Ethnomusicology Graduate
Student Organization Takes Off!
by Sonia Seeman
The 2001-2002 academic year was a highly
active year for the Ethnomusicology Graduate Student Organization (EGSO),
with a varied program of activities. The year’s officers were Martin Daughtry,
Charles Sharp and Sonia Seeman, with Charles also serving as an officer for the
Pacific Review of Ethnomusicology publications. During the year, EGSO
provided a forum for the discussion of graduate student concerns, scholarship
and research issues, and topical and theoretical readings, and also facilitated
the exchange of information between students. EGSO members also formed a number
of smaller task groups. Committee heads were: Jonathan Ritter (Roundtable
Sessions) and Sonia Seeman (Roundtable Sessions during winter 2002). Kevin
Miller and Allison Adrian organized Ethno recreational events (dubbed
"Ethnosportzicology"), and planned various activities including bowling and
soccer. To facilitate the exchange of information and ideas, we set up a file in
the Ethnomusicology TA office for articles and student activities information.
Mary Talusan managed the EGSO listserve, which served as a forum for exchanging
information on events and pedagogical and research issues.
The
following list will give some sense of the range of EGSO activities – and ethno
graduate student interest. By setting up rotating “moderatorships,” many
students shared in the opportunity to lead discussions.
Roundtable
discussions on various topics included:
November 16, 2001: Renato Rosaldo’s
Culture and Truth: The Remaking of Cultural Analysis (Moderator: Jonathan
Ritter; Scribe: Sonia Seeman)
November 30, 2001: "Bad" Music (Moderator:
Martin Daughtry)
January 25, 2002: Perspectives on Improvisation, with guest
presenters Dr. Joel Rubin on Klezmer (City University of London); Dr. Angeles
Sancho-Velaquez on 19th century Western Classical Music (UCLA); Charles Sharp on
jazz (UCLA) (Moderator: Douglas Wadle)
DATE? Gender, Fieldwork
and Research (Moderator: Tanya Merchant)
We also viewed and discussed the
following films:
December 15, 2001, Film review: O Brother Where Art
Thou (Moderator: Amy Wooley and Pantelis Vassiliakis)
February 8, 2002,
Film review: "Pop [Music] Back to the Moulin Rouge" (Moderator:
Judith Quinones)
In preparation for the EGSO conference, “Travel at
the Speed of Sound: A Symposium on Time, Place, and Musical Experience,” we held
an Informal Reading Group Session:
May 9th, 2002: Readings on "Space" and
"Place" (Moderator: Sonia Seeman).
Finally, to further explore issues
currently raised in ethnomusicology, sociology and anthropology, we organized
the conference “Travel at the Speed of Sound: A Symposium on Time, Place, and
Musical Experience,” held on May 31, 2002.
The symposium, which had four panel presentations from graduate students
and faculty, featured guest presenters Professor Mirjana Lausevic
(Ethnomusicology, University of Minnesota) and Professor Carol Silverman
(Anthropology, University of Oregon), with panel discussants Professor Chris
Waterman (World Arts and Cultures, UCLA), Professor Sondra Hale (Anthropology,
Woman’s Studies, UCLA), and Professor Anthony Seeger (Ethnomusicology, UCLA).
Graduate student presenters from UCLA were: Martin Daughtry, Amy Frishkey, Tanya
Merchant, Angela Rodel, Sonia Seeman, and Charles Sharp. John von Seggern from
UC Riverside also presented. The program and planning committee for the
conference consisted of: Martin Daughtry, Amy Frishkey, Jonathan Ritter, Sonia
Seeman, and Charles Sharp.