Biography
Teresa Parker Farris works on race and representation in the U.S. South. Her dissertation focuses on antebellum silhouette portraiture, in particular depictions of African-American slaves. The former Deputy Director of Tulane’s Newcomb Art Museum, she holds an M.A. in Southern Studies from the University of Mississippi and a B.A. in English Literature from Haverford College. Her writings have appeared in the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, the Bicentennial History of Art in Louisiana, and numerous museum exhibition catalogues. Teresa is a trained folklorist and, since 2010, has chaired the governor-appointed Louisiana Folklife Commission.
Interests
Antebellum and New Deal South, Regionalism, American folk art, southern vernacular culture, William Faulkner, the Mississippi Delta