Midwest Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology

The Midwest Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology (MWSEM) is a chapter organization of the Society for Ethnomusicology. The Society was founded in 1955 to promote the research, study, and performance of musical behavior in its cultural, social, and political contexts.

In the spring of each year the MWSEM meets for a 1-2 day meeting including formal papers, panels, performances, and opportunities for socializing. The chapter awards the JaFran Jones Award each year to the best student paper delivered at the annual meeting.

• By-Laws (Word Document)

• Click here for a complete member listing

Past Meetings and Officers

2007

Terre Haute, Indiana State University
Ken Prouty, President

2005-2006

Columbus, OH
The Ohio State University
Daniel Avorgbedor, President
Go here for conference papers (2005-2006)

2004

Bowling Green, OH
David Harnish, President
Go here for conference paper titles (link)

The program committee consisted of Steven Cornelius (chair), Judith Becker, Jeremy Wallach and Corinna Campbell (student member). The local arrangements committee consisted of Mary Natvig (musicologist, chair), Amy Wooley and students Kwesi Brown, Christopher Ballengee, Sidra Lawrence and Mark Gerolami.

2003

2003 Midwest Chapter-Niagara Chapter Joint Meeting
Warren, Ohio
President, Erik Gooding (Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky)

Preliminary Program
The $25.00 registration fee will include lunch, dinner, coffee, and snacks.

Friday, March 14

7:00 p.m. Keynote Address - David Harnish, Bowling Green State University -
"Performance and the Negotiations of Modernity and Religion in Indonesia"

8:00 p.m. Phong Nguyen - performance on the Vietnamese monochord dan bau.

9:00 p.m. reception

Saturday, March 15

7:45-8:15 a.m. Registration and pastries

8:15-8:30 a.m. Welcome - Denise Seachrist, Kent State University Trumbull
Campus, Local Arrangements Chair

8:30-10:00 a.m. SESSION I

Erik Gooding, Western Kentucky University,
"The Swedish Bagpipe in American: A Preliminary Analysis"

Klevor Abo, Bowling Green State University,
"Black Whiteness, White Blackness and the Dialectics of Grant Stillian and Gerswinian Musical Aesthetics"

Corinna Campbell, Northwestern University,
"The Right to Know: The Ethics of Researching a Sensitive Past"

10:00-10:15 a.m. - coffee break

10:15-11:45 a.m. SESSION II

Mary Procopio, Michigan State University,
"Transculturation in the Cuban Diaspora Musical and Cultural Identity in the Lansing Cuban Community"

Mary Jane Jones, Kent State University,
"Blending the Past and Present: Traditions and Performance Practices of a Lenape Drum Circle"

Ken Prouty, Indiana State University,
"'Just a Temporary Layoff,' or 'Moving On Up': Representing African American Urban Culture through Theme Songs for 'Good Times' and 'The Jeffersons'"

Jennifer Johnstone, Kent State University,
"St. Maron Church: Lebanese-American Identity in Youngstown, Ohio"

11:45-12:15 individual chapter Business Meetings

12:15-1:45 p.m. Lunch on site, Chinese buffet

1:45-3:15 p.m SESSION III

Alejandro L. Madrid, The Ohio State University,
"Shifting Role and Hegemonic Contestation: Center-Periphery Relations and the Migration of Nor-Tec Music"

Eun-Young Jung, University of Pittsburgh,
"Korean Hip-Hop for a 'New Generation': Seo Taiji's 'Classroom Ideology'"

Peter Marsh, Indiana University,
"Tourist Musical Production in Mongolia: Nostaligia, Imagination, and the Needs of the Modern Nation-State"

3:15-3:30 p.m. coffee break

3:30-5:00 p.m. SESSION IV

Andrew Scott, University of Toronto,
"Sonny' Greenwich, Jazz Guitarist"

James Kimball, SUNY-Geneseo,
"T.P. Paschall and J.R. Smith & Sons: Jew's Harp Makers in New York State"

John Nutekpor, Bowling Green State University,
"Collection of Priests: Song Text in Wulomei"

5:00-6:00 p.m. General Discussion

6:00-7:30 p.m. Dinner on site, Italian buffet

7:30-8:00 p.m. Community Time

8:00-10:00 p.m. Performance by Kent State University Chinese Ensemble

2002

University of Indianapolis

2001

University of Cincinnati

2000

Chicago State University
The annual meeting of the Midwest Chapter was held on March 3-5, 2000 at Chicago State University. Ninety-three people attended (71 paid full registration and 22 students attended with waived registration). The program featured 23 papers addressing the following themes: Music Makers, Embodiment, Ethics, Nationalism, Identity, and the interface between Global and Local activity. A complete copy of the program with names of participants and abstracts can be found at http://www.csu.edu/CollegeOfArtsAndSciences/ethmusic-midwest/abstracts.htm.

1999

Michigan State University
"Disruptive Disciplines" (A Joint Conference of the Midwest Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology and the American Studies Graduate Student Association) was held on Saturday, 17 April 1999 at the Union Building at Michigan State University. Michael Largey (1999 Midwest SEM president) was the program and local arrangements chair for the conference. Eric Lott (U of Virginia) gave the Russell Nye Lecture titled "Spirit of the Ghetto: Representation, Post-Industrial Space, and
the Specter of Race."