Dr. Joshua Caffery is the new director of the at the 小蝌蚪APP.
Caffery, a published folklorist, poet, and Grammy-nominated musician and producer, will begin his new position on July 1. He succeeds Dr. Michael Martin, the center小蝌蚪APP檚 director since 2011.
小蝌蚪APP淚小蝌蚪APP檓 thrilled to be joining an incredibly talented team at the Center for Louisiana Studies,小蝌蚪APP Caffery said. 小蝌蚪APP淚t will be an honor to build on Michael小蝌蚪APP檚 work, and to engage with the center小蝌蚪APP檚 cultural mission at a time when the importance of our area小蝌蚪APP檚 cultural resources is so poignantly clear.小蝌蚪APP
A native of the St. Mary Parish community of Irish Bend, outside Franklin, Louisiana, Caffery earned a master小蝌蚪APP檚 degree and a Ph.D. in English and folklore from UL Lafayette. He completed a bachelor小蝌蚪APP檚 degree in philosophy and religious studies at LSU in Baton Rouge.
Caffery held the Alan Lomax Fellowship in Folklife Studies at the Library of Congress in 2013.
Lomax was a noted ethnomusicologist. The Cajun and Creole musical styles he documented in Great Depression-era Louisiana were explored in Caffery小蝌蚪APP檚 小蝌蚪APP淭raditional Music in Coastal Louisiana: The 1934 Lomax Collection.小蝌蚪APP
The book, which LSU Press published in 2013, inspired a four-CD box set produced by Caffery and musician Joel Savoy, 小蝌蚪APP淚 Wanna Sing Right: Rediscovering Lomax in the Evangeline Country.小蝌蚪APP It was nominated in the Best Regional Roots Music Album category at the 2017 Grammy Awards.
The compilation also earned Caffery and Savoy recognition closer to home. The Community Foundation of Acadiana named the pair among the inaugural recipients of its Icon Arts and Cultural Awards in 2017.
The Grammy nomination for the Lomax box set was Caffery小蝌蚪APP檚 second. He played mandolin, and electric and acoustic guitars on Feufollet小蝌蚪APP檚 小蝌蚪APP淓n Couleurs.小蝌蚪APP The album also featured 小蝌蚪APP溍 Saint-Martin,小蝌蚪APP a song Caffery wrote. It earned a song of the year nomination from the Cajun French Music Association.
小蝌蚪APP淓n Couleurs小蝌蚪APP received a 2010 Grammy nomination in the Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album category.
In addition, Caffery was a founding member of the Red Stick Ramblers, a Cajun and Western swing band.
He taught in UL Lafayette小蝌蚪APP檚 Department of English while pursuing his doctorate. He was also chair of the English Department at the Episcopal School of Acadiana in Cade; a visiting assistant professor of folklore at Indiana 小蝌蚪APP, Bloomington; and a brand strategist and researcher at Stuller Inc. in Lafayette.
Caffery is a published poet. LSU Press released his 小蝌蚪APP淚n the Creole Twilight: Poems and Songs from Louisiana Folklore,小蝌蚪APP a collection of poems inspired by Louisiana myth, legend and oral history, in 2015.
小蝌蚪APP淛osh brings a unique combination of talents to this position,小蝌蚪APP said Dr. Jordan Kellman, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, which oversees the Center for Louisiana Studies.
小蝌蚪APP淗is musical experience, folklore training, literary production and corporate experience make him ideally suited to lead the center, and to help it maintain and expand its reputation as the premier organization dedicated to the stewardship of the state小蝌蚪APP檚 culture and heritage.小蝌蚪APP
Founded in 1973, the center includes the Archive of Cajun and Creole Folklore, a repository of field recordings, oral histories, photographs and other materials.
The center also administers the 小蝌蚪APP Press.
Martin will return to the 小蝌蚪APP小蝌蚪APP檚 Department of History, Geography and Philosophy, where he is a professor of history.
Kellman called Martin小蝌蚪APP檚 leadership of the center 小蝌蚪APP渢ransformative.小蝌蚪APP
小蝌蚪APP淥ver the past seven years, the center has raised its public profile, increased its programming, and diversified and deepened its research portfolio. Michael also helped build the quality and reputation of the UL Lafayette Press, which won numerous awards under his direction.小蝌蚪APP