SEM Newsletter Ethnomusicology Volume 51, Number 2 Spring 2017
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the society for SEM Newsletter ethnomusicology Volume 51, Number 2 Spring 2017 SEM Advocacy for the NEH, NEA, and Title VI Stephen Stuempfle, SEM Executive Director n March 14, 2017, I joined more than 200 other influence. A colleague from Indiana and I talked with staff Oscholarly society and university representatives in of several members of our state’s congressional delega- Washington, DC, for Humanities Advocacy Day, an an- tion, the majority of whom are Republicans. This provided nual event organized by the National Humanities Alliance us with an opportunity to explain how federal humanities (NHA). Since 1981 the NHA has served as the primary programs offer a cost-effective, long-term investment in advocacy group for federal funding for the humanities, education, civic engagement, and innovation (with federal including such programs as the National Endowment dollars leveraging much larger private support). for the Humanities At present, FY 2018 (NEH), Title VI and budget legislation is Fulbright-Hays (area winding its way through and language stud- various congressional ies), and the Institute committees and sub- of Museum and Library committees. Though Services. Staff at the the Trump administra- NHA are exceptionally tion called on March skilled, efficient, and 16 for the elimination attuned to the political of the NEH, there has landscape at present. been significant bipar- In advance of our visit tisan congressional to DC, they provided support for this agency us with issue briefs, for years. Continued profiles of senators pressure from advo- and House representa- cates and constituents tives for our respective across the country is states, individualized Longworth House Office Building. Courtesy of the Architect of the Capitol. now crucial for pre- talking points, and ap- serving funding for the pointment schedules. Then, during a day of orientation NEH and other agencies that support the humanities and sessions at George Washington University, we benefited the arts. from talks by national humanities leaders and enjoyed a For many decades, SEM members and their institutions few skits that illustrated meetings between advocates and have benefited from funding from NEH, Title VI, Fulbright- congressional staff, including potential communication Hayes, and other humanities programs. Now is the time to problems. contact your congressional representatives, to voice your The next morning we braved unseasonable snow and concerns to local media, and to engage in other forms of sleet to enter the several congressional office buildings advocacy. For more information on the National Humani- that surround the US Capitol. Here we wandered through ties Alliance, advocacy resources, and tools for contacting mazes of corridors in search of our representatives’ your representatives, visit the NHA website. offices, encountering along the way clutches of other citi- Meanwhile, SEM is collaborating with the American zens who had traveled to the Hill to promote their causes. Folklore Society and other organizations in a campaign to In most cases, advocates meet with congressional staff, save the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), which rather than representatives themselves. Staff, however, the Trump administration has also targeted for elimination. are very attentive and the senior ones carry considerable [continued on page 6] Features Announcements News Our Back Pages President’s Column New Sound Matters Editor Institutional News SEM Publications and Posts SAM Honors Beverley Diamond SEM Section and SIG News Member News Conference Calendar Navigating a Path Towards Summer Programs In Memoriam Advertisements Tenure SOAS Symposium Grants and Fellowships Internet Resources The Society for Ethnomusicology, SEM Newsletter SEM Membership Jennifer Milioto Matsue, Editor, SEM Newsletter he object of the Society for Ethnomusicology is the Department of Music, Union College Tadvancement of research and study in the field of Schenectady, New York 12308 USA ethnomusicology, for which purpose all interested per- [email protected] sons, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or physical ability are encouraged to become members. 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ISSN 0036-1291 § 2 Notes from the Field ~ The Ethnomusicologist’s Rite of Return Anne K. Rasmussen, SEM President his year my SEM Presidency collides with my regu- Indonesian history and culture. This is all complicated by Tlarly scheduled sabbatical leave from the College of the soft power of Saudi Arabia, conveyed through vari- William and Mary and, since January 2017, I have been ous forms of mass media, and by the complex politics of in Indonesia. My research is supported by a Fulbright US the hajj, or the pilgrimage. As I have written elsewhere, Scholar Grant, the same kind of award I had seventeen Islamic expressive culture and its debates are also fueled years ago, in 1999, when I formally embarked upon a by the inspiration derived from authoritative forms of Arab project on Women, the Recited Qur’an, and Islamic Music culture, some of which are imagined here through an Ori- in Indonesia.* While I have made several trips to Indo- entalist lens that renders “everything Arab” as “everything nesia in the interim, and also have pursued research in Islam.” the Arabian Gulf countries of Oman and the United Arab Emirates, the opportunity to once again be a Fulbright The Rite of Return scholar in a place I have known for about twenty years The rite of return is particular to ethnographic research. is a privilege that has caused me to reflect deeply on the It is an opportunity to revisit observations, analyses, “use” of the ethnographic method, Christopher Small’s conclusions, and the things that are “written up” in a dis- musicking bodies, and public ethnomusicology in a global sertation or monograph. Moreover, it is an opportunity to context. This is the kind of reflection that can only result fulfill our obligation to revisit the people who helped us from the longue durée