This thesis considers how Voodoo is presented and experienced in various tourism and heritage sites within New Orleans in the present moment. A variety of visual representations, verbal narratives and multimedia performances were documented and analyzed through participant observation. Current tourism relies on the city’s ghost stories, mythology, as well as Voodoo practices and lore, raising questions about the melding of fact and fiction in the potential perpetuation of sensational ideas about the city and its African heritage. Cultural sites discussed in this thesis include Congo Square, the New Orleans Voodoo Museum, Voodoo Authentica, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Isle of Salvation Botanica, two tours lead by guides, and attendance at a Voodoo initiation ceremony. These sites offer different lenses through which to represent and consume Voodoo as tourism and heritage ranging from touristic to the historically and spiritually meaningful.
","abstract_html":"<p>This thesis considers how Voodoo is presented and experienced in various tourism and heritage sites within New Orleans in the present moment. A variety of visual representations, verbal narratives and multimedia performances were documented and analyzed through participant observation. Current tourism relies on the city’s ghost stories, mythology, as well as Voodoo practices and lore, raising questions about the melding of fact and fiction in the potential perpetuation of sensational ideas about the city and its African heritage. Cultural sites discussed in this thesis include Congo Square, the New Orleans Voodoo Museum, Voodoo Authentica, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Isle of Salvation Botanica, two tours lead by guides, and attendance at a Voodoo initiation ceremony. These sites offer different lenses through which to represent and consume Voodoo as tourism and heritage ranging from touristic to the historically and spiritually meaningful.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Long, Bryant"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Art in Art and Design (MAAD)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"The College of the Arts and the School of Art and Design","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Jessica Stephenson","Dr. Cecile Accilien","Dr. Diana McClintock"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-11-19T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-11-19T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:43:58Z","subjects":["Voodoo","New Orleans","Ethnography","Tourism","Religion","Cultural","African History","African Studies","Social and Cultural Anthropology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/art_etd/4","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Jessica Stephenson","Dr. Cecile Accilien","Dr. Diana McClintock"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Long, Bryant"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2023-04-24T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["The College of the Arts and the School of Art and Design"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Art in Art and Design (MAAD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Voodoo","New Orleans","Ethnography","Tourism","Religion","Cultural","African History","African Studies","Social and Cultural Anthropology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/art_etd/4"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis considers how Voodoo is presented and experienced in various tourism and heritage sites within New Orleans in the present moment. A variety of visual representations, verbal narratives and multimedia performances were documented and analyzed through participant observation. Current tourism relies on the city’s ghost stories, mythology, as well as Voodoo practices and lore, raising questions about the melding of fact and fiction in the potential perpetuation of sensational ideas about the city and its African heritage. Cultural sites discussed in this thesis include Congo Square, the New Orleans Voodoo Museum, Voodoo Authentica, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Isle of Salvation Botanica, two tours lead by guides, and attendance at a Voodoo initiation ceremony. These sites offer different lenses through which to represent and consume Voodoo as tourism and heritage ranging from touristic to the historically and spiritually meaningful.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["An Ethnography of Voodoo Tourism and Heritage Sites in New Orleans, Lousiana"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Jessica Stephenson","Dr. Cecile Accilien","Dr. Diana McClintock"],"dc:creator":["Long, Bryant"],"dc:date.available":["2023-04-24T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis considers how Voodoo is presented and experienced in various tourism and heritage sites within New Orleans in the present moment. A variety of visual representations, verbal narratives and multimedia performances were documented and analyzed through participant observation. Current tourism relies on the city’s ghost stories, mythology, as well as Voodoo practices and lore, raising questions about the melding of fact and fiction in the potential perpetuation of sensational ideas about the city and its African heritage. Cultural sites discussed in this thesis include Congo Square, the New Orleans Voodoo Museum, Voodoo Authentica, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Isle of Salvation Botanica, two tours lead by guides, and attendance at a Voodoo initiation ceremony. These sites offer different lenses through which to represent and consume Voodoo as tourism and heritage ranging from touristic to the historically and spiritually meaningful.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/art_etd/4"],"dc:subject":["Voodoo","New Orleans","Ethnography","Tourism","Religion","Cultural","African History","African Studies","Social and Cultural Anthropology"],"dc:title":["An Ethnography of Voodoo Tourism and Heritage Sites in New Orleans, Lousiana"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["The College of the Arts and the School of Art and Design"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Art in Art and Design (MAAD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:43:58Z"}