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“Jazz Studies”- let’s talk about it. What does it mean to have a PhD, Masters or Bachelors in jazz? What is the scholar’s relationship to black music, black culture, within an elite institution? Do any schools require critical race theory coursework for their students?
Who is teaching? How does a cycle of requiring a PhD to become faculty at elite institutions determine who applies for these jobs? Are those teachers questioned about their abilities to talk about race?
Where is there greater emphasis placed on understanding historical context and social justice more than playing the Omnibook fast to a metronome? Or has the “field” of jazz studies become so white that it’s more comfortable for white teachers and white students to...
Frame and judge what “expertise” looks like in terms of physical dexterity and execution over taking a more critical lens that requires students to examine their own motivations for study and be thoughtful about how they label themselves as “experts”?
I’d be curious to hear from recent grads about the curriculum - not just electives or how they may have fulfilled any liberal arts credits, but requirements for their degree(s). And I mean beyond a “jazz history” course.
