Search Terms -- Music
Below are a few examples of subject headings related to DEIA topics and music. You can use them as search terms in the Library catalog to help you get started with your research!
Some general subject headings to try include:
- Music -- Instruction and study -- Social aspects, Music -- Political aspects, Music -- Social aspects
Add modifiers for particular groups to narrow your search:
- African American musicians, African American composers, Hispanic Americans in the performing arts
- Musicians, Black; Music, Asian
- African American music -- History and criticism
To find materials on disability and accessibility, try:
- Musicians with disabilities, Composers with disabilities
For gender and sexuality in music, try:
- Women in music, Women musicians, Women composers, Feminism and music
- Gender identity in music
- Homosexuality and music
*Remember, the terms used by library catalogs and other library resources represent the (US-centric, patriarchal, white) point of view of those who created them. There are many in the field working to change this practice.
Selected Readings -- Music
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"An Open Letter on Racism in Music Studies" by Danielle Brown"I am a Black, first-generation, Caribbean American woman from Brooklyn, New York. Below are candid thoughts on the state of music studies in the United States, addressing primarily issues in ethnomusicology and music education. These thoughts are my own, and are not meant to represent those of any other person, though I am sure many will be able to identify with my story."
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"An Open Letter to the Music Industry – and a Call to Action" by Gaelynn LeaGaelynn Lea, violinist and songwriter from Minnesota and winner of NPR Music’s 2016 Tiny Desk Contest, explores barriers to entry in the music business for disabled musicians and introduces practical steps to make inclusion and access a reality.
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“Confronting Racism and Sexism in American Music Theory” by Phil Ewell"I wrote the following six blog posts after my plenary talk, “Music Theory’s White Racial Frame,” at the Society for Music Theory Annual Meeting in November 2019... It is my hope that they can instigate constructive dialog so that we can begin to make real antiracist/antisexist change in music theory."
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"Decolonization for Ethnomusicology and Music Studies in Higher Education" by Luis Chávez and Russell P. Skelchy"This article interrogates how the word decolonization has been used by ethnomusicologists in previous publications and argues that a discourse of decolonizing music studies and ethnomusicology should not propagate the term as a descriptive signifier while overlooking the issues mentioned above. We conclude by suggesting ten practical approaches and projects that begin to address what decolonization involves and how it can be done."
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"Towards a Decolonized Music History Curriculum" by Margaret E. Walker"Although musicological scholarship has expanded in recent decades to include critical theories and diverse repertoire, post-secondary music history curricula largely continue to disseminate a Eurocentric canon of composers and works presented within an evolutionary historical narrative. This article places questions of curricular revision in the current context of calls for educational reform through decolonization initiatives."