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Shana Walton
Assistant Professor
Nicholls State University
Business Address: Home Address:
Dept. of Languages and Literature 3100 Orleans Avenue
P.O. Box 2023 New Orleans, LA 70119
Thibodaux, LA 70310 504-232-1441
shana.walton@nicholls.edu shanawalton@yahoo.com
EDUCATION
1995 Ph.D., Tulane University, Anthropology
Flat Speech and Cajun Ethnic Identity in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana.
EXPERIENCE
Associate professor, Dept. ofLanguages and Literature, Nicholls State University, Thibodaux, LA
Assistant Director for Special Projects, Mississippi Humanities Council, 2007-2008
Associate Director, Deep South Humanities Center, Tulane U, New Orleans, LA, 2001-2005
AdjunctProfessor, Dept. ofAnthropology, U ofNew Orleans, 2001-2006
Co-Director, Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage, U ofSouthern Mississippi,Hattiesburg, MS,
1999-2001 (Assistant Director, 1993-1999)
Selected publications since 2004:
Walton, Shana, ed. (February 2012) Ethnic Heritage in Mississippi. Jackson, Miss.: University Press of
Mississippi. (included single-authored chapters - “Celebrating Heritage, Recognizing Complexity
and Change in Mississippi Culture” and “Ethnicity in Mississippi:Stories Worth Telling.” )
Walton, Shana. 2012. “I Only Go to Church Once a Year:” Transformation and Transcendence in Jazz Fest
Narratives. Southern Journal of Linguistics 36.1:108-131.

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Walton, Shana and Alexandra Jaffe. 2011. “Stuff White People Like”: Stance, Class, Race and Internet
Commentary.” In: Language in the New Media: Sociolinguistic Perspectives, edited by Crispin
Thurlow and Kristine Mroczek. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Regis, Helen and Shana Walton. 2008. “Producing the Folk at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage
Festival.” Journal of American Folklore, Vol 121, No. 282, Fall 2008.
Walton, Shana. 2004. “Not with a Southern Accent: Cajun English and Ethnic Identity.” In Language
Diversity in the South. SAS Proceedings No. 37, MargaretBender, ed. University ofSouth
Carolina Press.
Public Sector Publications:
Walton, Shana. 2007. “1Taking Cajun Identity on the Road: Vacation Stories from Terrebonne Parish.”
Routes to Roots, Vol. 2.
Walton, Shana. 2007. “Sabor Latino: Central American Folk Traditions in New Orleans.” Contract
ethnography reportfor the Louisiana Folklife Program, Louisiana Division ofthe Arts,
http://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/Articles_Essays/latinos.html.
Consulting Reports:
Walton, Shana. 2012. “Analysis ofOrigin and Popular Use ofthe Phrase ‘Who Dat’. Prepared as an expert
reportin the case ofWhoDat Yat Chat, LLC v. Who Dat, Inc. DocketNo. 10-1333 c/w 10-2296.
(Christina Schoux Casey and Mona Lisa Saloy, research associates)
Selected Public Sector Projects:
“Creating Congo Square: Jazz Festand Black Power.” An exhibitoforal histories, photographs, and
newspaper clippings exploring the struggle thatresulted in building the first Black Art space at the
festival. April 26 – July 31, 2015. New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation Gallery. (co-curated
with Helen Regis, LSU.)
“Mapping Jazz Fest.” An exhibitofnarrative maps collected through the Community Jazz FestProject.
Exhibitdates: April 26 – May 5, 2013 as part of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. (Co-
curated with Helen Regis, LSU.)
“Creating Community at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.” 2004. A video lecture prepared for
the “New Orleans and Public Culture” video series recorded by the U ofNew Orleans, Martha
Ward, editor.
“Mississippi Statewide Oral History Project.” 2000-2002. Served as statewide coordinator for this collection
of interviews from across the state funded by the Mississippi State Legislature. Published online at
www.usm.edu/msoralhistory. The projectis currently on-going under another director.
“Louisiana Folklife Village.” 2002. Served as co-coordinator ofthis portion ofthe New Orleans Jazz and
Heritage Festival.

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“Mississippi Civil Rights Oral History Bibliography.” 1998. Served as projectdirector for the first-ever
bibliography ofall oral histories in the U.S. that discuss the movementin Mississippi. Available
online at www.usm.edu/crdp/html/bibliography.shtml.
Selected Conference Papers and Presentations:
All papers are single authored by Shana Walton unless otherwise noted
2015. “With these Hands: Selling the City in the Church of Bruce.” Popular Culture Association/American
Culture Association annual meeting. New Orleans. April 1.
2014. “A Community Definition of Subsistence in Coastal Louisiana: Categories, Taxonomies and
Lawsuits.” American Folklore Society annual meeting. Santa Fe, NM. Nov. 8. (A pecha kucha
presentation with Helen Regis.)
2013. “Map Your Jazz Fest: Sustaining a Research Partnership.” American Folklore Society. Providence,
Rhode Island, October 26, 2013. (First author, Helen Regis, S. Walton, co-author.)
2012 “Who Owns Who Dat? Communities of creation and Cultural Economies in South Louisiana.”
American Folklore Society annual meeting, New Orleans, Oct. 26, 2012.
2012 Who Dat as Identity Performance and Cultural Commodity. Louisiana Studies Conference.
Northwestern State University. Sept. 22.
2012 Who Owns Who Dat? Stories ofRace Relations, Community Connections and Cultural Ownership
in South Louisiana.” Louisiana Folklore Society annual meeting, McNeese State University, March
16, 2012.
2011 “Culture, subsistence, and oil spills in South Louisiana.” Invited speaker for the Future ofthe South
Conference. University ofMississippi, April 2, 2011.
2010 “Our French is really full of Houma words:” The United Houma Nation, Louisiana French and the
Houma Language.” In Language in Louisiana, an invited panel ofthe Society for
Linguistic Anthropologists, American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, November 19,
2010, New Orleans,LA.
2009 “Stuff White People Like”: Stance, Class, Race and Internet Commentary.” Language in the (New)
Media: Technologies and Ideologies. September 5, 2009. Seattle, Washington. (with Alexandra
Jaffe)