The Insider: Dear World project plans to tell Tulane stories

With the white flash of a camera and the dark stroke of a marker, Robert Fogarty, an alumnus of the Tulane University AmeriCorps Vista program, began a photo project in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina called Dear New Orleans. The project captured photos of New Orleans residents with phrases written on their arms that described their feelings and relationships with the city.
 
The Dear New Orleans project has since grown into the Dear World project, and now Fogarty, along with his partner Jonah Evans, will be visiting the Tulane uptown campus on Wednesday (Jan. 27) and Thursday (Jan. 28) as part of the Dear World College Tour. The Dear World team will be in the Lavin-Bernick Center to tell individual stories from the Tulane community through this powerful photo series.
 
“They [Fogarty and Evans] just love stories,” says Katie Canella, the assistant director for the Lavin-Bernick Center. “There’s this idea that each one of us has a unique and powerful, even if small, story about who we are, and that those stories connect us.”
 
On Thursday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., students, faculty, staff members, administrators and alumni can stop by the Pedersen Lobby in the LBC to have their portraits taken. Participants will write a message on their arms or hands with a marker to communicate their personal stories. Wednesday’s photo shoot will be by invitation only.
 
The Dear World project will culminate in a keynote and storytelling event that will take place on Thursday in the Kendall Cram Lecture Hall at 7 p.m.
 
Volunteers can sign up to help Dear World staff members register participants and aid them in developing their photo’s message.
 
“Being a facilitator of the process in some ways feels even more powerful, because you get to be a part of and witness other people’s lives for a moment,” Canella says.
 
Forum Tulane, the Tulane University Center for Public Service, Tulane Housing and Residence Life and the Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life are hosting this event.
 
Samah Ahmed is a sophomore majoring in public health and political science at Tulane University.