ROBERT M. CARRIKER

Chair, History and Geography Department
P.O. Box 42531
Lafayette, LA 70504-2531
(318) 482-6900
carriker@louisiana.edu

BIOGRAPHY

Robert Carriker is a native of the state of Washington. He graduated with a B.A. in History from Gonzaga University in Spokane Washington. Relocating to Arizona, Carriker earned an M.A. degree in United States History and Public History with a certificate in Historic Preservation and then a Ph.D. in U.S. History and Public History; both from Arizona State University. Currently Dr. Carriker is Chair of the Department of History and Geography and the Director of Public History Studies at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Dr. Carriker is an expert on Public History and Cultural/Heritage Tourism: the application of historical inquiry and presentation to audiences beyond academia. In addition to directing the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s graduate program in Public History Studies, he works with communities, museums, historic preservation organizations, archives, and historical sites and parks. Recently, Dr. Carriker has worked with the following groups:

• Consultant to The Alexander Mouton House and Lafayette Museum
• Consultant to The Mississippi Valley Museum at Acadian Village
• Committee member for the Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial Celebration Committee for the Council on the Development of French in Louisiana
• Consultant to The Acadian Museum in Erath, Louisiana
• Board of Directors for The Louisiana State Prison Museum at Angola
• Assistant Historian for The National Endowment for the Humanities’ summer seminar on Lewis and Clark held in Spokane, Washington
• Historian/Researcher for National Park Service’s Tonto National Monument
• Cultural Resource Management Intern with United States Forest Service’s Region IX in Portland, Oregon

Recent Edited Works/Books/Exhibits/Reports/Reviews and Presentations include:

• Book review, Jack and Winnie Baldwin, Baldwin’s Guide to Museums of Louisiana (Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing Co., 1999), in Louisiana History, Spring 2001.
• Book review, Harriet Baskas, Museums of the Northwest (Seattle, Washington: Sasquatch Books, 1999), in Columbia, Fall 2000.
• Optimism, Struggle, and Growth: Readings on an Expanding America, V. 1. (New York:
• Confidence, Conflict, and Power: Readings on an Expanding America, V. 2. (New York: American Heritage Publishing, 1999). Edited with Vaughan Baker and Dolores Labbe.
• Our Town: Erath, 100 Years of Community. Museum exhibit at the Acadian Museum in Erath Louisiana. A bilingual (English and French) exhibit on the economic, social, cultural, and political development of this rural Louisiana town.
• Where's McNaspy? Display in Henry L. Griffin Hall, 5th floor, University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Exhibit on the history of a 1940's football stadium and track on the campus of UL, Lafayette.
• Book review, J. Kingston Pierce, ed., America's Historic Trails with Tom Bodett (San Francisco: KQED Books, 1997), in Louisiana History, Winter 1999.
• Evangeline: An Inventory of Historic Resources (St. Martinville, Louisiana: Longfellow Evangeline Sesquicentennial Anniversary Celebration Committee, 1999).
• Grazing and Environmental Change on Tonto National Monument: A Survey of Source Material (Phoenix, Arizona: for the Southwest Region of the National Park Service, 1997).
• Historical Property Inventory: Peoria, Arizona, (Arizona: State Historic Preservation Office, 1997).
• Nomination, National Register of Historic Places, Strauch House, Mesa, Arizona, May, 1991.
• Louisiana Pride and Identity: The Erath Community History Project. Forthcoming at the Louisiana Association of Museums Conference, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, April 2001.
• In the Future. . . . Where Will the Money to Support the Work of Public Historians Come From? Invited panelist at the Arizona State University Conference on Public History, Tempe, Arizona, January 2000.
• Longview Rurban Homesteads: A New Deal Program, delivered at the Western History Association conference, Portland, Oregon, October 1999. (session coordinator)
• Traveling Through History in the American Southwest, slide show and lecture presented for History Week and the Academic Showcase of the College of Liberal Arts at UL, Lafayette, August 1999.
• Attracting New Museum Professionals: The University Perspective, delivered to the Louisiana Association of Museums conference, May 1999, Kenner, Louisiana.
• Public History: The Uses of History Outside the Classroom, presented to the Epsilon-Tau chapter of Phi Alpha Theta at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, November 1998, Monroe, Louisiana.
• Conflicting Dynamics: The Phoenix Homesteads Historic District, delivered at the National Council on Public History conference, April 1996, Seattle, Washington.

Dr. Carriker is also the director of the History and Geography Department’s History On the Move program. This summer school program combines classroom learning with hands on experiences through travel. It is a vital method for studying comparative Cultural/Heritage Tourism experiences throughout the country. Becoming cultural/heritage tourists for three weeks, the class travels through Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada where they visit the historic sites, museums, National Parks, National Monuments, and rich cultural offerings of the American Southwest.