Alumni College: New Orleans for Non-Tourists

Sunday, October 26

5 – 7 p.m.
Reception and Welcome by S. Frederick Starr at the Hotel Monteleone
"Invented New Orleans"

Monday, October 27

9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Bus departs for an Architectural and Historical Tour of New Orleans led by Dr. Fred Starr. Author of numerous books on New Orleans, Dr. Starr will provide an in depth tour of the city.

12 – 1:30 p.m.
Lunch at Liuzza’s, a locals' favorite

2:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Lecture by Professor Michael Johnson at Hotel Monteleone
“The Big Muddy”
The Mississippi River made New Orleans. A five hundred year survey reveals how.

3:30 – 5 p.m.
Lecture by Richard Campanella, geographer at Tulane University and author, at Hotel Monteleone
“A Historical Geography of New Orleans”
This 90-minute illustrated slide lecture on New Orleans will cover 300 years of historical geography, including the formation and transformation of the underlying physical landscape, urbanization and its spread, human and cultural geographies, how and why Hurricane Katrina flooded the city, and how the metropolis has changed in the ensuring years.

6:30 p.m.
Dinner at Antoine’s
Enjoy some of New Orleans finest cuisine at this iconic restaurant in the Rex Room, whose walls are lined with photos of Carnival royalty.

Tuesday, October 28

9 – 10 a.m.
Lecture by Professor Michael Johnson at Hotel Monteleone
“Slavery and Freedom in New Orleans”
The nation’s preeminent slaveholding city, New Orleans developed a distinctive, complex, polyglot society with major African, Caribbean, French, and American ingredients. A focus on the city from the Louisiana Purchase to emancipation discloses the peculiar character of slavery and freedom in this slaveholding metropolis.

10:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Honey Island Swamp Tour with Captain John Royen
Enjoy a two hour cruise on a covered boat into one of the least altered river swamps in the country. Led by Captain John Royen, a professional native ecological tour guide (and award winning jazz musician), you’ll journey through majestic cypress trees and winding bayous while viewing magnificent wildlife in this crowned jewel of South Louisiana. Enjoy a Muffelatta lunch and accordion music during the tour.

2 – 6 p.m.
Afternoon at your leisure

6:30 – 9 p.m.
Informal dinner at Lombard Plantation House, a Creole-style structure lovingly restored by Dr. Starr. Hear the story of the rise, fall, and eventual resurrection of one of America's finest extant examples of West Indian Creole architecture and of the entire neighborhood of which it is an anchor. Enjoy traditional New Orleans food and music by the Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble, cofounded by Dr. Starr.

Wednesday, October 29

9 – 10 a.m.
Culinary talk by Susan Tucker, Ph.D., author of New Orleans Cuisine: Fourteen Signature Dishes and Their Histories – “Finding the History of New Orleans’s Favorite Dishes,” at Hotel Monteleone.

11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Following a walk through the French Quarter, enjoy a cooking Demonstration by Poppy Tooker and lunch at Tujague’s, formerly Begue’s Restaurant and a long-standing institution, begun in 1856. Learn about this historic and fine culinary establishment along with some classic recipes from Poppy Tooker, host of the NPR-affiliated radio show, Louisiana Eats!, award winning cook book author, and food commentator.

1:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Afternoon at leisure for independent exploration of the Garden District, plantations tour, French Quarter, New Orleans Museum of Art, WWII Museum, art galleries, and more.

5 – 7 p.m.
Gumbo YaYa* with the local alumni at The Three Muses on Frenchmen Streeet.  Enjoy live jazz music, excellent cuisine, and fun cocktails and wines.  The restaurant is reserved for our group only.  After 7, a cash-bar party continues upstairs.

*What's Gumbo YaYa, you ask?  It's a local phrase that means "everybody talking all at once"!