Arab Musicking on the U.S.–Mexico Border

Musicology Colloquium
Thursday March 12, 2020
2:00-3:30pm
CFA 2100 

This talk explores the relationship between trauma and identity by examining Arab music performance on the U.S.–Mexico border. Drawing on the musicking of Syrian and Mexican migrant communities, I interrogate theories of cultural and psychological trauma and borderland epistemologies to explore how border tensions influence the often-fraught views of identity.

Dr. Andrea Shaheen Espinosa is Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology and Oboe at the University of Texas, El Paso, and currently serves as the Musicology Area Coordinator for the Department of Music. She is the founder and director of the UTEP’s internationally recognized Middle Eastern music ensemble, Layali Al-Sham. She is a Fulbright Fellow, a FLAS recipient, and a Medici Scholar, and is currently serving as the UTEP College of Liberal Arts Dean’s Faculty Fellow. Her research focuses on music, migration, and trauma, and her recent publications include articles in The Double Reed, Cahiers d’ethnomusicologie, and Yearbook for Traditional Music.