A byproduct of being named a 2009 UO Sony Scholar is a new professional bio statement for me; I was asked by the A&AA Communications Office to deliver one for use in their publicity materials, which meant I had to create one that accurately and honestly conveyed who/what I am as a UO faculty member. Here’s the result:
As an Assistant Professor in the Arts and Administration Program at the University of Oregon, I am part of a dynamic faculty training future arts and culture sector leaders to engage the social, technological, economic, and political dimensions of community and creativity. By drawing on my background in folklore and ethnomusicology (Ph.D., Indiana University, 2004), media studies, public cultural programming, and international fieldwork, I bring an ethnographically-grounded perspective on cultural production to the AAD program’s curricular and research agendas. In my capacity as faculty coordinator for the media management area of concentration within the program’s Master’s degree, I seek to offer students a balance between practical skills and critical inquiry focused on the technological, social, and cultural facets of media in today’s world. It is my belief that such a balance will serve our students as they move into the 21st-century workforce—readying them for shifts in existing jobs as well as preparing them for jobs that do not yet exist.
My fieldwork experience entails ethnographic inquiry into the intersection of popular music and youth identity (Malawi); material culture (southern Indiana, the Pacific Northwest); and the cultural history of African American communities in Eugene/Springfield. I have also explored the intellectual history of public sector ethnomusicology, primarily via commercial recordings released on Folkways by fielworker Laura Boulton. My teaching spans ethnomusicology theory and methods; popular musics in the African diaspora; public folklore; and media studies. I am committed in both research and teaching to the idea that individuals and communities engage the world in creative and diverse ways, and that such creative diversity demands ethically grounded interpretation and representation.
Writing this was not easy, but it did push me to look back to grad school days and compare what I thought I might do to what I have ended up doing—that whole “did I use by degree?” question. I’m satisfied with the end product, and have put it on my “Bio & Research” page.
The process of putting this bio together, sticking it on my faculty blog, managing my ‘digital’ faculty identity—all of this speaks to the emerging means of communication that are available to faculty, students, staff, and others participating in higher education. Coupled with resources such as LinkedIn or Mendeley, this blog offers me a way to extend “hallway” conversations about what I’m up to lately with research or what conference I’ve just been to/am going to. And by “extend” I mean with colleagues here at UO whom I do not see very often, as well as those colleagues at other institutions (some of whom I may not have even met yet). It’s all still potential here, not-yet-realized, but quite exciting in terms of being able to enact networks of collaboration, peer review, and progressive thinking on the roles of higher education.