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A
Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial
Symposium
& Exhibit -- January 31, 2003
Contact of Cultures: The
Haitian Factor
in the Louisiana Purchase and Beyond The Department of Geography and
Anthropology and the Center for French and Francophone Studies
will kick-off the Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial Celebration on
Louisiana State University’s campus in Baton Rouge. On Friday, January 31, 2003, this
celebration will include an interdisciplinary symposium
entitled, Contact of Cultures: The Haitian Factor in the
Louisiana Purchase and Beyond. The event will take place in
the LSU Hill Memorial Library Lecture Hall (adjacent to
Middleton Library). The symposium is designed to provide
the academic and public communities with an understanding of the
impact of the Haitian Revolution on the Louisiana Purchase and
beyond. The goal is to facilitate discussion on this
often-mentioned but infrequently studied aspect of the Louisiana
Purchase, as well as the broader topics of slavery, freedom,
migration, resistance rituals, revolutionary literature and art,
and (re) constructing identity.
The Haitian Revolution (1791-1804)
was unique, the only example of an enslaved populace
successfully seizing its freedom and creating an independent
state. The
Revolution exploded in one of the most important French colonies
of that era, when the Atlantic slave trade was at its zenith and
when slavery was an accepted institution. Napoleon’s
difficulties in Haiti greatly influenced his decision to
finalize the sale of the Louisiana territory and that stroke of
the pen doubled the size of the United States.
The territory was purchased in 1803 from France by the
United States at less than three cents per acre for 828,000
square miles. The transaction, $15 million, is frequently
referred to as the greatest land bargain in American history.
The aftermath sparked far-reaching consequences on the cultural
diversity of Louisiana. The
Louisiana Purchase and the Haitian Revolution not only had
long-term effects for the Louisiana territory, it influenced the
Gulf South and other parts of the Atlantic World, politically,
economically and culturally. We encourage you to help celebrate
the Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial by participating in the
discussions. In addition, the art exhibit, “Revolution
sous les Tropiques,” by the Haitian artist, Edouard Duval
Carrie˘
complements the symposium with images relating to the Haitian
Revolution and Haitian culture. The original exhibit was
presented as part of the celebration organized in France for the
Bicentennial Anniversary of the French Revolution. It was
exhibited at the Musee des Arts Africains et Oceaniens, formerly
the Palais des Colonies which was built for the Exposition
Internationale of Paris in 1933.We have a select group of prints
from the originals. The exhibit will also be in Hill Memorial
Library. Both events are free and open to the public. The symposium program follows:
Contact
of Cultures: The
Haitian Factor
in the Louisiana
Purchase and Beyond
Opening Ceremonies
9:00-9:30
Morning Session
9:30-12:30
“Haitian History and the Haitian Novel: Socio-Political
Development and Readership”
MAXIMILIEN LAROCHE, Associate
Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Laval
in Quebec, Canada and Knight in the National Honor and Merit
Order of the Republic of Haiti
“Revolution sous les Tropiques
and Other Works”
EDOUARD DUVAL CARRIE˘,
Artist, studied at the Ecole Nationale Superier des Beau Arts,
Paris France, B.A. University of Loyola Montreal, Quebec,
Canada, residency awarded by Arts International for the
Foundation of Claude Monet, Giverney, France.
Lunch on your own
12:30-2:00
Afternoon Session
2:00-5:00
“The Haitian Revolution and
the Louisiana Purchase: A
Reappraisal”
ALFRED HUNT, Professor of
History/American Studies and former Dean of the College of
Letters and Science at the State University of New York
“Haitian Rara: Resistance
Ritual and Its Louisiana Association”
ELIZABETH MCALISTER, Assistant Professor of Religion at
Wesleyan University and Faculty Research Fellow at the Institute
for the Advanced Study of Religion, Yale University
Reception
5:00-7:00 - The French House-Salon (Highland Rd.)
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This event is partially funded by
a grant from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities / For
more information contact: Dr. Joyce Marie Jackson, Symposium
& Exhibit Coordinator / LSU Dept. of Geography &
Anthropology / Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex / Baton Rouge, LA
70803
jjackso@lsu.edu
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updated 13 October 2007 |
