Volume 48, Number 1 Winter 2014 President’s Column Features President’s Column: Job Job Talk Talk, Beverley Diamond [1, by Beverley Diamond, SEM President 4, 5] he “contingent faculty crisis,” as it has been labelled, President’s Report, Tcontinued to generate lively but anxious discussion at Harris M. Berger [3, 6] the recent SEM conference in Indianapolis. The neolib- eral causes, the abuses, and the societal toll of universi- ties’ increased reliance on “adjunct” or “sessional” workers Announcements have been explored in recent President’s columns in this Sound Matters [7] Newsletter,1 and both the SEM Board and Council have been discussing action and responses to the complex insti- Ethnmusicology tutional issues. A number of contributors to the Student News have addressed various Translations [7] aspects of job seeking, public sector opportunities, and directions in applied ethnomusi- SEM 2013 Prizes [8-10] cology.2 Three issues, I suggest, have had less attention and hence I will focus on them here. One is some critical reflection on the terminology we use to reference “work” in our SEM Section Prizes [10] discipline. A second encompasses the lessons to be learned from even small samples 2014 SEM Prizes [10] of data—samples which could, of course, be aggregated into something more broadly Chapter News [11-12] meaningful. The third is the all-important gap between Ph.D. and employment, and what to do with it productively (other than worry). While the third of these is oriented more to Ph.D. students, post-doctoral fellows, and other recent graduates who are seeking full- time employment, the issues should also concern faculty who advise younger colleagues News and help them engage in multi-pronged career planning. The second issue is addressed Member News: Alge and both to jobseekers and to those faculty who might usefully track data about their own Krämer, Capp, Castelo- advisees throughout their career. The first issue—how we categorize the work of ethno- Branco, Garfias, Graham musicology—is at the very root of how we define our discipline. [12] The conceptual boxes we use to categorize and describe what we do as ethnomusi- Other Announcements cologists are, of course, never value free. As critical thinkers, we surely know that it is ARSC Grants [12] always advisable to ask who benefits and who suffers from the implicit values embedded Dominican Course in terminology. How do conceptual frames advantage or disadvantage certain institu- Center for World Music tions, certain generations, certain communities of thinkers and social actors? If we insist Racy Fellowship [15] on a division between “academic” and “non-academic” jobs, for instance, we articulate Honorary Members: a false binary which, in the manner of all binaries, instantiates the former as normative Mark Slobin [13] and casts the latter as its negative shadow. Similarly if certain kinds of work are “alter- Ruth Stone [14] native,” they are implicitly alternative to something allegedly mainstream. The phrase “public sector” also merits scrutiny. Its standard sociological definition as those domains In Memoriam: supported by government or public institutions authorized by the nation state, as distinct Katherine Hagedorn [16- from the private sector, could be a distinction relevant for job seekers. There are signifi- 17] cant national differences in the proportion of state-run institutions, be they colleges and Dena J. Epstein [18] universities, museums and archives, broadcasting and publishing, arts administration, Rulan Chao Pian [19-21] or others. But these differing governance frames are not generally what is referenced Conference Report: when the phrase “public sector” is uttered in our conference meeting rooms. Ethnomusi- Christian Congregational cologists have come to equate “public sector” with work outside the academy, work that Music [21] is somehow thought to be more directly relevant to “publics” beyond the classroom—to individual artists, communities, consumers or audiences, for instance. More conceptual clarity might have practical impact. [Continued on page 4] Our Back Pages Conference Calendar 1. See Gage Averill’s “The Casualization of Ethnomusicological Labour” (45/3, 2011) and Harris Berger’s [22-23] “Theory and Practice 7. Recent Board Actions: An SEM Podcast, Diversity Projects, and an Anti-Discrimination Statement” (47/3, 2013). 2. Ethnomusicology See, in particular, “The Labour Issue” (3, 2011) and Jennifer Studebaker’s “Finding Your Way: Job Seeking [24] Outside Academia” (7: 8-9, 2013). Internet Resources The Society for Ethnomusicology, SEM Newsletter Gordon Ross Thompson, Editor, SEM Newsletter SEM Membership Department of Music, Skidmore College he object of the Society for Ethnomusicology is the Saratoga Springs, New York 12866 USA advancement of research and study in the field of (Tel.) 518-580-5322, (fax) 518-580-5340 T ethnomusicology, for which purpose all interested per- [email protected] sons, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual he SEM Newsletter is a vehicle for the exchange of orientation, or physical ability are encouraged to become Tideas, news, and information among the Society’s members. Its aims include serving the membership and members. Readers’ contributions are welcome and should society at large through the dissemination of knowledge be sent to the editor. See the guidelines for contributions concerning the music of the world’s peoples. The Society, on this page. incorporated in the United States, has an international membership. The Society for Ethnomusicology publishes the SEM Newsletter four times annually in January, March, June, Members receive free copies of the journal and the and September, and distributes issues free to members of newsletter and have the right to vote and participate in the the Society. activities of the Society. _______________ Back issues, 1981-present [vols. 14-18 (1981-1984), 3 times a year; vols. 19-32 (1985-1998), 4 times a year] are Student (full-time only) (one year) ................................$40 available and may be ordered at $2 each. Add $2.50/order Individual/Emeritus (one year) for postage. • income $25,000 or less ............................................$60 Address changes, orders for back issues of the SEM • income $25,000-$40,000 .........................................$75 Newsletter, and all other non-editorial inquires should be • income $40,000-$60,000 ......................................... $85 sent to the Business Office, Society for Ethnomusicol- • income $60,000-$80,000 ......................................... $95 ogy, Indiana University, Morrison Hall 005, 1165 East 3rd • income $80,000 and above .................................. $105 Street, Bloomington, IN, 47405-3700; (tel) 812-855-6672; (fax) 812-855-6673; (email) [email protected]. Spouse/Partner Individual (one year) ...........................$35 Life membership .......................................................$1400 Society for Ethnomusicology Spouse/Partner Life ................................................. $1600 Board of Directors Sponsored (one year, including postage) ..................... $49 Overseas postage (one year) .......................................$14 Beverley Diamond (President) School of Music, Memorial University For institutional memberships, please visit the University St Johns, New Foundland A1C 3S5, Canada. of Illinois Press website at Harris M. Berger (Past President) http://www.press.uillinois.edu/journals/ethno.html Department of Performance Studies Texas A&M University College Station, Texas 77843-4240 Guidelines for Contributors Zoe Sherinian (Secretary) Send articles and shorter entries for consideration to the School of Music, University of Oklahoma editor by email. Norman, Oklahoma 73019 Copy deadlines: Gregory Barz (Treasurer) Winter Issue (15 Dec.) Summer Issue (15 May) Blair School of Music, Vanderbilt University Spring Issue (15 Feb.) Fall Issue (15 Aug.) Nashville, Tennessee 37212-3499. Margaret Sarkissian (First Vice President) Advertising Rates Department of Music, Smith College The Newsletter is again accepting advertising. Digital Northampton, Massachusetts 01063 files (e.g., jpg) only, please. Anne K. Rasmussen (Second Vice President) Full page: $200 1/3 page: $60 Music Department, College of William and Mary 2/3 page: $145 1/6 page: $40 Williamsburg, Virginia 23187-8795. 1/2 page: $110 Tina K. Ramnarine (Member-at-Large, Prizes) Department of Music, Royal Holloway Ethnomusicology: Back Issues University of London, Egham Hill, EGHAM TW20 0EX Ethnomusicology, the Society’s journal, is currently United Kingdom. published three times a year. Back issues are available Andrew Weintraub (Member-at-Large, Groups) through the SEM Business Office, Indiana University East Department of Music, University of Pittsburgh 3rd Street, Bloomington, IN 47405-3700; (tel.) 812-855- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260 6672; (fax) 812-855-6673; (email) [email protected]. ISSN 0036-1291 2 Theory and Practice 9 President’s Report Harris M. Berger, SEM Past President nation Policy. In 2012, the Gender and Sexualities he past twelve months have been highly significant Taskforce proposed an ones for SEM, with the Board engaging a wide range T SEM Position Statement of critical issues for our organization and our discipline on Anti-Discrimination, more broadly. Anti-Harassment, and Perhaps the Board’s most important work over the last Sexual Diversity. Fol- year has been carried out around the issue of diversity. In lowing established the first part