I grew up on and now live on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded lands and waters of Susquehannock and Piscataway Indigenous peoples, and have also lived on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded lands of Tongva and Muskogee peoples. As a settler, I respectfully acknowledge and honor the traditional owners and custodians of these stolen lands where I live, work, and learn.
Archiving
As a Certified Archivist, I am involved in all of the processes of selection, organization, description, preservation of, and outreach for, historically-important records. I also conduct research on the relationships between conflicting worldviews/ontologies in archival practice. For example, given that archives derive directly from Euro-American and colonial worldviews, how can we as archivists equitably collaborate with Indigenous peoples and other populations?
Education
I design curricula in which students make music, learn from tradition bearers, handle historical documents, and travel. In my classrooms, for example, I have introduced students to Indigenous worldviews by assigning them to conduct mini-ethnographies in collaboration with Native speakers. Interacting with new people and concepts in new environments facilitates students learning from their own experiences.
Performance
I grew up in a musical family, joining the family music ensemble Wherligig when I was nine. I appreciate learning from the source: while pursing formal music lessons in school, I learned from a variety of tradition bearers. My strengths lie in voice, notably countertenor early music performance practice, and bowed strings, especially Celtic and Nordic fiddle styles and the Swedish nyckelharpa (“keyed fiddle”). I have directed several ensembles, produced concerts, and performed around the world, including Shangai, China; Mexico City, México; Reykjavík, Iceland; King William’s Town, South Africa; and venues throughout Los Angeles, CA, and the US mid-Atlantic region.
Scholarship
Straddling the borders between the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, my research examines culturally specific ways of understanding, organizing, and being in the world. I produce scholarship in a variety of formats: peer-reviewed articles, public/applied work like “The Art of the Musical Instrument” exhibit, and documentary film. Using both ethnographic and historical research methods, I have collaborated with several communities to study the ecological ritualism of a Florida-based American Indian tribal town, early music performance communities, Scandinavian diaspora, South African anti-apartheid activists, and others. My publications can be accessed via Academia.edu and ResearchGate.
