UL Lafayette History Department

09/03/2026

We are proud to announce the establishment of the Ruth Foote Memorial Endowed Graduate Scholarship in Public History. Ruth earned her MA in Public History from our department, but her contributions to our community go well beyond her academic training. Many thanks go to the initial donors and to the UL Lafayette Office of Development. Learn more at the link below, and if you'd like an easy way to contribute to the scholarship, scan the QR code. (Photo by Milton Arceneaux.)

https://www.givecampus.com/campaigns/85528/donations/new?a=13842253

09/02/2026

Critical thinking? Problem solving? Curiosity? Skepticism? It's like an unpaid advertisement for the History major!

“Critical thinking skills are ‘huge’ in today’s job market, according to Roffe, as well as ‘problem-solving, curiosity and skepticism.’ Those abilities are particularly crucial in roles that heavily involve AI, she says: Employers are looking for workers who can rigorously evaluate AI outputs, rather than ‘just taking what it says and believing it.’”

As AI continues to reshape industries, some students are wondering what their careers will look like once they graduate.

08/28/2026

Dr. Foster to Speak at Opelousas Museum and Interpretive Center on September 19.

Speaker Series: Forgetting and Misremembering Black Life in Louisiana Through Civil Rights: The McDonough Three & Ruby Bridges

WHAT: Presentation by Dr. Theodore Foster
WHEN: Saturday, September 19, 2026
TIME: 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
WHERE: 315 N. Main Street, Opelousas
CONTACT: Patrice Melnick 337-948-2589; [email protected]

Join us for a presentation of the Louisiana Civil Rights Trail by Dr. Theodore Foster on Saturday, September 19, 2026. The presentation will take place at the Opelousas Museum at 315 N. Main Street, Opelousas, LA 70570.

Dr. Foster will discuss how the making of the Louisiana civil rights trail reproduces broader problems with remembering the modern civil rights movement through tourism, racial icons, popular images, individual names, and events. The talk asks, what genres of black life fall in and out of the narrative of civil rights then and now...in Louisiana and beyond?"

Dr. Theodore Foster III is an Assistant Professor of History and Black Studies at the University of Louisiana. Currently, Dr. Foster is on sabbatical as a post-doctoral Civil Rights Scholar research fellow with the Center for Civil Rights History and Research at the University of South Carolina and will return to UL in Civil Rights TrailFall 2027. His work explores the U.S. Black Freedom Movement and Civil Rights Movement history, political theory, and Black visual culture. Dr. Foster holds a Ph.D. in African American Studies from Northwestern University, an M.A. in African American and African Studies from Ohio State, and a B.A. in African American Studies from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Dr. Foster’s presentation is a part of a speaker series titled Opelousas, Up Close and Personal. The Speaker series is funded by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities’ 2026 Rebirth Grant and will cover topics pertaining to Opelousas’ rich history. Other presentations in the series cover topics such as indigenous peoples of Opelousas, the Yambilee and Yamba Celebrations, the Civil War, and local participation in the Civil Rights movement.

Funding for the 2026 Rebirth Grant has been provided by the State of Louisiana and administered by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. The views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed by this organization do not necessarily represent those of either the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities or the State of Louisiana.

For more information, contact Patrice Melnick 337-948-2589; [email protected].

08/28/2026

Call for Papers

The Center for Louisiana Studies is seeking proposals for the second annual Oh Yé Y(AI)lle symposium on AI and Louisiana Studies, to be held February 26, 2027 at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

We welcome proposals from researchers, cultural organizations, technologists, students, and community partners working with artificial intelligence in relation to Louisiana’s culture, history, language, archives, and heritage.

Topics may include AI and archives, Louisiana French and other heritage languages, OCR and transcription, metadata, cultural data, digital humanities, research methods, creative practice, intellectual property, authenticity, bias, representation, and other questions raised by the growing use of AI.

The organizers welcome proposals both on the potential promise of AI as well as the potential perils, but most of all on the complex questions raised by the incorporation of artificial intelligence into the study of culture and history in Louisiana specifically.

Individual presentations, collaborative sessions, and demonstrations are welcome. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector proposals are especially encouraged.

Proposals should include an abstract of 250 words or fewer, participant names and affiliations, and a brief description of the project or research.

For submissions or more information, write [email protected].

07/09/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Kaitlin Simpson, assistant professor of history, for being named to the Southern Historical Association's 2026-2027 Junior Scholars Cohort!

As a member of the nine-person cohort, Simpson will present her research in the SHA Junior Scholars Workshop series, which "provides early career professionals (those who have not yet published an academic monograph) and advanced graduate students with an incredible opportunity to share their work and receive valuable feedback from senior scholars and workshop attendees. . . . This 2027-27 cohort was selected from 50 insightful projects that promise to shape historical scholarship in the years to come."

Simpson will present “Flowers on the Move: Japanese Americans, Cooperation, and the Rise of Sunbelt Commercial Flower Production” as part of the workshop series on March 18, 2027.

The full Junior Scholars Workshop schedule includes:

August 20 – Beatrice Adams, “‘Sisters in Charge’: Atlanta and the Making of the New Great Migration”
September 17 – David Kay, “Doldrums, Dollars, and Dispatches: the Union Blockade and Black Sailors in Civil War Era North Carolina, 1862-1864”
October 15 – Micah Carlson, "Ghosts as a Resistance Archive: Silence, Dust, and Time in a Heritage Park"
November 19 – Mélena Laudig, “Seeking School: Missionary Experiments, Gullah Rituals, and Models of Religious Education on the Civil War-Era Sea Islands"
January 21 – Elizabeth Barahona, “Pushing Advocacy Forward: LGTBQ Rights and Black-Brown Solidarity Mandy Carter and Theresa El Amin”
February 18 – Youngin Jang, “‘To Sell His Interest in Said Negro Apprentice’: Chattel Principle of Slavery in Free Black Apprenticeships”
March 18 – Kaitlin Simpson, “Flowers on the Move: Japanese Americans, Cooperation, and the Rise of Sunbelt Commercial Flower Production”
April 15 – Ellie Palazzo, “Farmworkers, Populists, and Culinarians: Cultivating a New South, 1862-1896”
May 20 – Katrina Stack, “Preserving Freedom Houses: Community, Memory, and the Civil Rights Movement”

06/17/2026

Are you a graduate of UL Lafayette’s Public History Program?

Submit your application for Professional Development Grants of up to $750 to support career development opportunities, such as conferences, workshops, or professional certificates! Applications should include the following:

1. One-page proposal
2. A brief budget breakdown
3. Your graduation year
4. CV/Resume

First deadline is July 1, 2026. Send applications to [email protected].

06/13/2026

One key takeaway, among many: "Itzkowitz recommends focusing on developing 'communication, critical-thinking and problem-solving skills,' while also learning how to exercise sound judgment — another deeply human skill that he said AI can't replace." As we've said before, these are the things we train our students to do! Be a history major and prepare for the new workforce.

The advent of AI puts a premium on developing skills like critical thinking and communication, according to education experts. The liberal arts can help.

06/11/2026

Sad news. Our alumnus Ruth Foote has passed away. Ruth left an indelible mark on her community.

We lost Ruth Anita Foote.
We're still trying to make those words feel real.

Ruth was a journalist and a historian — one of the best this place ever produced, and most people never knew the half of it. She co-founded Creole Magazine. She wrote about us when nobody else would. When Clifton Chenier passed, his family asked Ruth to write the King of Zydeco's obituary. That's who she was. When it mattered, you called Ruth.

She spent her life making sure our people made it into the record. She wrote the ending of our Hands of Heritage book. She was a champion for this culture long before it was in style, and she never needed the credit for it.

She was an honoree in our very first book — same book as Bryant Benoit, same book as Lee Allen. All three of them gone now, in one year. This is a major loss. Not for any one of us — for Creole culture, for Acadiana, for everybody coming after who will never get to sit in a room with her. The people who carry this culture are leaving faster than anyone is documenting them. Ruth understood that better than anybody. She spent her whole life fighting it.

We're just glad we didn't wait. She got to hold her flowers. She got to see her name in the book — the same book in Lafayette's time capsule, to be opened in 50 years, then again in 100. Somebody not even born yet will read her name and know she was here. That's all any of this was ever for.

From me, Milton: Ruth was my friend, my hero and my champion before I'd earned one. I'm heartbroken. I lost her, and the culture lost one of its best.

Ruth, thank you. For the words. For the truth (boi did it hurt sometimes). For all of it.

— Milton Arceneaux & [Co-Founder], Creole Culture

This is one from Ruth's book session that we never published. 📸 by Milton Arceneaux

05/27/2026

Congratulations to Connor Benoit (MA, 2026), who won the 2026 Jefferson Caffery Research Award at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette! The following is from the University's press release:

Benoit, who earned a master’s degree in history from UL Lafayette this spring, submitted his winning historical research essay last fall as part of the Caffery competition. It is judged by a panel that includes members of the Edith Garland Dupré Library staff.

The Caffery Award is given yearly to an undergraduate or graduate student who conducts scholarly research using primary sources housed in Special Collections at Dupré Library. Special Collections is home to Caffery’s papers and other mementos of his career.

Benoit, who also earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University in 2024, claimed this year’s Caffery Award for “Alexandre Declouet: A Study and Re-examination of Chauvinistic Heritage in Antebellum Louisiana, 1812-1860.” He received a $500 prize for his winning essay.

In it, Benoit examines topics such as slavery, suffrage, the French Creole aristocracy and Creole identity, the American Civil War and Reconstruction. He filtered it all through the life of Declouet, a sugar planter and politician from St. Martin Parish who was born in 1812 and died in 1890.

As Benoit writes in his essay: “Declouet was a product of his cultural heritage. His upbringing and career as a member of the French Creole Aristocracy resulted in his reluctance and negative attitude towards assimilation into the United States. As the country started to drift towards a Civil War, Declouet’s identity as both an isolationist Creole and sugar planter guided his decision-making throughout his career to the eventual secession of the South.”

A key source for Benoit’s project was the Declouet Family Papers, which are housed in Special Collections’ University Archives and Acadiana Manuscripts Collection.

Materials in the library’s Jefferson Caffery Louisiana Room, the Louisiana Collection, the Rare Books Collection, Ernest J. Gaines Center, the Cajun and Creole Music Collection and microforms can also be used for Caffery competition research.

The Caffery Award is provided by a fund established in 1967 by Ambassador and Mrs. Jefferson Caffery. A 1903 graduate of UL Lafayette, Caffery served as U.S. ambassador to El Salvador, Columbia, Cuba, Brazil, France and Egypt.

Find more information about the Jefferson Caffery Research Award.

Photo caption: Connor Benoit (left) has won the 2026 Jefferson Caffery Research Award at UL Lafayette. Benoit is pictured with Dr. Zack Stein, assistant dean of technical services at the Edith Garland Dupré Library. It is judged by a panel that includes members of the Dupré Library staff. Photo credit: Doug Dugas / University of Louisiana at Lafayette

05/26/2026

"Frey said earning a college degree is still worthwhile, as it imparts three core skills in which humans hold a competitive edge over AI: complex social interactions, creativity, and navigating complex environments." Sure, you can learn these things in a lot of places, but it's at college and university, and especially in the humanities and social sciences departments, that students fully develop them through intensive training. Our department is proud to be home to three of these foundational fields of study: history, geography, & philosophy.

College can help safeguard employees from having their jobs offshored to India or the Philippines, Carl Benedikt Frey told Fortune.