Dr. Connie Z. Atkinson Presents “My City of Ruins”

 

We would like to recognize Connie Zeanah Atkinson, PhD, for the presentation of her paper “My City of Ruins–Tourism in Post-Disaster New Orleans, Louisiana,” to The British Association of American Studies. The presentation took place at Exeter University, Exeter, England, on April 19, 2013.

Connie Atkinson is the Associate Director of the Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies and Associate Professor of History. She received her doctorate in music from the University of Liverpool, Institute of Popular Music, the first academic institute in the English- speaking world dedicated to the study of popular music.

 

Dr. Atkinson was a journalist in New Orleans for many years, at the Courier and Figaro newspapers, and New Orleans Magazine. She edited and publishedWavelength, New Orleans Music Magazine, for 11 years.

 

Dr. Atkinson has published many articles and book chapters related to New Orleans music, including “Armstrong and the Image of New Orleans” in Satchmo Meets Amadeus,  ed. Reinhold Wagnleitner, StudienVerlag, Innsbruck, Austria,  2006; “Whose New Orleans?” in Sharon Gmelce, ed., Tourists and Tourism Reader,  New York, Waveland Press,  2003;  “Music’s Place in the Packaging of New Orleans for Tourism,” in Simone Abram, Jacqueline D.  Waldren and Donald V. L. Macleod, eds., Tourism and Tourism: Identifying with People and  Places, Oxford, Berg 1997; and “Creativity, Compromise, and the Tourist Industry in New Orleans” in Helen Taylor, Richard Wilde, eds. Dixie Debates, London, Pluto Press, 1996.

 

Dr. Atkinson serves on the board of directors of the French Quarter Festival, Satchmo Summerfest, as well as the advisory board of several other community organizations. She was local arrangements coordinator for the International Association for the Study of Popular Music held in New Orleans in 2010.

 

UNO Artist in Residence Bill Loehfelm at the Garden District Book Shop

Tuesday, April 30th, UNO Artist in Residence Bill Loehfelm discussed and signed copies of his latest book, The Devil in Her Way. The event took place at the Garden District Bookshop and had a great turnout!

 

BIO: (via uno.edu)

Bill Loehfelm is the author of Fresh Kills, the first winner of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, and Bloodroot. He was born in Brooklyn and grew up on Staten Island. His most recent novel, THE DEVIL SHE KNOWS, was published by Sarah Crichton Books/FSG and released in May 2011. Loehfelm’s work has garnered praise from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Entertainment Weekly, the New York Times, the Associated Press, People and the Baltimore Sun as well as best-selling authors John Sanford, Elizabeth Gilbert, Colin Harrison, John Lescroart, and Laura Lippman.

For more information on Bill’s works and whereabouts, click here.

 

The UNO Visual Arts League to hold Juried Exhibition

For Immediate Release

UNO St. Claude Gallery

2429 St. Claude Ave.

New Orleans, LA 70117

 

University of New Orleans Visual Arts League Juried Exhibition

UNO’s Visual Arts League, the student organization in Fine Arts at the University, opens its first-ever juried exhibition at the UNO-St. Claude Gallery. Juror Miranda Lash, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the New Orleans Museum of Art, chose twenty-nine artworks from fifty-nine submissions open to junior and senior undergraduates and graduate students at New Orleans metro-area universities.  Students from Dillard University, Tulane University, Loyola University, and the University of New Orleans will be represented in the exhibition. The show is comprised of a variety of media, including print, photo, video, painting, and sculpture. 

 

The show runs from Saturday, May 11, through Saturday, June 1, 2013.  Visual Arts League will hold an opening reception at the gallery from 6-9 p.m. on Saturday, May 11.  The gallery is located at 2429 St. Claude Ave, and is open regularly during the exhibition on Saturdays and Sundays from 12-5 p.m.

 

For more updates or to join the event, click here.

Bike Easy presents Bicycle Education Workshop

Ritual Process – M.F.A. Thesis Exhibition for Kevin Baer

The UNO-St. Claude Gallery is thrilled to exhibit “Ritual Process,” a Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition for sculptor Kevin Baer.  Baer considers themes of time, death, and decay through his use of installation and sculpture.  He intends his use of minimal materials, including sugar, ink, hair, and wood, and geometric forms to communicate about the commonality of these themes in humanity. The exhibition runs from April 13 – May 4, 2013.  The gallery will host an opening reception on Saturday, April 13, from 6-9 p.m.  Regular gallery hours are 12-5 p.m., Fridays through Sundays. The gallery is located at 2429 St. Claude Ave.  Please contact Kathy Rodriguez at klrodri2@uno.edu or x6410 with questions or inquiries.

UNO Fine Arts Department hosts annual Svenson Drawing Competition

The UNO Department of Fine Arts is proud to announce the opening reception for the annual Svenson Drawing Competition.  The Department will hold the reception on Thursday, April 11, starting at 4 p.m. at the Fine Arts Gallery on campus.  The reception includes an award ceremony to honor the juror’s picks from the variety of works in the exhibition.

Pictured below are two works featured in this year’s competition:

Desiree Buisson
Stoked
Brown paper, ink, and crayon
2013

Angel Holley
That World
Graphite on paper
2013

 

UNO Delegation Excels at the National Model United Nations Conference

A recap from Prof. John Hazlett:

The UNO Model UN Club and the course members of IS 3060 (Model United Nations) sent 18 delegates and one faculty member to the National Model United Nations Conference (NMUN) in New York City, held at the Sheraton and Hilton Hotels near Times Square and at the United Nations itself from March 24 to 29.  The UNO delegation was assigned to represent the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, and it won the following awards at the NMUN’s premier conference:

Outstanding Delegation Award

Four Outstanding Position Paper Awards

Before the conference, beginning in November of 2012 when the team first learned that it had been assigned to represent Viet Nam at the National Conference, they began preparing by studying Viet Nam’s history, politics, economy, and culture.  The team invited faculty from UNO’s History and Political Science Departments, as well as faculty from Tulane’s Department of Anthropology, to help them by visiting our class and providing us with the benefits of their expertise.   In early March, our eight committees, each one made up of two delegates, were required to turn in their Position Papers, formal documents outlining Viet Nam’s stance on a variety of issues.  These papers served as the basis for our delegates’ arguments in many of the debates that took place while the Conference was in session.

During our time in New York City, the delegation members joined with more than 5,000 college/university delegates, half from outside the United States, to discuss, debate, and propose solutions to current global problems.  This year’s topics included, among others,  “Reforming Peacekeeping to Strengthen Post-Conflict Stabilization Efforts,” “Regulating Information and Telecommunication Technology in the Context of Security,” “The Impact of Climate Change on Sustainable Development,” “Strengthening the Regulation of International Drug Trafficking,” “Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Assistance to Palestinian Refugees,” “The Nuclear Situation in North Korea,” and “Harnessing Resource Extraction for Further Development Gains.”  Altogether our 18 delegates were asked to represent Viet Nam on a total of 24 separate topics.

Outside conference sessions, our delegation met with Viet Nam’s Permanent Mission to the UN for almost two hours, and enjoyed a lively question and answer session with Minister Nguyen Trac Ba, 3^rd Secretary  Phan Ho The Nam, and 3^rd Secretary Vu Thuy Minh (pictured below):

Our last day was spent in the General Assembly of the United Nations, voting on the GA Resolutions and receiving our awards. The team is picture below with  Head Delegate Brett Netto holding the Outstanding Delegation Award:

The delegation members served on eight committees:

1. General Assembly Committee 1:  UNO’S DELEGATES WON OUTSTANDING POSITION PAPER
2. General Assembly Committee 2:  UNO’S DELEGATES WON OUTSTANDING POSITION PAPER
3. General Assembly Committee 3
4. General Assembly Committee 4
5. Special Committee on Peace Keeping Operations (C-34):  UNO’S DELEGATES WON OUTSTANDING POSITION PAPER
6. Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP)
7. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
8. UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD): UNO’S DELEGATES WON OUTSTANDING POSITION PAPER

The UNO delegation consisted of members from several majors, including BAIS, Psychology, French, History, Spanish,  IDS, Film, and Political Science.  Delegates were also diverse in national origin, with members from the US, Mexico, Honduras, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, The Philippines, Nepal, and Ireland.

Faculty Advisor:
John Hazlett
Director, BA in International Studies Program
Professor, Department of English

Head Delegates:
Brett Netto (USA, BAIS)
Anna Marie Walter (Honduras, BAIS)

Delegates:
Ashis Dahal (Nepal,  BAIS)
Chase Hukins (USA, Spanish/BAIS)
Carolina Andrade (Ecuador, Psychology/Film)*
Eduardo “Jhondie” Abreu (Philippines, IDS)*
Francisco “Kiko” Juelle (Puerto Rico, BAIS)*
Hugo Garza (Mexico,  BAIS)*
Jahi Mackey (USA, BAIS)
Jonathan Lumpkin (USA, History/Political Science)
Katie Pickett (USA, BAIS)*
Karen Lundy (Ireland, BAIS)
Margaret “Margo” Sullivan (USA, BAIS/French)
Michael Bentley (USA, BAIS)*
Minie Taylor (USA, History)*
Romy Lacour (USA, BAIS)
Renee Barrow (USA, History)
Shaniqua Casey (USA, BAIS)*

*Outstanding Position Paper Award recipients

Support Team:
Tarryn Hood (USA, BAIS-Asian Studies)