Laura Westbrook, Ph.D.
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Laura Westbrook is a folklorist and interpretive planner. Her diverse professional and personal experiences all come together in her position as Regional Folklorist for southeastern Louisiana. After graduating from Loyola University, during which time she volunteered at the Restoration Embassy homeless shelter and with a number of environmental organizations, she moved to isolated Randolph County, West Virginia, where she taught at the renowned rural Appalachian K-8 one-room Valley Schoolhouse. She also assisted with the Augusta Heritage Festival and Workshops during the "Cajun revival," which saw masters such as Dewey Balfa sparking renewed international interest and appreciation for the music and culture of Louisiana.
After relocating she became director of the Pendleton County Public Library System, where she coordinated film festivals, concert series, and art openings. On returning to Louisiana, she divided her time between her job as President of the New Orleans-based HER Records, which focuses primarily on jazz and local rhythms, and establishing the Triangle Community Center to provide meals for those in need. In 1995 she began graduate school at the University of Louisiana, from which she received her doctorate in English and folklore and was the Board of Regents Fellow. That same year she became Cultural Programs Coordinator for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, a post she held for several years. In 1998 she coordinated the first annual folklife festival component of the popular Festivals Acadiens in Lafayette and the first two Sweet Home Folklife Festivals in Kentwood, Louisiana. These events were largely based on fieldwork she conducted as Project Coordinator/Cultural Tourism Consultant with the National Parks System and the Louisiana Office of Tourism. Prior to graduation, she was elected President of the Louisiana Folklore Society, the youngest member and only student so honored.
As Louisiana Regional Folklorist, she assists groups and individuals to develop programs and to create films, concerts, festivals, tourism plans, educational programs and workshops, exhibits, and recordings of regional music. The region she serves includes Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, and St. Tammany Parishes. She currently teaches courses in folklore and cultural conservation at the University of New Orleans' College of Urban and Public Affairs. Contact Dr. Westbrook at: laura@roussev.net.
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