisine point to the same cultural hybridity and cosmopolitanism that enabled the flourishing of jazz music and distinctive architectural styles as explanation for the development of Creole cuisine. Tom Fitzmorris, a prominent restaurant…
Undergraduate Student Activities & Resources at the 2018 Annual Meeting in New Orleans
From 2016 to 2017, undergraduate membership in the AAG grew by 54% and over 400 undergraduates attended the 2017 AAG Annual Meeting. This year over 500 undergrads have already registered to attend the upcoming meeting in New Orleans! At the Annual Meeting, students are encouraged to network with their peers and colleagues, expand their involvement…
Social Media at #AAG2018
We’re getting closer to the 2018 AAG Annual Meeting! Whether you will be attending the meeting all week, for a few days, or looking to follow the action from afar, there are plenty of ways to get involved using social media. Social media is a great way for seasoned conference goers and newcomers alike to…
Neutral Ground: From the Political Geography of Imperialism to the Street of New Orleans
AAG visitors may hear locals refer to street medians as “neutral grounds.” It’s a term distinct to New Orleans, with roots in political and ethnic geography from 200 years ago, according to Tulane geographer Richard Campanella, courtesy Louisiana Cultural Vistas (PDF). New Orleans: Place Portraits — Over the next nine months, AAG’s “Focus on New Orleans…
The Great Footprint Debate, Updated
In the tumultuous aftermath of the 2005 Katrina deluge, New Orleanians debated passionately a fundamental geographical question: should the city close down flood-damaged neighborhoods and shrink its urban “footprint” in the interest of environmental sustainability, or does every citizen have a right to return to their home? Tulane geographer Richard Campanella revisits “the Great Footprint…
A Glorious Mess: Perceptual History of New Orleans Neighborhoods
Be skeptical of “official” city neighborhoods, writes Tulane geographer Richard Campanella. Neighborhoods are best delineated, named, and understood by the people who inhabit them, he argues, and in New Orleans, that makes for a glorious mess. Courtesy New Orleans Magazine. New Orleans: Place Portraits — Over the next nine months, AAG’s “Focus on New Orleans and…