Musicology Events

Lecture Series

18th Ave. Library

Lectures in Musicology is co-sponsored by The Ohio State University Libraries. The series invites conversation with experts across the discipline. Numerous university centers and institutes at Ohio State also provide valuable opportunities for interdisciplinary research. Those of particular interest include the Center for Cognitive Science, the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, the Hilandar Research Center for Medieval Slavic Studies, the Slavic and East European Studies Center, the Center for African Studies, the Center for Folklore Studies, the Humanities Institute, the Lawrence and Lee Theatre Research Institute, the Melton Center for Jewish Studies and the Wexner Center for the Arts.

Offered Mondays at 4 p.m. and in person unless noted otherwise.

Attendance is free.


Spring 2024

Lectures will be held on Mondays at 4 p.m. unless otherwise noted.


January 22

"Resounding the Korean War (1950–1953): Music, Amateurism, and Feminism in Dalian." With Bess Xintong Liu, visiting assistant professor of music at Kenyon College. This lecture is co-sponsored by The Ohio State University Libraries; the Council of Graduate Students Arts and Culture Committee; and EMIC, the graduate student organization for the study of expressive culture. 

  • A small group of graduate students from any discipline are invited to join Dr. Liu for lunch at the Faculty Club at noon on Jan. 22. If we have more interest than seats available, participants will be chosen at random and notified a week before the event. If you are interested in participating in the lunch, please respond via https://forms.gle/Avk7GnHfUqHJEcC96 


Tuesday, February 13 | 4–5:30 p.m. | Psychology Building, 1835 Neil Ave. Room 35

"The Eloquence of Anger: Zulu ngoma men’s song and dance." With Louise Meintjes, Duke University. Online registration required via lecture title link above. This lecture is co-sponsored by the Center for Historical Research, the Department of Anthropology, and the Ethnomusicology program of the School of Music.


Thursday, February 22 | 5:30 p.m. | 18th Ave. Library, 175 W. 18th, Room 340 Colloquia

The Music Theory area will hold this year's William Poland Lecture on Thursday, February 22. George Lewis, American composer, musicologist and trombonist, will present "There Are Black Composers in the Future: New Music and the Heterogenous Sound Ideal."


February 26

"Sing with me: Mennonite music and entrenched systems of power." With Katie Graber, associated faculty, musicology. This lecture is co-sponsored by The Ohio State University Libraries and the Center for the Study of Religion. Presented in hybrid format (virtual attendee registration required).


March 4

Melton Center for Jewish Studies at The Ohio State University logo

"Disordering Mysticism, Organology, and Restitution: the Ruptured Afterlives of North African Torah Scrolls." With Ilana Webster-Kogen, Joe Loss Reader in Jewish Music at SOAS University of London and visiting associate professor at Yale University. This lecture is sponsored by the Melton Center for Jewish Studies, co-sponsored by the School of Music Ethnomusicology program, EMIC graduate student organization for the study of expressive culture, and The Ohio State University Libraries. Supported by the Diane Cummins Community Education Fund.


March 18

"Esotericism and magic in Sun Ra and Alton Abraham’s creative practice." With Anna Gawboy, associate professor and area head of musicology and theory. This lecture is co-sponsored by The Ohio State University Libraries and the School of Music. This talk will be presented in hybrid format. Participants may attend in person in 205 Music and Dance Library, or online (registration required).


All events are subject to change.


Autumn 2023

  • 10/9/23 — "Centering Artists and their Communities in Hip Hop Higher Education." With Mark Katz, John P. Barker Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and founding director of the U.S. State Department hip hop cultural diplomacy program, Next Level. Co-sponsored by The Ohio State University Libraries; the Mershon Center for International Security Studies; and EMIC, the graduate student organization for the study of expressive culture. We are grateful for funding provided by the Center for Ethics and Human values.
  • 11/6/23 — "See Me Now: Domestic Violence in LGBTQ Pop Songs." With Lauron Kehrer, assistant professor of Ethnomusicology and Musicology in the Irving S. Gilmore School of Music at Western Michigan University. Co-sponsored by The Ohio State University Libraries and EMIC, the graduate student organization for the study of expressive culture.
  • 11/16–11/18 — Symposium — Polyphonic Culture: Early Music on the 21st-century Horizon. Co-hosted by the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies and the School of Music. This symposium explores issues in the contemporary scholarship on, and performance of, historical choral music. Full schedule and more details at CMRS.
  • 11/20/23 (4 p.m. ET) — This lecture was offered in-person and online. Online registration required ONLY for those wishing to attend virtually. “Zinester Same As Punks: Constructing Punk Publics in Japan Through Print Materials.” With Robert Dahlberg-Sears, lecturer, Liberal Arts at Sophia University (Jōchi Daigaku, 上智大学), Tokyo, Japan. Co-sponsored by The Ohio State University Libraries.
    In-person attendees meet in room 205 at the Music and Dance Library.
    Register to attend virtually and receive a Zoom link. Questions? Email Danielle Fosler-Lussier.

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