Abstracts
Abstract
Recent debates about bluegrass music’s place in higher education have highlighted anxieties about the historic role that institutions of higher education have played in cultural colonization, erosion, and destruction. Using examples from the bluegrass band at a large Appalachian public university, this essay considers how the “bluegrass jam” might facilitate meaningful conversations about identity in a region subjected to colonial-style extraction for nearly three centuries. At the same time, this article problematizes the nature of the university’s simultaneous support of regional culture and the propagation of resource extraction and environmental decay.
Résumé
Les récentes discussions sur la place de la musique bluegrass dans l’enseignement supérieur ont soulevé des inquiétudes quant au rôle historique que les établissements d’enseignement supérieur ont joué dans la colonisation, l’érosion et la destruction culturelles. Prenant pour exemple le groupe de bluegrass d’une grande université publique des Appalaches, cet essai examine comment le « bluegrass jam » pourrait faciliter des conversations utiles sur l’identité dans une région soumise à l’ascendance du style colonial depuis près de trois siècles. En même temps, cet article problématise la nature du soutien simultané de l’université à la culture régionale et à la propagation de l’extraction des ressources ainsi que de la dégradation de l’environnement.
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Appendices
Biographical notes
Travis D. Stimeling is associate professor of musicology at West Virginia University and director of the WVU Bluegrass and Old-Time Bands.
Sophia M. Enriquez is pursuing a doctoral degree in ethnomusicology with specializations in folklore and women, gender, and sexuality studies at the Ohio State University. Her research explores Latinx music and identity in Appalachia. While a student at West Virginia University, she performed with the WVU Bluegrass and Old-Time Bands.
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