Ethnomusicology Program

The Five College Certificate Program in Ethnomusicology allows students interested in studying music from a multi-disciplinary perspective to build bridges across departmental boundaries in a rigorous and structured manner.

The Five College community is home to a diverse, vibrant group of students, scholars, and performers working in ethnomusicology, the anthropology of music, and related disciplines. Through the Five College consortium, students may take courses for credit at any campus. In addition, students with a special interest in ethnomusicology may pursue the Five College Certificate in Ethnomusicology, a program that allows students to develop a unique, multi-disciplinary curriculum focused on their individual research interests. Please note that as of Fall 2013, students from all five campuses, including the university, are eligible to participate in the certificate program.

Opportunities abound! Join one of several performance ensembles, take courses focused on a wide variety of topics, attend concerts and other events, and learn about our faculty.

On This Page

    alum looks at camera in home office, plays instrument

    10th Anniversary Celebration

    Hear alumni testimonials for our 10th Anniversary Celebration for the Ethnomusicology Certificate!

    Alumni Testimonials

    Faculty

    headshot of Amy Coddington

    Amy M. Coddington

    Assistant Professor of Music, Amherst College. B.A. Macalester College, Ph.D University of Virginia. Influence of the music industry on musical expression. How popular musicians express their identities through music, how listeners articulate their own identities by consuming this music, and how the economic interests of the music and media industries complicates these relationships.

    413-542-5967 • acoddington@amherst.edu

    headshot of jeffers engelhardt

    Jeffers Engelhardt

    Professor of Music, Amherst College. B.M. Oberlin Conservatory, M.A., Ph.D. in Music, University of Chicago. Community-based ethnography, music and religion, voice, analytical approaches to music and sound, Europe and postsocialism.

    413-542-8469 • jengelhardt@amherst.edu

    headshot of jason robinson

    Jason Robinson

    Associate Professor of Jazz & Popular Music, Amherst College; M.A. & Ph.D., University of California, San Diego; Focus and Research: Improvised music and experimentalism in African American and African diasporic music. Teaching: Jazz, Popular Music and Urban Ethnography.

    (413) 542-8208 • jrobinson@amherst.edu

    headshot of rebecca miller

    Rebecca Miller

    Professor of Music, Hampshire College. A.B., Bryn Mawr College. M.A. Wesleyan University. Ph.D. Brown University. Music of the Caribbean; popular and traditional musics of North America; music journalism; applied ethnomusicology; Irish traditional and popular music; old time (Appalachian) string band music. Performance: old time ensembles and klezmer bands.

    (413) 559-5545 • rmiller@hampshire.edu

    headshot of junko oba

    Junko Oba

    Associate Professor of Music, Hampshire College. B.A., International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan, M.A., Ph.D, Wesleyan University. Research interests: Japanese traditional and contemporary popular musics, East Asia, Asian Diasporas (Nikkei Brazilian communities in Japan, in particular), national identity in the trans- and post-national world orders, applied ethnomusicology (sound record archiving), organology and musical instrument building.

    (413) 559-6896 • joba@hampshire.edu

    headshot of olabode omojola

    Olabode Omojola

    Hammond-Douglass Five College Professor of Music, Mount Holyoke College. M.A. University of Ibadan. Ph.D. University of Leicester. Indigenous and modern musical traditions; African and world music traditions; African music and ethnomusicology.

    (413) 538-2483 • bomojola@mtholyoke.edu

    headshot of margaret sarkissian

    Margaret Sarkissian

    Professor of Music, Smith College. M.A. and Ph.D. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Musics of Southeast and East Asia, especially Malaysia; popular music of the Islamic world, music and tourism. Performance: gamelan.

    (413) 585-3198 • msarkiss@email.smith.edu

    headshot of andrea moore

    Andrea Moore

    Assistant Professor of Music, Smith College. B.M. Rice University, M.A., University of Southern California, PhD, University of California Los Angeles. Music and commemoration; new music and concert culture; late capitalism; sociology of music; historiography.

    413-585-3162 • amoore44@smith.edu

    headshot of steve waksman

    Steve Waksman

    Professor of Music and American Studies, Smith College. M.A. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Ph.D. University of Minnesota. American popular music; African American music; music and race; music and sexuality; the history of musical instruments (especially the guitar).

    (413) 585-3161 • swaksman@email.smith.edu

    headshot of marianna ritchey

    Marianna Ritchey

    Associate Professor of Music, UMass Amherst. B.A. Lewis and Clark College, M.A., Ph.D. University of California Los Angeles. Research interests: nineteenth-century romanticism, Berlioz, literature, contemporary classical music, economics, neoliberalism.

    (413) 545-4077• mritchey@umass.edu

    Certificate

    Mission

    The Five College Certificate Program in Ethnomusicology allows students interested in studying music from a multi-disciplinary perspective to build bridges across departmental boundaries in a rigorous and structured manner, and to receive credit for their accomplishments, even while completing a major in another field. In reflecting interdisciplinary trends in Ethnomusicology, students are encouraged to combine the certificate with degrees in various overlapping fields, such as African American and African Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Asian Studies, Asian American Studies, Cultural Studies, European Studies, Gender Studies, language studies, Latin American Studies, Religion, Sociology, as well as other courses of study in Music (Composition, Performance, Jazz Studies/Improvisation, and Musicology).

    The Certificate Program in Ethnomusicology provides a framework for navigating course offerings and engaging with ethnomusicologists throughout the Five Colleges. While "music" is the centerpiece of the certificate program, the wide range of topics that appear under the rubric of "ethnomusicology" extend far beyond "music in a cultural context" to include history, political science, economics, evolution, science and technology, physiology, media studies, and popular culture studies, among others.Students working within the Certificate Program might focus on music as it relates to a number of areas of inquiry, such as:

    • relationships between music and other artistic and expressive forms (i.e. dance, theater, film);
    • relationships between singing and other forms of vocal practice;
    • relationships between the study of language and music;
    • human cognitive capacity for musical and other sonic expression;
    • listening as a culturally specific practice;
    • the social history of music and popular culture;
    • understanding national, class, gender, ethnic, sexual, and other forms of identity;
    • the relationship between music and social and political power;
    • globalization and transnationalism in music;
    • the uses of music and sound in contemporary media production;
    • roles of sonic technology and surveillance in contemporary Western society;
    • the use of music and sound in relation to social and state control, the law, and space;
    • intellectual property and copyright as it pertains to musical composition, performance, and ownership.

    Requirements

    To earn a Five College Certificate in Ethnomusicology, students must successfully complete a total of seven (7) courses distributed as indicated in the following four (4) categories. No more than five courses can be from any one department/discipline, and introductory courses in basic musicianship do not count towards the requirements; introductory courses in related disciplines may only be counted in certain circumstances determined by the research goals of the individual student. Students must earn a grade of C or better for courses counted towards the Certificate.

    1. Area Studies or Topics courses: at least two courses
    2. Methodology: at least two courses
    3. Performance: at least one course
    4. Electives: negotiated in consultation with the student's ethnomusicology advisor, including courses from related disciplines including: anthropology, sociology, history, or media studies; area studies fields such as African Studies, American Studies, Asian Studies, or Middle East Studies; or others related to a particular student's ethnomusicological interests.

    Since ethnomusicological research and related musical performance may require understanding of and competence in a foreign language, students are encouraged, but not required, to acquire proficiency in a language relevant to their focus. Students are also encouraged to include experiential learning, a study abroad or domestic exchange experience, in-depth study of a single musical tradition, or comparative studies of several musical traditions.

    Step 1: Applying

    Students interested in the Five College Certificate in Ethnomusicology should contact a member of the Five College Ethnomusicology Committee on their campus as soon as possible to begin planning course work. In consultation with this certificate advisor, students must complete an application form for the certificate. While this form should be submitted as early as possible so that a student can become part of the certificate community (and gain priority access to certain capped courses), it must be submitted before the end of the add/drop period in the first semester of their senior year of  study.  On the recommendation of the campus advisor, applications are reviewed and approved by the Five College Ethnomusicology Committee.

    A copy of the completed application form should be emailed to your campus certificate advisor.

    Ethnomusicology Certificate Application Form

    Step 2: Completion

    Students are also required to submit a certificate approval form and an unofficial transcript before the end of the add/drop period of their final semester.  A more formal document, the approval form lists courses taken and in progress that complete the requirements for the certificate. The campus advisor will present this form to the Five College Ethnomusicology Committee for approval. After approval, the campus advisor and Five Colleges request a transcript from the student’s Registrar indicating the successful completion of in progress courses.

    A copy of the completed approval form and an unofficial transcript should be emailed to your campus certificate advisor in advance of the deadline.

    Ethnomusicology Certificate Completion Form

    Courses

    Many courses in addition to those listed below may be eligible towards the Five College Ethnomusicology Certificate. Students are encouraged to consult their campus Ethnomusicology advisor to identify courses that are appropriate for their interests.

    Individual lessons and non-ensemble performance: Credit-bearing individual lessons and non-ensemble performance opportunities (i.e. special topics courses or thesis work) in an array of musical traditions and genres are available throughout the Five Colleges. Please consult the course catalog of your home institution and with a member of the Five College Ethnomusicology faculty to find the instructor best suited to your interests.

    Five College Ethnomusicology Certificate students: Depending on your area of interest, courses can often fall within more than one of the four course categories required for the certificate. While a single course cannot be counted twice, you should work in close consultation with your campus Ethnomusicology advisor to determine the appropriate allocation of courses within the certificate requirements.

    Sample list of methodology and area studies courses

    Spring 2022 Ethnomusicology Courses: Methodology

    01
    4.00

    Jeffers L. Engelhardt

    TTH 01:00 PM-02:20 PM

    Amherst College
    MUSI-238-01-2122S
    jengelhardt@amherst.edu
    MUSI-238-01, FAMS-312-01, ANTH-239-01

    (Offered as MUSI 238, ANTH 239 and FAMS 312) This course is about exploring, participating in, and documenting the musical communities and acoustic terrain of the Connecticut River Valley. The first part of the course will focus on local histories and music scenes, ethnographic methods and technologies, and different techniques of documentary representation. The second part of the course will involve intensive, sustained engagement with musicians and sounds in the Amherst vicinity (and beyond). Course participants will give weekly updates about their fieldwork projects and are expected to become well-versed in the musics they are studying. There will be a significant amount of work and travel outside of class meetings. The course will culminate in contributions to a web-based documentary archive of soundscapes projects. We will also benefit from visits and interaction with local musicians. Two class meetings per week. Visit http://www.valleysoundscapes.org/ for more information.

    Limited to 12 students. Spring semester. Professor Engelhardt.

    Instructor Permission: Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.

    1
    4.00

    Rebecca Miller,Donna Cohn

    02:30PM-03:50PM TU;02:30PM-03:50PM TH

    Hampshire College
    334571

    Arts Barn STUDIO 1;Arts Barn STUDIO 1

    rsmMB@hampshire.edudcLM@hampshire.edu
    334571,334555
    A cranky is a storytelling device consisting of a box with two spindles and a hand-cranked illustrated scroll and accompanied by instrumental music, song or spoken word. Crankies arrived in the southern Appalachians with British immigrants beginning in the 1800s and served as entertainment as well as a means to record local, historical events. In this course, we will build crankies and create stories from folk ballads, original music, and songs that deal with contemporary issues. We will work independently and collaboratively as we experiment with image making, mechanical motion, simple lighting, shadows, music, and song. We will read and complete writing assignments about the role of crankies in folk culture, both historically and in contemporary practice. The class will conclude with an end-of-the-semester performance. It is open to students interested in making images and illustration, folk arts, and theater. Introverts and extroverts welcome! Keywords: Design, fabrication, American studies, folk arts, music
    Instructor Permission: Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.

    1
    4.00

    Rebecca Miller,Donna Cohn

    02:30PM-03:50PM TU;02:30PM-03:50PM TH

    Hampshire College
    334555

    Arts Barn STUDIO 1;Arts Barn STUDIO 1

    rsmMB@hampshire.edudcLM@hampshire.edu
    334571,334555
    A cranky is a storytelling device consisting of a box with two spindles and a hand-cranked illustrated scroll and accompanied by instrumental music, song or spoken word. Crankies arrived in the southern Appalachians with British immigrants beginning in the 1800s and served as entertainment as well as a means to record local, historical events. In this course, we will build crankies and create stories from folk ballads, original music, and songs that deal with contemporary issues. We will work independently and collaboratively as we experiment with image making, mechanical motion, simple lighting, shadows, music, and song. We will read and complete writing assignments about the role of crankies in folk culture, both historically and in contemporary practice. The class will conclude with an end-of-the-semester performance. It is open to students interested in making images and illustration, folk arts, and theater. Introverts and extroverts welcome! Keywords: Design, fabrication, American studies, folk arts, music
    Instructor Permission: Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.

    01
    4.00

    Olabode Omojola

    MW 01:45PM-03:00PM

    Mount Holyoke College
    117108
    bomojola@mtholyoke.edu
    116927,117108
    Designed for music and non-music majors, this advanced seminar examines core theoretical and methodological issues in ethnomusicology and the debates that have shaped its practice since its origins in the early twentieth century as comparative musicology. Drawing on musical traditions from different parts of the world and supplemented by workshops conducted by visiting professional musicians, the course explores the interdisciplinary approaches that inform how ethnomusicologists study the significance of music "in" and "as" culture. Topics covered will include ethnographic methods, the intersection of musicological and anthropological perspectives, the political significance of musical hybridity, applied ethnomusicology, and sound studies.
    Instructor Permission: Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.

    01
    4.00

    Olabode Omojola

    MW 01:45PM-03:00PM

    Mount Holyoke College
    116927
    bomojola@mtholyoke.edu
    116927,117108
    Designed for music and non-music majors, this advanced seminar examines core theoretical and methodological issues in ethnomusicology and the debates that have shaped its practice since its origins in the early twentieth century as comparative musicology. Drawing on musical traditions from different parts of the world and supplemented by workshops conducted by visiting professional musicians, the course explores the interdisciplinary approaches that inform how ethnomusicologists study the significance of music "in" and "as" culture. Topics covered will include ethnographic methods, the intersection of musicological and anthropological perspectives, the political significance of musical hybridity, applied ethnomusicology, and sound studies.
    Instructor Permission: Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.

    01
    4.00

    Margaret Sarkissian

    M W 10:50 AM - 12:05 PM

    Smith College
    MUS-202-01-202203

    Sage 215

    msarkiss@smith.edu
    This course explores different approaches to the study of music as a cultural phenomenon. We consider basic questions, such as: Why is music so often at the center of our most profound personal and social experiences? Why is music a fundamental means of connecting with our own lives, our communities and the wider world in which we live? Through in-depth reading and in-class discussion, we study the institutions of music (concerts, recording studios) and the varied practices of music making (classical, popular; amateur, professional) in order to construct a picture of the musical worlds around us and to understand what they tell us about the societies in which we live.
    Instructor Permission: Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.

    01
    4.00

    Olabode Omojola

    TU TH 4:00PM 5:15PM

    UMass Amherst
    37816

    Herter Hall room 212

    bomojola@mtholyoke.edu
    This class is an exploration of several music traditions from around the world with an emphasis on music's role on the larger cultural/social context of each geographical area. Students will analyze how people use or have used folk, popular, and art music in different societies from four major geographic areas: Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Each of the areas will be the focus of a course unit of approximately three weeks that will feature a live performance by a guest artist. (Gen. Ed. AT, DG)
    Instructor Permission: Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.

    Spring 2022 Ethnomusicology Courses: Area Studies or Topics

    01
    4.00

    Jeffers L. Engelhardt

    TTH 11:30 AM-12:50 PM

    Amherst College
    MUSI-123-01-2122S
    jengelhardt@amherst.edu
    MUSI-123-01, RELI-120-01

    This course examines the relationship between music, sound, and religion in a broad, comparative perspective. We will devote particular attention to the intersections of religious sounds and racialized and minoritized communities. In the context of major world religions, new religious movements, and traditional spiritual practices, we will address fundamental issues concerning sacred sound: How does music enable and enhance the ritual process? How is sound sacred and what are its effects and affects? What happens as sacred sound circulates globally among diverse communities and in secular spaces? Listening, reading, and discussion will include Sufi music from Pakistan, Haitian Vodou, the songs of Ugandan Jews, Orthodox Christian hymns from Estonia, Islamic popular music from Malaysia, Chinese Buddhist chant, spirit possession music from Bali, and the music of Korean shamans. We will also engage with practitioners, scholars, performers, and the sacred sounds of religious communities in Amherst and beyond. Two class meetings per week.

    Limited to 25 students. Professor Engelhardt. Spring semester. Regular class meetings will be fully remote; when possible, frequent face-to-face individual and small group meetings will be held.

     

    Instructor Permission: Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.

    01
    4.00

    Jeffers L. Engelhardt

    TTH 11:30 AM-12:50 PM

    Amherst College
    RELI-120-01-2122S
    jengelhardt@amherst.edu
    MUSI-123-01, RELI-120-01

    This course examines the relationship between music, sound, and religion in a broad, comparative perspective. We will devote particular attention to the intersections of religious sounds and racialized and minoritized communities. In the context of major world religions, new religious movements, and traditional spiritual practices, we will address fundamental issues concerning sacred sound: How does music enable and enhance the ritual process? How is sound sacred and what are its effects and affects? What happens as sacred sound circulates globally among diverse communities and in secular spaces? Listening, reading, and discussion will include Sufi music from Pakistan, Haitian Vodou, the songs of Ugandan Jews, Orthodox Christian hymns from Estonia, Islamic popular music from Malaysia, Chinese Buddhist chant, spirit possession music from Bali, and the music of Korean shamans. We will also engage with practitioners, scholars, performers, and the sacred sounds of religious communities in Amherst and beyond. Two class meetings per week.

    Limited to 25 students. Professor Engelhardt. Spring semester. Regular class meetings will be fully remote; when possible, frequent face-to-face individual and small group meetings will be held.

     

    Instructor Permission: Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.

    1
    4.00

    Junko Oba

    04:00PM-05:20PM M;04:00PM-05:20PM W

    Hampshire College
    334569

    Music and Dance Building RECITAL;Music and Dance Building RECITAL

    joHA@hampshire.edu
    "Listening" occupies a special place in Japanese cultures. Indications abound in literature, folklore, and everyday practices that listening has been nurtured as multisensory experiences and that it encompasses a wide range of phenomena. Whether it be in the haiku poetry reading, religious ceremony, political protest, or mundane activity, listening enables people to transcend spatiotemporal boundaries, connect with the intangible and the invisible, and engage in the world and life in a deeper philosophical consciousness. This course explores Japanese sound cultures, with special attention to the underlying unique conceptions of "listening": how have people in Japan cultivated distinct sensibilities in listening, and how, in turn, such sensibilities have constituted Japanese sound cultures. No previous training in music is necessary to take this course. Keywords: Japanese cultures, sounds, listening, acoustic sensibilities
    Instructor Permission: Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.

    1
    4.00

    Rebecca Miller

    10:30AM-11:50AM TU;10:30AM-11:50AM TH

    Hampshire College
    334570

    Music and Dance Building RECITAL;Music and Dance Building RECITAL

    rsmMB@hampshire.edu
    The music of immigrant, refugee, and diasporic people in the United States ranges from traditional and folk genres to popular and rock styles, and often serves as a bridge between the old and new cultures. This course focuses on music from a number of immigrant/diasporic communities in the United States, including Irish, East European Jewish, Mexican, African-American, various parts of the Caribbean, Vietnam, and others. We will examine the many ways that identity is created and solidified in immigrant communities through music, song, and dance. This course will introduce students to theoretical models to better understand the dynamics of immigrant culture: subcultural theory, "creative" ethnicity, hybridity/musical syncretism, gender, and cultural appropriation. In addition to regular reading, writing, and listening assignments, students will conduct an oral history and help construct an oral history archive. Keywords: ethnomusicology, American studies, diaspora studies, oral history
    Instructor Permission: Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.

    1
    4.00

    Rebecca Miller,Donna Cohn

    02:30PM-03:50PM TU;02:30PM-03:50PM TH

    Hampshire College
    334571

    Arts Barn STUDIO 1;Arts Barn STUDIO 1

    rsmMB@hampshire.edudcLM@hampshire.edu
    334571,334555
    A cranky is a storytelling device consisting of a box with two spindles and a hand-cranked illustrated scroll and accompanied by instrumental music, song or spoken word. Crankies arrived in the southern Appalachians with British immigrants beginning in the 1800s and served as entertainment as well as a means to record local, historical events. In this course, we will build crankies and create stories from folk ballads, original music, and songs that deal with contemporary issues. We will work independently and collaboratively as we experiment with image making, mechanical motion, simple lighting, shadows, music, and song. We will read and complete writing assignments about the role of crankies in folk culture, both historically and in contemporary practice. The class will conclude with an end-of-the-semester performance. It is open to students interested in making images and illustration, folk arts, and theater. Introverts and extroverts welcome! Keywords: Design, fabrication, American studies, folk arts, music
    Instructor Permission: Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.

    1
    4.00

    Rebecca Miller,Donna Cohn

    02:30PM-03:50PM TU;02:30PM-03:50PM TH

    Hampshire College
    334555

    Arts Barn STUDIO 1;Arts Barn STUDIO 1

    rsmMB@hampshire.edudcLM@hampshire.edu
    334571,334555
    A cranky is a storytelling device consisting of a box with two spindles and a hand-cranked illustrated scroll and accompanied by instrumental music, song or spoken word. Crankies arrived in the southern Appalachians with British immigrants beginning in the 1800s and served as entertainment as well as a means to record local, historical events. In this course, we will build crankies and create stories from folk ballads, original music, and songs that deal with contemporary issues. We will work independently and collaboratively as we experiment with image making, mechanical motion, simple lighting, shadows, music, and song. We will read and complete writing assignments about the role of crankies in folk culture, both historically and in contemporary practice. The class will conclude with an end-of-the-semester performance. It is open to students interested in making images and illustration, folk arts, and theater. Introverts and extroverts welcome! Keywords: Design, fabrication, American studies, folk arts, music
    Instructor Permission: Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.

    01
    4.00

    Margaret Sarkissian,Suleiman Ali Mourad

    M W 1:20 PM - 2:35 PM

    Smith College
    MUS-249-01-202203

    Sage 215

    msarkiss@smith.edu,smourad@smith.edu
    REL 249-01, MUS 249-01
    Offered as MUS 249 and REL 249. Music is a complex issue in many Islamic societies. There are tensions between those who believe that music has no place in Islam and try to prohibit it, those for whom it is a central component of mystical devotion, and those who tolerate it, albeit within well-defined parameters. The debate intensifies in the case of popular music, a core part of the self-identification of young people everywhere. Despite this, there is an amazing variety of vibrant popular music throughout the Islamic world. This course explores the religious debates over music and the rich musical tradition (including religious music) in Islam. Enrollment limited to 35.
    Instructor Permission: Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.

    01
    4.00

    Margaret Sarkissian,Suleiman Ali Mourad

    M W 1:20 PM - 2:35 PM

    Smith College
    REL-249-01-202203

    Sage 215

    msarkiss@smith.edu,smourad@smith.edu
    REL 249-01, MUS 249-01
    Offered as MUS 249 and REL 249. Music is a complex issue in many Islamic societies. There are tensions between those who believe that music has no place in Islam and try to prohibit it, those for whom it is a central component of mystical devotion, and those who tolerate it, albeit within well-defined parameters. The debate intensifies in the case of popular music, a core part of the self-identification of young people everywhere. Despite this, there is an amazing variety of vibrant popular music throughout the Islamic world. This course explores the religious debates over music and the rich musical tradition (including religious music) in Islam. Enrollment limited to 35.
    Instructor Permission: Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.

    Performance Courses

    Numerous opportunities exist for Five College students to participate in ensembles and learn instruments and styles from various global music traditions. The list below includes several of the ongoing ensembles related to ethnomusicology in the Five Colleges. Contact the instructor for full details. In addition to those listed below, there are numerous choral groups, orchestras, jazz ensembles, and other ensembles performing within the Five Colleges.

    Appalachian Old Time & Bluegrass Ensembles
    Hampshire College 
    Contact: Prof. Rebecca Miller

    Chinese Music Ensemble
    Smith College
    Contact: Joy Lu

    Irish/Celtic Ensemble, The Wailing Banshees
    Smith College 
    Contact: Ellen Redman

    Javanese Gamelan
    Smith College
    Contact: Prof. Margaret Sarkissian

    West African Drumming
    Mount Holyoke College 
    Contact: Faith Conant

    Elective Courses

    Elective courses are negotiated in consultation with the student's ethnomusicology advisor, including courses from related disciplines including: anthropology, sociology, history, or media studies; area studies fields such as African Studies, American Studies, Asian Studies, or Middle East Studies; or others related to a particular student's ethnomusicological interests.

    Certificate Recipients

    Georgia Beatty, Hampshire College

    Cara Doherty, UMass Amherst

    Erin Elizabeth Hancock, Mt. Holyoke College

    Isabela Haye, Hampshire College

    Antonina Hill, Hampshire College

    Melissa Jordan, Hampshire College

    Matthew McGowan, Hampshire College

    Max Nemhauser, Hampshire College (Fall 2019 graduate)
    "Ethnomusicological Methodology in Documentary Filmmaking"

    Carlos Sevilla, Hampshire College

    Yuchen "Angel" Xiang, Mt. Holyoke College

    Samuel Croff, Amherst College
    "The 9th Dimension: A Composition and Performance Thesis"

    Ben Fitts, Hampshire College

    Caia Lee, Mt. Holyoke College
    "Soundscapes of the Human Uterus: Fetal Sensory Experience and Development"

    Bingyao Liu, Mt. Holyoke College
    "Yangqin, Tsimbl, Cimbalom, Salterio... : An Exploration of Hammered Dulcimer Music"

    Stella Silbert, Hampshire College
    "Composing and Listening in a Layered Sound World"

    Lena Abraham, Hampshire College
    "Intersections of Gender in Electro-Acoustic Music and Noise"

    April Crowley, Hampshire College
    "Irish Roses, Irish Rebels: Women in Irish Traditional Song"

    Nashua Malko, Hampshire College
    "Awash in Sound: Sound Meditation and Healing Discourse in the Northeastern United States"

    Olivia St. Pierre-Baxter, Hampshire College
    "All Join Hands: Social Dancing and Identity in French-Canadian Communities"

    Maxwell Rea, Hampshire College
    "Call and Response: Unity through deep conversation; interpersonal cooperation harmonizing the individual and community, and other socio-musical implications"

    Lenka Saldo, Hampshire College
    "Embodied Imaginations: Dancing Identities in Cuban Miami"

    Emily Matz, Smith College

    Maria Wood, Smith College
    “New Ideas in the Air: The Birth of Hamilton: An American Musical”

    Nicholas Jordan, UMass Amherst

    Tatiana Hargreaves, Hampshire College
    "Contemporary American Fiddle Culture and Cuban Violin History"

    Tomal Hossain, Amherst College
    "Gregorian Chant of St. Mary's Monastary and St. Scholastica Priory: A Radio Documentary”

    Zoe Langsdale, Smith College
    "Irish Music and Sean-nós Singing"

    Alexis Ligon, Amherst College
    "Music, Critical Blackness, and Ethnographic Documentary Film"

    Owen Dempsey, Hampshire College
    "Different Drummers (Vovovo υuƒolawo) - Teaching Music to Students with Special Needs"

    Emma Rothman, Hampshire College
    "Sound, Noise, Music and Meaning: Performing Collaborative Listening"

    Sean Seid, Hampshire College
    "Interpretations of Colonial American Dance Music”

    Bianca Couture, Smith College

    Rene Cruz, Hampshire College

    Allyson Grammo, Mount Holyoke College

    Nick Kane, Hampshire College

    Parker McQueeney, Hampshire College

    Frances Caperchi, Hampshire College
    "The Making of BUSNEST: The Nuances of Cultural Appropriation"

    Abigail Hobart, Hampshire College
    "The Red Barn Folk Festival: A Community Exploration of New England Folklife"

    Jacob Hochberger, Hampshire Colleg
    "Soundin' like weself: The Trinidadian Rapso Tradition"

    Traci Laichter, Hampshire College
    "Klezmer: Jewish Identity in the New Country"

    Caleb MacKenzie-Margulies, Hampshire College (Fall 2014 graduate)

    Emily Moran, Hampshire College
    "Gullah Geechee Life, History, and Culture and the Impact of Gentrification on St. Simons Island and Sapelo Island, Georgia: The Past and the Present"

    Kathleen Toomey, Mount Holyoke College
    "The Nagara Drum and the Struggles of Folk Musicians in Pushkar, India"

    James Hartman, Hampshire College
    "The Viola Caipira in Brazilian Harvest Festival Music"

    Thomas Heisler, Hampshire College
    "Don't Take the Mask Off the Old Lone Ranger: Captain Luke and the Drink House Blues"

    Rebecca Holtz, Smith College
    "Gender-Role-Free Contra Dancing at the Montague Grange (A Radio Journalism piece)"

    Lydia Warren, Smith College

    Anna Maria Amoroso, Mount Holyoke College
    "Methods of Pedagogy in Hindustani Classical Music"

    Rebekah Danielson, Mount Holyoke College
    "Musical Hybridity Building a Sense of Community"

    Katie Hoyer, Smith College
    "The Meaning of Medieval: Lopes-Graça, Portugalidade, and the Cantiga d'Amigo"

    Sasha Hsuczyk, Hampshire College
    "All Things That Rise Must Converge: Julia Clifford and the Spirituality of Music Performance and Experimental Art As a Means of Ethnomusicological Research Expression"

    Sara Loh, Smith College
    "'Oppa Malaysia Style': The Psy effect on Malaysian Music, Media and Politics"

    Phoebe Smolin, Hampshire College
    "La Canción de Boyle Heights: How An East Los Angeles Neighborhood Uses Music To Resist The Silencing of Its Histories "

    Jacques Robert Boudreau, Hampshire College
    Division III: American Mythology: Explorations in Music Composition and Ethnomusicology

    Baron Collins-Hill, Hampshire College
    Division III: Modern Traditional Music

    Zoe Darrow, Mount Holyoke College
    Certificate focus: Scottish Style Fiddling in Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island

    Andrew Alexander Feinberg, Hampshire College
    Division III: Speaking and Singing: The Musical Nation

    Sarah Godel, Smith College

    Josh Landes, Hampshire College
    Division III: Behind This Tongue: DIY Radio On The Road

    Alex Mcle, Mount Holyoke College
    Certificate focus: The Importance of Music in Sustaining the Culture of the Maori People of New Zealand

    Amber Smith, Mount Holyoke College
    Certificate focus: The Harlem Renaissance: Cultural Memory and the Discourse of Africa in Jazz

    Duncan Trudeau, Hampshire College
    Division III: Composition and Performance on the Classical Guitar

    Katherine Beyer, Hampshire College
    Division III: Music-Making and Acclimating, A Radio Documentary: Reinforcing and Reshaping Nigerian Immigrant Identities Through Music

    Morgan Greenstreet, Hampshire College
    Division III: What I Did and Didn't Learn about Tokoe in Ghana: Many Versions of Authenticity

    Ashley Soto, Amherst College
    Honors thesis: Soundscapes of Latin@ Identity: Music-Making in the Puerto Rican Community of Holyoke and Beyond

    Contact Us

    Program Chair:

    Olabode Omojola, Hammond-Douglass Five College Professor of Music, Mount Holyoke College

    Five College Staff Liaison:

    Rebecca Thomas, Academic Programs Coordinator