Coastal Encounters is a collection of research about the transformation of the Gulf South in the Eighteenth Century. It reveals the history of the coast’s collision of European, African and Native peoples with different perspectives about the changes that occurred. One of the contributors is Shannon Lee Dawdy, who is one of the nation’s leading researchers on topics related to New Orleans and the Caribbean. She has also just been named a 2010 MacArthur Fellow.

Dawdy received the award  — also known as a "genius grant" — from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which includes a $500,000 unrestricted grant, paid over a period of five years, which provides seed money for intellectual, social and artistic endeavors. To read more about Dawdy and the fellowship click here.