On Monday, October 31, Dr. Ben Fairfield took the stage at 7:30 pm in the Imin Conference Center at the East West Center. He discussed his background in the Peace Corps and earning his PhD in ethnomusicology. He sang songs, with robust audience participation, he had learned through his time and research in Thailand, and taught the student affiliates and …
Ethnomusicology graduate Yuan-Yu Kuan joins Academia Sinica
Former Asian Studies Lecturer Dr. Yuan-Yu Kuan has been appointed Postdoctoral Research Scholar at Academia Sinica, the premier research institution of Taiwan. This prestigious and highly competitive award supports research and publication for emerging young scholars. The appointment (July 2021-June 2023) provides access to the vast and comprehensive archives of the Academia Sinica and other archives throughout the nation. His …
New Merrie Monarch features UH Music faculty, students, and alumni
From UH News From ʻōlapa (dancer), competition judge to television host, numerous University of Hawaiʻi faculty, staff, students and alumni are among participants at the upcoming 58th annual Merrie Monarch Festival set to return to Hilo, Hawaiʻi June 24–26. Anticipation of the world-famous hula competition has continued to grow after organizers canceled the event in March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic first started to grip the …
In Memoriam: Barbara B. Smith, ethnomusicology program founder
Reposted from UH News Long respected as a champion for the study of music and dance from Hawaiʻi, Asia and the Pacific, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Professor Emerita Barbara Barnard Smith, who founded the university’s ethnomusicology program died on the evening of July 3. Colleagues and former students gathered to virtually celebrate the veteran professor’s 101st birthday on June 10. Loved ones released this statement:“She …
The Ethnomusicology Association at UH Mānoa 11th Annual “Words on Music: Speaker Series” presents: Professor Brian Diettrich
The Ethnomusicology Association at UH Mānoa is proud to invite Prof. Brian Diettrich for the Words on Music Speaker Series. Dr. Diettrich is a senior lecturer in Ethnomusicology at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, and is a UHM alumnus. His research focuses on the music and dance of Micronesia with particular interest in Indigenous performance, imperialism and decolonization, environment …
Oral History: Byong Won Lee
The Music Department congratulates Dr. Byong Won Lee, Professor of Ethnomusicology, on the release of a new book dedicated to his lifetime of scholarship. Oral History: Byong Won Lee, published by the National Gugak Center (Gungnip Gugagwon), presents a history of Dr. Lee’s life and musical activities and recognizes his contributions to Korean musicology over the past 60 years. Dr. …
Barbara B. Smith: The legacy of a long life in music
In honor of Professor Emerita Barbara B. Smith’s 100th birthday, Arlene Abiang shows why Prof. Smith is a cherished member of the UH-Mānoa music ʻohana “A celebration of a person’s 100th birthday is not unusual when a person reaches that milestone in life; however for me, though I never expected to reach it, the year 2020 is more important as …
Barbara B. Smith Webinar Series: A Legacy for Ethnomusicology
Join us for a series of webinars celebrating the 100th birthday of Barbara B. Smith, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa ethnomusicologist and professor emerita. Among her numerous awards, Prof Smith has received the 2018 Hawai’i Arts Alliance Preis Honoree awarded annually to an individual who has had a significant impact on the arts and culture in Hawai’i, the 2009 Koizumi …
Return from French Polynesia
JANE FREEMAN MOULIN has returned to teaching after a 6-month return fieldwork period in French Polynesia. Research activity included: the presentation of four public lectures on Marquesan music and two lectures on Tahitian music and dance; a visit to the Marquesas Islands and the renewal of contacts with long-term co-workers and friends from the 1989 TSOM Survey in the Marquesas …
Testifying at the UN for Cultural Sustainability
MA Ethnomusicology student Andrew Gumataotao has just returned from testifying at the United Nations in New York. As part of the 11-member delegation from Guam to the UN’s Fourth Committee on decolonization, petitioners to the committee touched on the introduction of toxins to the soil and water, the continued militarization of Guam, the Dave Davis case that has essentially dealt what could …