Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology exposes students with a background in music to diverse musical traditions from a non-Western perspective. Coursework, on-site research, and exposure to different instruments and musical genres will help students think critically about why music matters to individuals and communities around the world, thereby encouraging them to engage with music in their own world in new ways.
Program Facts
- Program Type: Minor
- Division: Musicology
Program Director
Charles McGuire,
Professor of Musicology
Quick Links
Performance Groups
Oberlin has more than 25 student performance groups that contribute to the roughly 500 concerts a year. In addition, ethnomusicology students can perform with the Indonesian Gong Ensemble through a course taught by ethnomusicology professor Jennifer Fraser. The ensemble typically uses tuned percussion instruments from the Sumatran Talempong and Javanese Gamelan traditions, and sometimes includes flutes, bowed and plucked strings, or vocalists. Oberlin students have been learning how to play these instruments since 1971.
Performance Groups-
Courtney-Savali Andrews
Assistant Professor of African American and African Diasporic Musics
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Jennifer Fraser
Professor of Ethnomusicology and Anthropology
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Lena Leson
Assistant Professor of Musicology
Ethnomusicology News
Jasmine Wilkerson ’23 Performs Heart, Lung and Blood (HLB) Research at CWRU Medical School
September 7, 2021
Jennifer Fraser Receives Grant from the National Endowment of Humanities
May 21, 2020
Zola Barnes ’19 Awarded Newman Civic Fellowship
May 16, 2018
