UL Lafayette History Department

10/20/2026

Frederick Douglass & The Long Struggle for Black Political Power in Louisiana

Frederick Douglass’s lifelong struggle for freedom, citizenship, and political equality resonated far beyond his own time and place. Join Dr. Candice Harrison, Associate Professor of History at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, as she connects Douglass’s vision of Black political empowerment to Louisiana’s history, tracing generations of African Americans who fought to secure their rights and claim a voice in the political life of the state.

The talk will take place at 6 pm on Wednesday, November 4, at the Center for Louisiana Studies.

10/19/2026

10/06/2026

Our very own Dr. Michael Martin will be bringing a historian's perspective in the "Louisiana and the American Revolution: Rebellion, Resistance, and Cultural Survival" session.

Things are ramping up. We hope to see you at this event next Friday!

Revolution and Evolution: Celebrating 250 Years of Cultural Fusion on the Bayou

Friday, October 9, 2026
8:45 a.m.–4:45 p.m.
Hilliard University Art Museum
University of Louisiana at Lafayette

A daylong symposium hosted by the Center for Louisiana Studies as part of its collaboration with Festivals Acadiens et Créoles and the Smithsonian’s Of the People: Festival of Festivals initiative.

The program includes scholars, artists, archivists, musicians, tradition-bearers, and Smithsonian participants. Topics include Cajun and Creole music, media and cultural representation, archives, Louisiana’s Revolutionary-era history, and the 1976 Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife.

The event will conclude with a conversation about, and reception for, the Hilliard’s exhibition of photographs by Elemore Morgan Jr. from the 1976 Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife.

This project received funding from the Smithsonian’s “Our Shared Future: 250,” a Smithsonian-wide initiative supported by private philanthropy and created to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary and advance the Smithsonian vision for the next 250 years.

Festivals Acadiens et Créoles Hilliard Art Museum and Smithsonian Folklife

10/04/2026

We're so proud to have Mary as a part of our department. What an honest and insightful explanation of the value of a master's program!

10/02/2026

What an awesome project from our friends at the Center for Louisiana Studies. Archives matter!

What happens when a forgotten Louisiana song gets pulled from the a...

09/30/2026

Sounds like one of us!
"Metacognitive skills will be very important: flexibility, adaptability, experimentation, thinking critically, being able to challenge things. Developing critical-thinking skills requires friction, doing things that are hard, doing deep thinking."--Jaime Teevan, chief scientist w/Microsoft.

The Carlyle cofounder says the core skills of reading and writing have made people “successful over the last several thousand years,” and will never change.

09/29/2026

As the home of foundational disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, the Department of History, Geography, and Philosophy invites you to think about the human experience across time and space. Come learn with us! https://history.louisiana.edu/

09/29/2026

Undergrads: Get those essays written and submitted!

09/21/2026

"Ultimately, thinking historically is about asking better, more probing questions. It is a disciplined curiosity that fosters an appreciation for the complex interplay of individual agency, structural forces and pure chance. Instead of offering easy answers, it provides the intellectual equipment to engage with hard questions, a skill indispensable for navigating a future that will surely be as unpredictable as the past."

To understand the world today, we must see it as actors of the past did: through a foggy windshield, not a rearview mirror, facing a future of radical uncertainty.

09/15/2026

The Guilbeau Charitable Trust, which provides support for the work of faculty and students in the History program at UL Lafayette, is happy to provide a limited number of $1,000 scholarships for students who enroll in Dr. Robert Carriker's upcoming Study Abroad classes. Travel will take place during the Summer 2027 semester. While in Florence, Italy, Dr. Carriker will teach two courses, "Museums: Their History, Form, and Function" and "A Culinary History of Italy."

Apply for the scholarships by completing the form at this link: https://bit.ly/4gXQv2e

(Image: Giacomo Brogi, "Florence. Uffizi Gallery and Palazzo Vecchio," 1865. Public domain.)