Sigma Tau Delta 2026 Convention
Kim Vaz-Deville
Workshop Leader
Kim Vaz-Deville, Chief of Staff at Dillard University, is the author of The ‘Baby Dolls’: Breaking the Race and Gender Barriers of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Tradition and editor of Walking Raddy: The Baby Dolls of New Orleans. She collaborates with the Golden Feather Hunter Warrior Nation on Black masking suits and served as associate curator for “The Black Indians of New Orleans” exhibition in Paris (2022–23). Her work highlights New Orleans’ cultural traditions and their global recognition.
About the Author
Kim Vaz-Deville is Chief of Staff at Dillard University. She is the author of The ‘Baby Dolls’: Breaking the Race and Gender Barriers of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Tradition (LSU Press, 2013) and editor of Walking Raddy: The Baby Dolls of New Orleans (University Press of Mississippi, 2018). Alongside her scholarship, she collaborates with the Golden Feather Hunter Warrior Nation to create Black masking suits. Their Big Chief, Shaka Zulu, is a 2022 National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellow. She also served as associate curator for the exhibition, “The Black Indians fof New Orleans,” shown at the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in Paris from October 4, 2022, to January 15, 2023.