MUSIC HISTORY/MUSICOLOGY/ETHNOMUSICOLOGY (2007-08)
(Schools listed once, in alphabetical order)
Current Wiki Time: 2008-08-20 12:19
Last Page Update: 2008-08-16 04:52
Schools with known acceptances (doctorate-granting institution in CAPS):
American University (popular music/jazz, 1-year renewable): Marc Medwin (UNC-CHAPEL HILL)
Amherst College (popular music/jazz, visiting): Jason Robinson (UCSD)
Belmont University (musicology - popular music and interdisciplinarity): Peter Lamothe (UNC-CHAPEL HILL)
Beloit College (musicology): Daniel Barolsky (CHICAGO)
Bowdoin College (ethno one-year): Anthony Perman (ILLINOIS)
Bowling Green State University (Ethno 2, 2 year positions): Joshua Duchan (MICHIGAN) and Katherine Meizel (UCSB)
Brandeis University (renaissance music): Seth Coluzzi (UNC-CHAPEL HILL)
Bucknell University (ethno): Bethany Collier Malone (CORNELL)
Bucknell University (jazz, music theory, 19th/20th century music): Barry Long (EASTMAN)
California State University, Chico (music history/global music): Hope Munro Smith (UT-AUSTIN)
Case Western Reserve University (musicology, 18th/19th c.): Francesca Brittan (CORNELL)
Chinese University of Hong Kong (Ethnomusicology): Victor A. Vicente (MARYLAND)
Colby College (music history, 1-year position): Todd Borgerding (MICHIGAN)
College of St. Catherine (visiting assistant, "Music History and Non-Western Music"): Allison Adrian (U of MINNESOTA)
Columbia post-doc fellowships: Alessandra Ciucci (CUNY) and Emily Wilbourne (NYU)
CUNY Graduate Center (ethnomusicology, senior only): Jane Sugarman (UCLA; currently at STONY BROOK)
Denison University: Christopher Bruhn (CUNY)
DePauw University: Maria Chow (CHICAGO)
Duquesne University (musicology): Benjamin Binder (PRINCETON)
Eastman (Medieval/18thc./ethno): Michael Anderson (ABD/CHICAGO)
Eugene Lang College/The New School (ethno/jazz): Evan Rapport (CUNY)
Fordham University (18thc. etc.): Matthew Gelbart (BERKELEY)
Franklin and Marshall College (ethnomusicology): Sylvia Alajaji (ABD/EASTMAN)
Hampshire College (ethnomusicology - popular music): Junko Oba (ABD/WESLEYAN)
Hebrew University Jerusalem: Yossi Maurey (CHICAGO)
Indiana State (African/Af-Am Studies/ethno): Jennifer Ryan (UPENN)
Indiana State (Instructor of Musicology): Terry Dean (ABD/GEORGIA)
Indiana University (Ethnomusicology): David McDonald (ILLINOIS)
Kenyon College (1-yr music history): Anita Hardeman (ABD/WESTERN ONTARIO)
Kutztown University (music history): R. Todd Rober (NORTH TEXAS)
Lawrence University (music history two-year, non-tenure track): Sara Gross Ceballos (UCLA)
Lawrence University (postdoc in ethnomusicology): Sonja Downing (UCSB)
Louisiana State University (musicology): Brett Boutwell (ILLINOIS)
MIT (musicology): Michael Scott Cuthbert (HARVARD)
Miami University (musicology): Ann Ommen van der Merwe (OHIO STATE)
Michigan State University (ethno - African or African-American music): Joanna Bosse (ILLINOIS)
Michigan State University (musicology post-1750): Kevin Bartig (UNC-CHAPEL HILL)
Metropolitan State College (musicology): Joice Gibson (COLORADO)
NEC (baroque): Rebecca Cypess (YALE)
Northern Arizona University (ethnomusicology): Chad Hamill (COLORADO)
Oakland University, Rochester, MI (musicology post-1800): Jessica Payette (ABD/STANFORD)
Occidental College (music history and cultural studies): David Kasunic (PRINCETON)
Penn State U. (after 1650, world music): Marie Sumner Lott (ABD/EASTMAN)
Purdue University (music appreciation only): Jennifer King (INDIANA)
Stephen F. Austin, Nacogdoches, TX (musicology): Jamie Gay Weaver (OREGON)
Stony Brook (ethnomusicology, 1-year): Andrew Eisenberg (ABD/COLUMBIA)
SUNY Buffalo (historical musicology): Stephanie Vander Wel (UCLA)
SUNY Fredonia (musicology): Michael Markham (BERKELEY)
Texas A&M (global popular music): Jayson Beaster-Jones (CHICAGO)
Texas Christian University (musicology, 1-year): Katherine L. Turner (UT-AUSTIN)
Texas Tech (Classic/Romantic): Thomas Cimarusti (FSU)
Texas Woman's University: Todd Schendel (WISCONSIN)
Tulane (ethnomusicology/Latin American studies): Daniel Sharp (UT-AUSTIN)
University College Dublin (ethnomusicology): Jaime Jones (CHICAGO)
University of Alabama (musicology): Don Fader (STANFORD)
University of Alabama, New College (interdisciplinary arts): Andrew Raffo Dewar (ABD/WESLEYAN)
University of British Columbia, Vancouver (postdoc in musicology): Paul Steinbeck (COLUMBIA)
University of California Berkeley (Af-Am/American Studies/ethno): Tamara Roberts (NORTHWESTERN)
University of California Los Angeles (musicology): Nina Eidsheim (UCSD)
University of California Riverside (pre-1800): Rogerio Budasz (USC)
University of Chicago (Ethno): Kaley Mason (ALBERTA) and Melvin Butler (NYU)
University of Chicago (one-year ethno post-doc) Eric Usner (NYU)
University of Cincinnati (Medieval): Matthew Peattie (HARVARD)
University of Delaware (post-1600): Charles Carson (UPENN)
University of Idaho (20th/21st): Barry Bilderback (UNIV. OF OREGON)
University of Kentucky (ethno): Donna Kwon (BERKELEY)
University of Maryland (ethno 1 year): Eliot Bates (BERKELEY)
University of Massachusetts, Lowell (music history): Timothy Crain (FLORIDA STATE)
University of Miami: Willa Collins (CORNELL)
University of Michigan (ethnomusicology/musicology): Meilu Ho (UCLA)
University of Michigan (1-year replacement, 19th cent musicology): Lisa Musca (UCLA)
University of Minnesota, Morris (musicology): Denise Odello (UCSB)
University of Missouri, Columbia (1-year): Annett Richter (U. Minnesota)
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (three-year, ethno/gamelan): Marzanna Poplawska (WESLEYAN)
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (post-1900): Brigid Cohen (HARVARD)
University of North Texas (general studies): Ana Alonso Minutti (UC-DAVIS)
University of Northern Iowa: Melinda Boyd (U OF BRITISH COLUMBIA)
University of Pennsylvania (Humanities forum, Mellon post-doc): Samuel Breene (DUKE)
University of Pittsburgh (ethnomusicology): Adriana Helbig (COLUMBIA)
University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg (3-year, history and choral conducting): Chris Bartley (DMA-Conducting; ARIZONA)
University of Richmond (three-year position): Paul Yoon (COLUMBIA)
University of Southern California (one-year): Sarah Eyerly (UC-DAVIS)
University of Texas at Austin (North American): Caroline Polk O'Meara (UCLA)
University of Toronto (ethno): Joshua Pilzer (CHICAGO)
University of Virginia (Critical and Comparative Studies in Music): Heather Wiebe (BERKELEY)
Utah State University (music history): Christopher Scheer (MICHIGAN)
Vanderbilt University (one-year): James Maiello (UCSB)
Wabash College (Baroque/Classical/Rom): Vanessa Rogers (USC)
Washington College (Ethnomusicology/Ensembles): Kenneth Schweitzer (MARYLAND)
Western Carolina University (Music History): Christina L Reitz (FLORIDA)
Williams College (one-year): Jacquelyn Sholes (BRANDEIS)
Yale School of Music: Robert Holzer (PENN)
Yale University (two-year postdoc in LGBT Studies and Music): Shana Goldin-Perschbacher (UVA)
Schools with acceptances, names unknown
Augustana College, South Dakota (Ethnomusicology, percussion)
- letter dated 3/28 notes offer made and position filled.
Chatham UniversityGeorgetown University (opera and musical theater)
- letter of Jan. 8 notes offer made and position filled
Hillsdale College (music history) - They hired the adjunct professor who taught it last year.
Hunter College, CUNY (jazz and/or popular music studies) - letter July 18 states offer accepted, but deferred for one year
Mercer University (musicology)Nicholls State University
- letter May 27 states position has been filled
San Diego State University (American popular music) - letter of Feb. 7 states that a decision has been made
Q. Does anyone know if they hired someone for this search? This passive construction has been making me wonder.
Seton Hall University (music history)University of Oklahoma (one-year)
- letter 23 April states decision made
University of Puget Sound (one-year)University of South Carolina Upstate
University of Washington, Bothell (Interdisciplinary Arts)
- Letter of March 17 notes position has been filled
Youngstown State UniversitySchools that have requested campus visits
Hood College (visiting assistant professor, music history)
NYU ("music and/or aural cultures of the recent past")
Q: When were people contacted?
- I know that there was a short list already and people had come to campus to visit by the beginning of February.
Has there been any update since then?
- The last candidate came to visit just before Spring Break (which is this week). Maybe there will be some more news after school goes back?
- I heard a rumor that there were 300 applicants for this position? None of my sources are great, but I've heard it more than once now.
- c.240, actually; although the real question is: is that a lot? without comparing it to some other searches it's a useless statistic
Q: Does anyone know if an offer has been made for this position?
NYU ("music and sonic studies" with an emphasis on ethnographic experience and social science background) - more materials requested (2/8)
- Maureen Mahon appears to be filling one of the above positions at NYU
University of Southampton UK (music in contemporary culture)University of Texas at Austin (African-American music)
Schools that are conducting phone and/or video interviews:
Stanford University (three-year "acting assistant professor")
- long list on 4/28; phone interviews week of 4/28 or 5/5
Q- Have e-mails been sent to schedule interviews?
A- I was emailed about scheduling a video interview, 1st week of may. (4/30)
Q- Has anyone heard about this position since the video interviews?
A- Candidate has been selected; official announcement pending.
Schools that requested more materials
Schools that have sent out rejection letters and/or established a shortlist
University of Utrecht (musicology, new media, digital culture)
- oddly worded rejection letter received on May Day
- Was this a letter by mail or an email? (I haven't heard anything.) - postal mail
University of Western Ontario (popular music, media studies) - rejection letter received via snail mail, 01/26
University of Windsor - mail notice only Canadian applicants will be considered on Dec. 28
- ditto
- shortlist established early Jan.
Announced jobs with no further information on their status
Bowling Green State University (Ethno, 1 year Replacement)
-There are now three positions open at BGSU in ethno for next year...
Dowling College (ethnomusicology)Royal Northern College of Music, UK (20th century)
Southwestern Illinois College (pop/jazz, ethno)
Sweet Briar College (one-year)
Syracuse (Music and Entertainment Studies)
University College Dublin (pre-1600)
University of California, Los Angeles (Culture, Performance, and Globalization in Department of World Arts and Cultures)
University of Cork Fulbright (ethno)
University of Oslo (popular music)
- Anyone know WHEN this was posted, and where (in CMS??)?
- I saw the ad in the Chronicle, I think, but don't remember it being posted on the CMS list. The deadline was Nov. 30th.
University of Oxford, UK (pre-1600/ethno/psychology of mus.)Wellesley College (Ethnomusicology-Theory-Composition; open rank; tenured scholar preferred)
Cancelled and Failed Searches:
College of Charleston (musicology): failed search, no candidate hired.
Florida State University (historical musicology)
Florida State University (ethnomusicology)
Gainesville State College (music history): funding not available
Indiana University (music before 1500)
- Search is apparently on hold until next year
Suffolk UniversityUniversity of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (ethno)
-Failed search (email 5/13). Is there a subheading for failed searches? "Cancelled" means something different, so I did't put it there.
-I think we can have one area for canceled and failed searches, since for many schools they mean the same thing.
Weber State University (music history/world music) -Failed search (email 6/13): "Due to unforeseen circumstances, the position will not be filled as advertised."
California State University Northridge (ethno, world percussion) Q - Has an offer been made for this job? They were conducting interviews three weeks ago.
A - Nominee has been forwarded to administration; awaiting budgetary approval.
Q - Shouldn't they have secured budget approval BEFORE the search happened??
A - One would think; as it is the budgeting fell through and the search has failed.
A - Actually this happens all the time, particularly at state schools. Generally it works out, and the funding gets approved in time to make an offer.
General discussion
When will the site for 2008-2009 be operative?
I think it can just be started. Are there already postings?
College of Charleston listed its search in CHE already.
Would anyone object if I moved the older discussions onto the discussion page? (asked 9am EST 4/8)
- Why?
- So the more recent updates are easier to find. But, since the Texas discussion at the bottom
of the page just started up again, why bother?
- Is there any reason why all the discussions shouldn't be on the discussion page? I've been tempted to cut and paste the whole lot.
- I assume it's because we're a bunch of not-so-tech-savvy musicologists/ethnomusicologists and no one will look there. (I posted the original query)
- A boldface note at the top of the page directing users there could surely take care of that, no? But, heck, I don't really care either way.
- It sure would be nice to have a proper, threaded, discussion interface instead of this thing. But not sure how that could be accomplished in a useful way.
Acronym guide
CMS: College Music Society
CHE: Chronicle of Higher Education
MVL: Music Vacancy List (published by the College Music Society). Requires a member login.
AMS-L: American Musicological Society listserv
SEM: Society of Ethnomusicology. Their current job list requires a member login.
Q: Did Northern Arizona University go directly from phone interviews to an offer to their inside candidate without campus visits?
If so, can they do that at a public university? Do they have a legal obligation to have an open, national search?
- Well, I assumed that the on-campus search was never updated on the wiki (it happens). But, even so, if they're going to hire an inside candidate, I guess it's better that two other people didn't have to prepare job talks, etc.
- Two other finalists had on-campus interviews in addition to the internal candidate. I was one of them, and pretty much figured they were going with the inside candidate while I was there.
- Oh, and I STILL haven't received official word about this! Good thing I got another offer!
Q: Thoughts on this???
http://media.www.oxyweekly.com/media/storage/paper1200/news/2008/02/20/News/Music.Department.Narrows.Professor.Search.To.Final.Three-3220105.shtml - Oops!!
- Outrageous, isn't it? I'm glad someone else posted it so I didn't have to...
- The only thing I can think is that the department asked the school newspaper to hold the story until an offer was extended. As we here on the wiki know, one of the three in the story
did indeed take the position. I don't know how I'd feel if I were one of the three finalists and my name was splashed about -- especially if I had not informed a current employer!
I hope the "journalist" who wrote the story got permission from the candidates to reveal their names.
- I don't really see what the big deal is. I've been around searches at two schools now (a SLAC
and an R1), and the on-campus interviews involved public, widely-advertised lectures. Once you
get to that stage in the game, you can't really expect it to be a secret anymore.
- @ Commenter 3 above, the story is dated 2/20, would have run before the search was over. @ Commenter 4,
I think there is still and should be a presumption of some degree of confidentiality around searches even at
the shortlist stage, and it bothers me a little that the department seems to have been a willing participant
in this "story" instead of just saying, "No comment." Being advertised on campus is one thing, being reported
on for anyone with an internet connection to read is another. Remember last year when the CVs of the UNC Greensboro
shortlist were briefly linked from this site? Obviously that went further in disclosing information, but raises similar issues.
- A relatively public forum, such as a university newspaper, should NOT be blabbing about how many applicants there were,
who the finalists were, and so on. I know one of the finalists, yet I may not even have made the initial list of thirty.
An article can be written (about the hired person ONLY) once that person starts: anything else is rude and unnecessary.
Moreover, the article does not bother to explain ANYTHING about what this department actually wanted,
and what the interviewer chose to quote from the search chair is the most generic drivel imaginable.
- This probably isn't the best forum to discuss this issue. That said, a newspaper, even a badly-written student one, is under
no obligation to obey any of the rules the above commentator seems to think exist. The responsibility lies with the
search committee, and the level of confidentiality of a search will vary from school to school--public schools tend
to have very specific policies about such things, private schools like Occidental often don't codify such things. So
word to the wise: don't assume confidentiality.
- FYI, I was one of the finalists for that position, and I was never consulted or asked about this story. In fact, I was unaware of its existence until today, May 14, well after the fact.
Q: Anyone heard about BUDGET ISSUES AFFECTING US? I have just been asked to fund my own travel to an interview. I've also heard rumors of schools failing to reimburse after promising that they would.
-You mean pay for it yourself outright, or get reimbursed later? I have found that you will have to get reimbursed maybe 30% of the time, for various reasons (budget, school policy, etc.)
Also, if this is a *second round* visit (first group didn't result in a hire), then the department may have used up all of its "allowance" for hires, which is often set by HR/Dean hiring policies, and is on a "per position" basis.
I wouldn't necessarily take it as an insult, since policies vary school-to-school (like smaller, more remote schools starting with phone interviews).
If it is a big (private) R1, though, something might be rotten in Denmark...
-What about disappearing jobs? I'm thinking of jobs in the CalState system, specifically, but in state systems more generally as well. (Note the two canceled Florida State Searches.)
- Yes, budget issues are definitely adversely affecting hiring possibilities in the University of California, CalState, and SUNY system jobs this year...
- I know for a fact that budget issues are affecting job searches in the University of California system. In December, there was talk of turning a job search advertised for position into two. By March, that possibility completely disappeared.
WATCH OUT FOR TEXAS! I took a job there and did not learn until orientation that a fairly new State law denies health insurance for the first 3 months of employment, and that it does not come into effect until the beginning of the month FOLLOWING those 3 months! I had already denied COBRA at my previous University so, along with a couple of dozen other new faculty members, was 'up a creek'.
The retirement system there also removes State contributions if the employee leaves within the period of one year and one day - not good for one-years. STRANGE State!
- First, it is irresponsible of a Texas institution's administrators to not tell you about this during an interview - mine did, fortunately.
- Second, it is NOT necessary to accept or deny a COBRA from your current employer before your termination date - institutions try to strong arm people in this way, and denying it was a mistake on your part. From a licensed insurance agent: "the individ
ual has 60 days from his/her termination date to elect COBRA and another 45 days to make the first payment...of course the effective date would be back to the original termination date."- When we were in this situation, our previous coverage ended Sept. 15, so we signed up for a COBRA on Day 59 (Nov. 14), and since the 45 days to pay extended into our new coverage (Dec. 31), we never sent the payment. If we had had a problem during th
at time, we simply could have paid and gotten covered retroactively.- On your last point, yes, don't take a job in Texas and only stay one year!
- A quick call to HR just now confirmed that this is **not true at every Texas school**. Lesson learned about asking, though.
- WRONG!! IT IS A STATE policy passed in the last few years, and IS TRUE AT EVERY TEXAS state funded school! Private schools have private insurance, but Texas state schools MUST use the State-sponsored BC/BS HMO. At my school, a big U, and most of th
e others I have checked in to, there is only a single insurance plan... - I honestly can't believe that they would flat out lie to me on the phone.
- (from the original poster) My COBRA option had already run out by the time I had orientation in Texas - by 'denied' I meant that I simply had not taken COBRA. Lesson learned, but of course I was thinking 'I'm about to start my new job and insurance w
ill kick in in 2 weeks'...Q: Anyone heard from the program committee for AMS 2008 in Nashville. The website says only that those who submitted proposals will be notified by the end of March. I don't necessarily expect that mine will be accepted, but just want to know already!
- Last year, I received an e-mail notification on 3/28.
- Rejection notice received 3/25/08 (as many of you probably experienced yourselves).
- Received mine as well. I'm starting to think you have a better chance of landing a tt job than getting a paper accepted at the national meeting.
- Yeah, I'm starting to feel the same way. Maybe it's time to make all 144 selections based on blind reviews only.
- That may be an idea. I wonder when the current selection rules were first instated--probably when the society was much smaller.
- They were instituted in 2003 after some big names were not selected in 2002.
- Wow. Well, part of it may be that it's the big names who provide the big bucks in terms of donations. Have to keep the donors happy!
- Oh dear. Even if that had anything to do with it, those are the big bucks that pay for the
AMS 50 or the book subvention that you may or may not ever get, so don't knock them so glibly.
More to the point, the 'big names' are usually big for a reason, namely that they tend to be worth
listening to even if their abstract wasn't the trendiest. Finally, don't blame the society for
your failure to get a paper accepted; get feedback from colleagues or advisors on your rejected
abstract and write a better one next time.
- Excellent advice, but it's very difficult not to wonder why it didn't suffice for the "big names" who got snubbed in 2002.
- Herein lies the problem with electronic communication. I did not intend to be glib and am sorry to appear so. I have nothing but the utmost respect
for the 'big names' and understand why the society has the rules it does. I didn't even submit an abstract this year, and even if I did,
I would not blame the society anyway. There's such a huge confluence of factors for getting a paper accepted that it's folly to reduce the reason to one.
- Apologies (from the penultimate ranter) for attribution of glibness, though part of said rant may have been provoked also by a separate commenter in
this thread (impossible to tell who's posting what). I need to stop looking at this page...
-I agree that the entire fault does not lie with the society, but would ask that the society consider the frustration felt by many of us who DO have our proposals looked at by mentors and colleagues, only to have them rejected year after year. In my ca
se, I have had several rejected AMS proposals accepted by highly competitive international conferences. I just find it incredibly frustrating to be rejected again and again by the main society in my own country. And since we never receive any kind of feedback from AMS, it is often difficult to know how to improve future proposals. - I have had many abstracts rejected, but also one accepted. I'm not critiquing your frustration, but I would like to say that presenting my work at a national AMS meeting was a nonevent. The best part was not having to submit/be rejected the ne
xt year! The *reason* we all care about this conference is because of its low acceptance rate. - Hear, hear! to the previous poster. The AMS acceptance is a nice validation if you get it, but don't overestimate its importance.
Turn that abstract, accepted or not, into a publishable paper and you'll do better on the market than someone who's at every conference
but never translates it into print. (Of course, that's another whole set of challenges...)
- Besides, it is possible to get a rejected paper later accepted. My proposal was rejected for Quebec, I edited it up, presented it at an AMS chapter meeting, then got it accepted for Nashville - and we're not talking about my "coming out" paper (that
was in D.C.). So don't be too glum about it, revise the sucker and resubmit! Where is the glory without the sweat? - I presented one of my best papers at a local AMS meeting and at another conference, later submitted it to an academic journal,
substantially revised it based on the resultant peer review, and recently saw it published in a version with which I'm quite happy.
It had also earlier been accepted for several major conferences in the UK, but it remains unaccepted by the national AMS.
I will probably no longer bother submitting to the national AMS, because most of my work is even more "marginal" than that paper.
Besides, I have academic journal and academic press book editors wanting other, newer things from me anyhow. As far as I can tell,
there will always be just as many national AMS sessions on Josquin as there will be on all popular music or on all film music.
- That's some sour grapes there, I mean what do you care if AMS takes you when you're publishing everything? In any case, I'd rather see Josquin than film or pop music, no offense.
Q:Has anyone heard anything about the AMS-50 fellowships this year?
- If I remember correctly, the submission website said that decisions will not be announced before April 1.
- True. But I'm pretty sure that the winners are usually contacted a few weeks before then.
- FWIW, a few years ago the congratulatory emails went out on 3/18.
- I heard that announcements will go out after the board meeting (which is March 15/16).
- Apparently, the notices last year did not go out until after April 1st, so we may have to wait a few more weeks.
- Last year, however, the winners were notified in the first half of March.
- I inquired about this, and was told that all applicants were notified during the first week of April last year, and to expect the same this year.
- The winners were definitely notified earlier last year and the year before.
- It would be easy then to assume that those of us who haven't heard anything probably did not receive the fellowship.
- As far as I know, the winners have already been notified this year.
Q:On that note, has anyone heard from the Mellon/ACLS re: their Dissertation Completion Fellowship competition?
- website says announcements will be made in "late March"
- I received notification that I'm an alternate on 3/27.
[Please note that as of 31 Jan. 08, at least one school has not yet sent out all of its requests for campus interviews, so it's worthwhile to take the information (like all info on this wiki) with a grain of salt. Don't assume you're out of the running until you have received a rejection letter or have proper confirmation that another candidate has been hired.]
- Yes, some schools this year appear to be doing an ongoing style search and call 1 candidate at a time
- i.e. there's no single "short list"
- This is an excellent point. Also: searches fail the first time around. Chin up everyone!
Q: Would it be possible to start a list of schools suspected of doing such an "ongoing style" search?
- How would we know which ones are doing it this way?
- Word of mouth, I guess
- Well, the search(es) is/are not tenure track.
- At least one is.
Q: I'm curious how others feel about the market this year. It seems slightly better than last year and I am hopeful.
A: This must depend on your specialty; from the outside, it looks like it would be a great year to be an ethnomusicologist, but maybe the grass is just always greener. For my own purposes it was (and the past tense applies) the least promising cycle of the last several.
A: From the inside (of Ethnomusicology) it isn't so great, either. Unless your research focuses on one of two general geographic areas (possibly three), it was futile to apply for the majority of jobs.
A: Another take (Ethnomusicology): approx. the same # of jobs as last year, twice the # of applicants. Many of the jobs are really looking for a (very western) musicologist who can teach one "world music" class.
- My morbid curiosity makes me wonder if the original poster had success this year?
- Yes.
Q: Does the fact that only Canadian applicants will be considered at the University of Windsor signal that the University of Toronto will probably come to the same conclusion?
A: That would be my guess. The letter stated that when there are sufficient qualified Canadian applicants, they cannot (by law) even consider anyone else.
It's fine with me that the law says it has to go to a Canadian. I just wish these jobs wouldn't ask for as much material as the Windsor one did. So much work, so many dead trees.
A: Generally, the first year of a Canadian (junior) search focuses on Canadian citizens and permanent residents. Hiring a non-Canadian is more common in the 2nd year of a search, after determining that there are no Canadians to fill the position. However, if an exception needs to be made for the good of a department, it is usually made.
A: FWIW, The Position at Windsor was also advertised last year; I'm not certain, but I think they abandoned it
A: You can find information about Canadian universities hiring foreigners at
http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/workplaceskills/foreign_workers/academic.shtml*Q: Just wondering, now that U. Toronto is noted as having asked for additional materials - are they interviewing only Canadians, or non-Canadians as well?
A: Both
Can someone post a link to the other music-related wikis? Since someone deleted the music header on the main academe wiki, I can't find the others. (I have this one bookmarked.) Thanks in advance.
Here is the main list:
http://wikihost.org/wikis/academe/programm/gebo.prg?name=gebo:activityQ: NYU ("music and/or aural cultures of the recent past")
**- What do they mean by this? Early 20th Century, post 1945 or later?**
A: *- For what it's worth, I imagine their choice of words indicates a desire for candidates who can think outside of the conventional categories that your question presumes.*Alt.A: Maybe they wanted to mystify candidates with the Depth of their Thought.
Q: Anyone else find it weird that U. of Texas has jobs in "African-American" AND "North American" music available? I wonder if the scholars of African-American music will be excluded from the North American job posting for their inadequate positioning of "northerliness"...
I think the "North American" job is for art music. Of course that assumes that the African Americanist can't be doing art music
It seems they are dividing last year's advertised position into two distinct positions. One opening is for a historical musicologist, while the other is for an African Americanist ethnomusicologist. But both of these notices state that funding is "pending...
I think those of us who study the art and African American music of North America are especially confused. Especially since they're not very mutually exclusive.
I think I figured it out (thanks for all the comments): The African-American job is for the music of African-Americans that is neither art nor from North America. Which leaves...
The only thing confusing to me is the grounds for confusion: We all know that there are specialists in "American" music and specialists in "African-American" music, and we also all know these histories/repertoires aren't mutually exclusive, but neither are they identical. Surely the most striking thing is how lucky Texas will be to boast this kind of coverage of the field(s) if both hires go through.
Personally, I am still deciding which one to apply to, which is "confusing." Sometimes I'm Americanist, sometimes I'm a African-American music scholar, but which am I more of? which am I better at? what part of my research conforms to what they are looking for? It's an interesting and exciting dilemma, but the solution is not obvious given my work in the context of the larger field(s) of musicology. Finally, I disagree with the art/ethno divide being posited above.
Apologizing for butting in from the "official" position of someone involved with the UT search, and hoping this isn't perceived as ethically problematic, perhaps I can clarify from the UT perspective: the "North American" position is, as it states, for someone grounded in the "art" tradition of North America, but capable of teaching/thinking broadly; the African-Americanist position is for someone whose specialty lies in African-American music and who can ideally teach in a variety of African-American traditions, whether or not that person specializes in "art" or "vernacular" or "folk" (not apologizing for the scare quotes) traditions; I suspect it is *likely* to go to a scholar specializing in North American traditions (rather than South or Central American traditions). The same person could certainly be a strong candidate for both jobs; some people could be strong candidates for only one. If in doubt, you can certainly indicate in your application that you would like to be considered for both positions. To answer the point about "pending funding"... yes, that is true. But the odds are good that funding will come through if good candidates are found for both searches.
I think I can safely speak for all applicants for the Texas jobs that it's always welcome to attain more clarification about what the university is looking for (which sometimes gets obscured by the one-liner job titles). Thanks, Texas, we appreciate it!
Thanks too from people who are not applying for the jobs. I'm really impressed that someone on the inside of a job search would take the time to clarify the position here. It's the kind of frank conversation that I think would save both applicants and committees a lot of time if we could have it more often! Cheers.
For what it's worth, considering that the African-American job is also appointed in African and African-American Studies at UT, I would highly doubt that an art music-focused candidate would be chosen. At least not if African and African-American Studies has much pull in the search. African and African-American studies at UT is very Marxist/critical race theory-focused and highly concerned with contemporary racial politics and activist intellectual pursuits. See anthropologist Ted Gordon's work as an example.
The job is not also appointed in African-American Studies: where is that coming from? There's nothing in the posting to that effect. Nevertheless, agreed that it's doubtful that an "art music specialist" would be chosen, given the simultaneous search for an art music-focused scholar in roughly the same field.
It's confusingly written, but it does say "including an appointment to the faculty of African and African American Studies"....
-After all that fuss, the Americanist job went to someone who focuses on punk rock!
-She has a degree in musicology from UCLA. I think this shows you should apply for what you are qualified to do and
not second guess what the search committee is looking for. Often THEY don't know until they start looking at applicant files!
WARNING: The University of Southern Queensland in Australia may be seeking musicology academics in the near future. Don't go there, even if your life depends on it. They are in the midst of a "restructure" which has already seen huge redundancies and the compromising of the music offerings to a truly staggering degree. To add to this, the university has a long, checkered history of racism and nepotism - not easy to detect until you've already accepted the job. All signs indicate that the university is in the process of winding up its arts and humanities programs, so redundancy might be another reward for taking a job at USQ. Please take my advice and avoid this university like the plague!
-redundancies=layoffs (job cuts) in the U.S., right?
right; as in "you have been made redundant".
Yes. already 150 redundancies (layoffs) across the university in the last 12 months. More to come.
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http://www.vertexresourcing.com/index.php?page_id=1001 How to prepare your CV][
http://www.vertexresourcing.com/index.php?page_id=1002 How to prepare for your first interview]
music_history_musicology_ethnomusicology, Rev. 1009, Last changed on 2008-08-16 04:52, 90463 page hits