John Laudun

John Laudun has published regionally, nationally, and internationally on a variety of topics having to do with folklore and its uses both in present as well as in understanding the past. He has examined the role of history-telling and talk in a Midwestern community, the uses of African American folklore both in lived experience as well as in literary texts, the use of space by urban Appalachians, what it means to use folklife materials in elementary and secondary classrooms as well as the uses, and abuses, of Louisiana foodways. His scholarly work has appeared in scholarly journals, edited anthologies, encyclopedias, and open access repositories. He has served as a consultant on a number of public and private projects, been awarded grants by both private and public foundations (including the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and the Louisiana Board of Regents), and has produced CDs and directed a television series on folklife. His book on creativity was chosen to be part of the Mellon Foundation's Folklore Studies in a Multicultural World series and will be published next year by the University Press of Mississippi. He has maintained a weblog since 2003, before it was cool, and continues to publish texts, images, audio, and video there.