Some Gumbo with My Seminar S’il Vous Plait

I am sad. I am sad because this year, Bulldog Days is not being held on Tuesday. Which means I cannot bring bunches of pre-frosh to my favorite class of the semester at 3:30 that day.

Gulf Coast is one of the most unique and memorable classes I have taken at Yale.

First, I originally discovered the professor, Ryan Brasseaux, as a TA in my Formation of Modern American Culture class. And he was brilliant. He even has a Wikipedia: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Brasseaux

Second, it was highly competitive to get a spot in this sixteen-person seminar. So each class feels like a hand-picked Ocean’s 11 team, with a Civil War expert, a jazz aficionado, and one girl who likes Southern food… a lot. 

Third is simply the class and the style of it. The first day of class, my teacher assigned two girls as the “Social Aid and Pleasure Club,” named for the recreational groups in New Orleans. These two girls bring in weekly Southern-related food. Past goodies have included pecan pie, pralines and jambalaya.

A bowl of Jambalaya, with shrimp, sausage and other meats.

During the week on SEC Football, the class is going to my professor’s house to eat Southern Barbeque and watch football highlights. On Mardi Gras, we found a baby in our King’s cake and threw beads in the classroom. 

Aside from the somewhat recreational nature, the class has changed my thought and perspective on the Gulf Coast. Ryan Brasseaux is Carl Brasseaux’s son, the foremost scholar of Cajun Studies. Before he became a professor, Ryan had already published book on Southern aural history.

Gulf Coast studies is an example of an American regional study that is fairly new. Brasseaux is on the frontier of a very new historiography. I am able to learn an alternate history to the traditional idea of New Orleans combined with the Louisiana Purchase.

As I finish this blog, I am jamming to 6.8 hours of Cajun and New Orleans music on my Itunes, courtesy of my professor. He said that it’s an assignment to listen to it over spring break, but honestly, it sure doesn’t feel like work.