The Online Program of events for the 2023 AMS & SMT Joint Annual Meeting appears below. This program is subject to change. The final program will be published in early November.
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Organizer(s): Christopher Endrinal (Florida Gulf Coast University,), Rachel Lumsden (Florida State Unviersity)
Chair(s): Christopher Endrinal (Florida Gulf Coast University), Rachel Lumsden (Florida State University)
In his 2009 essay “In and Around Music Theory and the Academy: A Perspective,” Horace Maxile shares some of his experiences as a Black music theorist in a predominantly white discipline, and the continued challenges the SMT has faced in trying to make the field of music theory more inclusive and diverse. Maxile focuses much of his essay on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), emphasizing that “a number of pioneering black music scholars and composers began their studies at HBCUs and many of them taught at HBCUs” (Maxile 2009, 106). As early as 1996, the SMT acknowledged the importance of HBCUs (“1996 Meeting in Baton Rouge,” Committee on Diversity report). But aside from a few targeted initiatives, the SMT has not prioritized building relationships with HBCUs, and has not pursued some of the strategies Maxile outlines in an in-depth, sustained way.
For the 2023 Annual Meeting, the SMT Committee on Race and Ethnicity (CoRE) will continue the conversation by hosting a roundtable discussion about HBCUs and the field of music theory. In order to present a variety of perspectives on this issue, we have invited presenters at various stages of their careers and from different parts of the country, including Maya Cunningham, Richard Desinord, Paula Grissom-Broughton, and Tamyka Jordon-Conlin. The roundtable participants all have first-hand experience with music theory at an HBCU, either as a student or as an instructor.
The CoRE's members, in consultation with the presenters, will continue to work on the session's structure and details. Presently, we envision a combination of short reflection papers (approx. 10 minutes), followed by a more open discussion, although that may change. Though participants may write about whatever they feel is a pertinent contribution to the discussion, the CoRE encourages them to focus their reflections on the relationship (or lack thereof) our discipline has with HBCUs. We hope this session will create a space for learning and growth, as we examine the current status of the relationship between the SMT and HBCUs, the associated challenges, and ways to improve this relationship in order to create a more inclusive discipline.
Name of sponsoring group SMT Committee on Race and Ethnicity (CoRE)
Presentations of the Symposium
HBCUs and Music Theory
Maya Cunnigham, Richard Desinord, Paula Grissom-Broughton, Tamyka Jordon-Conlin N/A
In his 2009 essay “In and Around Music Theory and the Academy: A Perspective,” Horace Maxile shares some of his experiences as a Black music theorist in a predominantly white discipline, and the continued challenges the SMT has faced in trying to make the field of music theory more inclusive and diverse. Maxile focuses much of his essay on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), emphasizing that “a number of pioneering black music scholars and composers began their studies at HBCUs and many of them taught at HBCUs” (Maxile 2009, 106). As early as 1996, the SMT acknowledged the importance of HBCUs (“1996 Meeting in Baton Rouge,” Committee on Diversity report). But aside from a few targeted initiatives, the SMT has not prioritized building relationships with HBCUs, and has not pursued some of the strategies Maxile outlines in an in-depth, sustained way.
For the 2023 Annual Meeting, the SMT Committee on Race and Ethnicity (CoRE) will continue the conversation by hosting a roundtable discussion about HBCUs and the field of music theory. In order to present a variety of perspectives on this issue, we have invited presenters at various stages of their careers and from different parts of the country, including Maya Cunningham, Richard Desinord, Paula Grissom-Broughton, and Tamyka Jordon-Conlin. The roundtable participants all have first-hand experience with music theory at an HBCU, either as a student or as an instructor.
The CoRE's members, in consultation with the presenters, will continue to work on the session's structure and details. Presently, we envision a combination of short reflection papers (approx. 10 minutes), followed by a more open discussion, although that may change. Though participants may write about whatever they feel is a pertinent contribution to the discussion, the CoRE encourages them to focus their reflections on the relationship (or lack thereof) our discipline has with HBCUs. We hope this session will create a space for learning and growth, as we examine the current status of the relationship between the SMT and HBCUs, the associated challenges, and ways to improve this relationship in order to create a more inclusive discipline.
