Digital Commons Network^™

Lesson Plan: What Is Mei?, Jennifer Jolley

Open Educational Resources

This lesson plan provides background on the Music Encoding Initiative (MEI) and the process for converting digital .wav files from the Deborah Pacini Hernandez Bachata Music Collection housed at the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute to .mei using the application Sonic Visualizer.

Notes From The Field - Conference Proceedings, Summer Fellows 2025, Center For Latin American, Caribbean, And Latino Studies (Clacls)

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

CLACLS presents proceedings papers from the third CLACLS Summer Fellows Showcase Conference, held on November 12, 2025.

The daylong event showcased the research endeavors of fourteen Summer Fellows, who offered succinct presentations on their projects funded by the CLACLS Summer fellowship. The included three panels: “Feminist and Queer Critical Perspectives”, “Language, Archive and Power”, “Social Movements and Political Imaginations.”

Negotiating Poetic And Musical Structure: The Adaptation Of Pupuh Sinom In Tembang Sunda Cianjuran, Mustika Iman Zakaria Sudrajat, Yosep Nurdjaman Alamsyah

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

In the context of Sundanese culture, pupuh is a literary form that has static rules. As a literary form, pupuh is often used as a guide for composing song lyrics in Sundanese traditional vocal art, thereby leading to interactions with musical elements. In this case, this interaction happens to the pupuh Sinom, as mentioned in the lyrics of the tembang Sunda cianjuran song entitled Sinom Degung and Gawil Tarik. In this context, a negotiation occurs between the conventions of the pupuh Sinom and the song's melody, ultimately leading to the pupuh Sinom's adaptation. Using a descriptive analysis approach, …

Proud To Be Lao: Examining Lao American Identity Through Transnational Music And Performance, Zechary Phouthavong

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For some time, Lao popular music has not received the same global recognition as other genres emerging out of Asia, such as K-Pop and Bollywood. In recent years, however, Lao-pop artists like Thinlamphone and Zamio P have broken onto the global stage, with music that showcases a unique blend of traditional Lao instrumentation with hip-hop, pop, and R&B styles. This emerging trend is particularly poignant for Lao Americans, as Lao-pop allows for Lao Americans to negotiate their experiences of being both Lao and American, further signifying its importance to constructing identity. This thesis explores the unique process of Lao Americans …

Groove Goes The Distance: An Initial Inquiry Into Jazz Music In Egypt, Farida Gohar

Theses and Dissertations

Jazz music has been a historically contentious site of social, cultural, and political signification. From the violent subjugation that characterized its origins and aspirational freedom that animated its practice, to its transformation into a distinctly “American” music instrumentalized by the US State Department to counter Soviet influence, jazz’s capacity for the inscription of meaning is vast and regularly cause for debate. The particular configuration of jazz music in Egypt is no less complicated although seldom studied. This thesis ventures an initial mapping of the dynamics and negotiations that historically defined the initiation of “Egyptian” jazz, as well as the ones …

More Than A Man: An Ethnomusicological Survey Of The Folklore Of John Henry And Resource Guide For “More Than A Man” By Shanyse Strickland, Clayton R. Heath

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

“John Henry” exists as an enduring folk legend in the United States of America, representing the confluence of the Reconstruction Era, the economic utility of Appalachia and the Westward expansion of industry which left it behind. Though based on historical events, Henry’s fictional representation has diverted and evolved in music and other media from its inception in the oral tradition to the modern age. Through this progression, shared symbols have circulated, gathering embedded meanings and associating the folklore with specific communities. Henry’s representational identity has been signaled with the creation and distribution of each version of his story, both complicating …

A Method For Beginners Volume 1: The Intersection Of The Yaqui Tribe And Guitar Pedagogy, Daniel Preciado Arreola

Theses and Dissertations--Music

This dissertation is divided into four chapters. The first is an introduction explaining the project; the second describes the Yaqui Tribe's background, significance, and musical traditions, primarily based on three sources: the thesis Sones de Pascola by Cristian Salvador Islas Miranda, the biographical book El Viaje de Mechabili by Daniel Librado Luna, and the album Juya Ánia. The third chapter details the methodological framework and development process used to construct the guitar method presented in Chapter 4. This fourth chapter consists of the first volume of an ongoing multi-volume guitar method—authored by me—focused largely on the melodies from the aforementioned …

Cantate Fratres: Forming And Sustaining Traditional Catholic Music, Liturgy And Culture In The Institute Of Christ The King Sovereign Priest, Reyers P. Brusoe

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest is an understudied member of the Traditional Catholic and Latin Mass Communities whose unique approach to Catholic liturgy, culture, and formation offers a sustainable model for the Catholic Church's longevity and renewal. This study is the first of its kind, combining the theoretical positions of affect theory, ecomusicology/musical sustainability, and the musicology of religion to explore and explain the success of this growing classical community. This dissertation examines Church documents, theological literature, and multidisciplinary academic sources as a foundation for the study.             In studying the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, …

Musicking In The Greek Diaspora Of Perth, Western Australia, Alix Simatos

Theses : Honours

This research investigates music making among second- and third-generation Greek Australians in the diaspora community of Perth, Western Australia. It explores how musical practices serve as a medium for expressing and negotiating Greek identity, with particular attention to how multiculturalism is embodied through music education, performance and communal exchange. Fieldwork was conducted in Perth between July and September 2025, using a methodology that included semi-structured interviews, participant observation and experiential learning through musical events. The findings highlight music’s significance in sustaining cultural heritage and shaping identity within diaspora communities. Key themes include the influence of physical and digital media on …

The Matusiflute: Exploring Intercultural Collaboration Through Timbral Dízi Emulation Within An Australian-Chinese Orchestral Performance Setting, Gabriel Mcmahon

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research investigates how the Matusiflute can potentially promote intercultural Sino Western collaboration within solo, chamber and orchestral settings by consciously applying technical and stylistic codes attributed to the dízi (traverse Chinese bamboo flute). Using an autoethnographic approach, I reflect on my engagement with the dízi, its morphology, timbre and stylistic interpretation, and how my pedagogical flute context impacted this approach. These learnings were then applied to the Matusiflute through two premiere performances of a commissioned intercultural work by Nicholas Ng, The Secret of the Golden Flower (2024) for Matusiflute and Chinese Orchestra. The latter being performed in a solo …

Do You See What I Hear?: The Effects Of Musical Harmony On Cultural Perception And Recognition, Marvin Martin Williams

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study explores whether listeners can identify the differences in harmonic progressions in a musical composition, and, if so, whether those differences can elicit a cultural or social perception of the origins of the music. By investigating how audiences respond to variations in harmony, specifically traditional versus altered harmonic treatments, the research offers a framework for music producers, educators, healthcare providers, and other cultural gatekeepers to better understand and engage with audiences on an empathetic and meaningful level. The underlying hypothesis posits that harmony in music does more than evoke emotion but may inform a cultural interpretation, thus presenting an …

Contentious Culture: The Convergence And Contestation Of Class And Identity In Egypt’S Mahraganat Scene, Elisa Schouten

Regards

Since its inception in the early 2000s, Mahraganat music has undermined traditional cultural gatekeeping and reshaped Egypt’s music scene, becoming one of the country’s most debated music genres in recent history. This paper aims to examine Mahraganat within the broader context of cultural identity formation and technological developments and contextualize the criticism of the genre and its makers. Building on research conducted in Egypt’s capital between 2019 and 2024, this paper explores the history of cultural gatekeeping and argues that social class lies at the core of the heated debate surrounding Egyptian music and Mahraganat in particular. It shows that …

Dragon Guitars And Sexy Zombies: Tracing The Meta-Motion Of The Naga Motif In Northeast Thailand, Aaron Michael Stanley

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

Abstract

This thesis traces the evolving symbolism of the Naga motif (a mythic water serpent) in Northeast Thailand through a framework I call meta-motion, which maps symbolic persistence of this cultural signifier and boundary marker across four cultural horizons—animist (Z), Hindu–Khmer (B), Buddhist (A), and modern/global (C). Like electrons in quantum super position, symbolic motifs circulate as overlapping “waves” of potential meaning and are concretized into cultural “particles” only when recruited for specific ritual, commercial, or political purposes. I add a bookend extension to Chang’s Hindu-Buddhist (B/A) typology with the addition of Horizons Z and C in order to make …

Vol. 48 No. 1 (2025): Pacific Studies Front Matter, The Jonathan Napela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Front Matter for the Vol. 48, No 1-Jun 2025 edition of the Pacific Studies Journal.

Introducción: Texturas Aurales Del Istmo, Antonio Monte Casablanca, Andrés R. Amado, María Soledad Hernández

School of Music Faculty Publications

Este dossier examina las configuraciones sonoras de Centroamérica y el Caribe a partir de un enfoque que entrelaza música, lenguaje, cuerpo y memoria en contextos de desplazamientos trasnacionales y transístmicos. Los artículos reunidos abordan las resonancias transístmicas como formas de conocimiento y resistencia. A través de análisis literarios, etnográficos y sonoros, se describen y analizan prácticas culturales que reconfiguran identidades en movimiento. Los artículos estudian desde la situación de los músicos exiliados, los carnavales populares, las interpretaciones de la poesía en clave de modernidad y nacionalismo, hasta cantos de hinchadas futboleras. La noción de “texturas aurales” articula producciones escritas, orales …

A Showman And A Scholar: Bascom Lamar Lunsford And The Preservation Of Traditional Appalachian Music, Benjamin Grist

Masters Theses

Appalachian musical culture is well-known in the modern day. Between old time, bluegrass, country, and clogging, people around the world know and enjoy the musical traditions of the mountains. However, in the 1920s, Appalachian culture was in serious danger of going extinct. A mix of industrialization destroying local economies, an influx of rich outsiders moving to the region, and the people of Appalachia trying to distance themselves from their impoverished lifestyles, traditional Appalachian music and culture was being crushed on one hand and abandoned on the other. Realizing that the region's musical traditions were disappearing, several scholars tried to record …

A Comparative Study Of Music Between Mongolia And The Mongolian Ethnic Minority In China: Cultural Backgrounds, Musical Styles, And Modern Developments, Yile Huang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis conducts a comparative study of Mongolian music traditions as they have developed both within Mongolia and among the Mongolian ethnic minority in China, exploring their cultural backgrounds, musical styles, and contemporary developments. By investigating the historical, geographical, and socio-cultural influences that shape the music in these regions, this study highlights the unique musical identities of each group while uncovering their commonalities and cultural exchanges. Drawing from a wide range of sources—including ethnographic studies and analysis of specific musical pieces—this research examines foundational elements such as the Mongolian long song, throat singing, and horsehead fiddle music. These traditional forms …

East Meets West In Chinese Orchestral Repertoire: The Fusion Of Chinese Nationalism And Western Musical Influence, Tianxi Wen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This doctoral document explores the intersection of Chinese musical traditions and Western orchestral influences, focusing specifically on how Chinese composers have navigated this blend to create distinctive orchestral works. Grounded in my background as a doctoral student in orchestral conducting and enriched by my ethnomusicological expertise, this document examines how these composers have integrated both traditions into their music.CHAPTER 1, “Introduction”, introduces the document’s structure, central argument, and the selection of orchestral works for analysis. It also defines the document's purpose and scope. CHAPTER 2, “A Brief History of the Orchestra in China”, examines the origins, evolution, and development of …

Hearing Caste: Dalit Resistance Through Folk Music In West Bengal, India, Antara Bhattacharyay

Music Honors Projects

Caste—a graded structure of hierarchy—has historically shaped identities in South Asia and persists to this day. In opposition, Dalits (caste-marginalized communities) have utilized diverse mediums to communicate their resistance. In this thesis, I analyze the role of music in Bengali Dalit resistance through the work of Dalit singer-songwriter Smritikana Howlader (b. 1960). Based on ethnographic research, I investigate how folk music becomes a mode of Dalit historiography. In particular, I explore how Howlader aims to transcend caste boundaries through song, evoking shared humanity. I argue that Howlader’s performances combat dominant caste discourse and Dalit erasure, furthering Bengali Dalit resistance.

Heartbeat Of The Heartland: Sonic Engagement With Hip-Hop In The American Midwest, Lauren R. Millhorn

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This project analyzes Hip-Hop artists from the American Midwest through the context of the Midwest’s construction as a nostalgic, peaceful area where conflict seems nonexistent. This study applies Adam Ochonicky’s concept of nostalgic spatiality, or “instances in which nostalgia is projected onto a physical environment, thereby altering the perception, understanding, and/or experience of that space and its accompanying cultural sphere” (Ochonicky 29) to close readings on Midwest Hip-Hop texts. In the case of the Midwest, projected nostalgia is rooted in whiteness and propels the narrative that the Midwest is predominantly occupied by white people who maintain its peace and serenity …

“Death Leaves A Heartache No One Can Heal:” Musical Subversion In The Irish Caoineadh Tradition, Charissa Joy Garrigus

Graduate Thesis Collection

My thesis details the subversive, inherently feminine nature of Irish caoineadh (keening). This research focuses on how a practice with pagan, druidic roots survived in a culture that was experiencing intense religious and structural upheaval including the arrival of Protestant English settlers, tensions with the Catholic church, and longstanding pagan traditions. I contend that early modern Irish lament (caoineadh/keening) was inherently subversive due to its feminine liminality, its origins from druidic ritual, and its musical, poetic, and lyrical content that was often condemnatory of patriarchal Christian and English power structures. This thesis investigates three main topics occurring from ancient times …

Guide To The William T. Dargan Collection, Columbia College Chicago

CBMR Collection Guides / Finding Aids

William Thomas Dargan is a published ethnomusicologist and an elder in the United Methodist Church, retired from teaching Music at Fisk University and St. Augustine’s College. Dargan grew up listening to Dr. Isaac Watts' hymn singing as well as rhythm and blues. His collection holds audio musical examples that accompany the written text in his book, Lining Out The Word, and field recordings of spirituals and hymns discussed in his work. The term “lining out” is a form of a cappella hymn-singing where a leader sings or chants each line of a hymn before the congregation sings it together.

Brazilian Instrumental Music, U.S. Jazz, And Transnationalism: A Study Of National Identity In The Twentieth Century And Present, Felipe Guz Tinoco

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation considers the relationship between Brazilian instrumental music, U.S. jazz, and Brazilian national identity from the early twentieth century to the present. Though the time frame is broad, the present work uses nationalism as an anchoring point through which I analyze multiple musical genres. Previous works have primarily examined songs and lyrics, particularly during the military dictatorship (1964-85), when words against the regime were censored and songwriters persecuted. However, listeners and musicians of instrumental music also engaged with discourses of national identity in profound terms before, during, and after this period, posing ideals of Brasilidade against cultural productions abroad, …

Anthropology & Aging From The Editor-In-Chief, Manonita Ghosh

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

No abstract provided.

“And The People Sang In All The Ways Of The City:” A Speculative Ethnomusicology Of Gondor, Kelsey A. Fuller-Shafer

Journal of Tolkien Research

The music of Gondor is one of the more elusive musical traditions in Middle-earth, described only briefly throughout the text of The Lord of the Rings, and thus often neglected in scholarship on music in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. However, an ethnomusicological line of inquiry brings to the fore questions of performance, perception, and meaning that contribute to our interpretations of the many levels of symbolic transformation seen in Gondor at the beginning of the Fourth Age. The evidence of both musical activity and silence in Gondor mirrors conclusions that have been documented in real-world ethnomusicological studies in …

“Systems Are Changeable”: Reading Moments Through Movements Available, Lei X. Ouyang

Music Faculty Works

This article considers how recent moments of racism and violence in the United States, ethnomusicology, and the Society for Ethnomusicology are linked to larger movements. I examine the work of Asian American and Asian Canadian artists and activists to engage with conversations about violence, racialization, and solidarity. I bring these conversations in concert with recent discussions of racism in music studies to connect moments to movements and examine models for change through processes of decolonization. I call upon readers to embrace discomfort, listening, and reflection to engage with work that is relational and intergenerational and that demonstrates hope, care, and …

The Institutionalization Of Jazz Pedagogy As Observed In The Greater Salt Lake Area Of Utah, Jens Watts

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Although traditionally an oral art form, the learning and teaching of jazz music has undergone a shift towards institutionalization and formalization in the last fifty years, principally in the form of method books and the presence of jazz in educational institutions. This study documents this trend by a comparison of jazz pedagogy experienced by and used by professional musicians in Utah with that which is recorded in Paul Berliner’s Thinking in Jazz. The informality of education for Berliner’s interlocutors contrasts starkly with the institutionalized education of most of the participants in this study.

Rap In The United States And Cuba: A Genre Uniquely Emblematic Of The Paradox Of (De)Colonization, Maya Rose Bliffeld

Senior Theses

Music, as a profound and resonant cultural expression, captures the nuance of societal dynamics, political climates, and the collective emotions of communities throughout time. Colonialism, more specifically the Atlantic slave trade and the experience of suffering, has been reflected in the music as much as it has pioneered styles of new global music in the present. Music, specifically rap, contextualized in the hip-hop movements of the United States and Cuba, reveals primary sources of the effects of systemic racism and the marks of slavery in the contemporary context. The United States and Cuba each have a close relation to the …

Canciones De Cuna En La Frontera: Las Canciones De Cuna En El Valle De Juárez / Lullabies In The Border: Lullaby Singing In El Valle Of Juarez, Emma Alvarez De La Rosa

The Agora

Resumen en español:

Las canciones de cuna desempeñan un papel importante en el desarrollo de los niños, el bienestar de la madre y las relaciones sanas entre padres e hijos. Estas canciones también representan acervos musicales de valores y tradiciones culturales. Este trabajo resume la investigación y los resultados obtenidos para mi proyecto final Honors Capstone para la New Mexico State University, que examina la preservación de las canciones de cuna en la región del Valle de Juárez y Ciudad Juárez. Basadas en análisis etnográficos y etnomusicológicos para entender su importancia en la historia y cultura de la región fronteriza, …

Rebetiko In Nyc: New Ideas Of Greek Diaspora, Mihalis Alisandratos

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores ideas of Greekness within the modern rebetiko space of New York City through the use of both ethnographic and reflexive techniques. Combining thick description, interview analysis, and extensive self reflection, this thesis endeavors to better understand how Greek American rebetiko musicians in NY today conceive of their experience in diaspora.