About New Orleans

New Orleans is Coming Back!

Following Hurricane Katrina, the city is rebuilding and its people are optimistic. The culture of New Orleans continues to offer our students an experience found nowhere else in the country: the university is surrounded by the living history of a city that has inspired some of the greatest figures in American literature, including William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Walker Percy, John Kennedy Toole, Kate Chopin, George Washington Cable, and Sherwood Anderson. The UNO Campus is a ten-minute drive from the historic French Quarter, where many students live, enjoying its old world atmosphere. The stately neighborhoods of the Garden District and oak-lined St. Charles Avenue, where streetcars will soon pass again, are also nearby.

Throughout the year, the New Orleans Metropolitan area offers a rich assortment of cultural activities, ranging from the regular performances of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and the New Orleans Opera to the world-class exhibitions at the New Orleans Museum of Art.  Annual events, like Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, Essence Festival, and the French Quarter Festival, as well as the many regional celebrations of Louisiana's culture and cuisine, are celebrated by locals and tourists alike. Each year, the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival and the Faulkner Society's Conference on Words and Music, along with several bookstore-sponsored readings and events, bring dozens of accomplished poets and writers to the area. Finally, for those who want to reach out and lend a helping hand, New Orleans offers many opportunities for volunteering in the continuing effort to rebuild.

For those interested in studying the rich cultural and literary traditions of the region, local archives provide a plethora of research opportunities, including:
                       
Amistad Research Center 
Historic New Orleans Collection
The Latin American Library
New Orleans Public Library: City Archives and Special Collections
Tulane Manuscripts Department: Literature
University of New Orleans Library: Louisiana and Special Collections
List of Local Archives
Guide to Archives Relating to the Lives of Women in New Orleans