THIBODAUX – The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities has chosen Dr. J. Paul Leslie, professor of history at Nicholls State University, to receive the LEH’s Individual Achievement in the Humanities Award.
A five-year veteran of the LEH’s Readings in Literature and Culture program, Leslie said the humanities are important because without culture, life loses much of its meaning.
“We’ve had a lot of fun working in the Readings in Literature and Culture program,” he said. “I would encourage others within our faculty to get involved with the LEH, too. It’s important that we bring the humanities to South Central Louisiana.”
Leslie’s professional interests include American history in film, Louisiana history, American Constitutional history, Civil War/Reconstruction history, African American history, Southern history, history of Western civilizations and American intellectual history.
The LEH will honor Leslie during a special ceremony Saturday, March 29, at the Houmas House Plantation and Gardens in Darrow, La.
A private, not-for-profit organization that receives funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the State of Louisiana and corporate and individual donors, the LEH is the Louisiana affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
According to the LEH web site, the endowment administers a regrant program that sponsors humanities initiatives throughout Louisiana, publishes the magazine Louisiana Cultural Vistas and promotes adult reading and family literacy.
