THE GAY WEST: FROM DRUG STORE COWBOYS TO RODEO QUEENS
Talk Description: The masculine ideal represented by the American cowboy is variously interpreted by spectators, dancers, musicians, and contestants at gay rodeos and country western dances across the U.S. Examining embodied gender practices within these communities, this talk articulates the sonic, social, and geographical spaces of the gay American West.
Biography: Kate Alexander received her Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from the University of California, Riverside in 2014. Her research focuses on intersections of whiteness, gender, and sexuality in North American music and dance communities, including Cape Breton’s traditional Scottish culture, and her current research on American LGBTQ country western dance and rodeo networks. Her work has been published in journals such as MUSICulturesand the Yearbook for Traditional Music. She is an Assistant Professor in the Honors College at the University of Arizona, where she teaches interdisciplinary courses on sound, music, visual art, and culture.
Congratulations, Susan Kempter and Laurie Lopez!
Susan Kempter and Laurie Lopez were recognized by the New Mexico chapter of the American String Teachers Association earlier this year.
Hearing Heat: An Anthropocene Acoustemology
Bruno Latour argues that even if poisoned, the anthropocene is a deep gift to human research, inciting new approaches to environmental responsibility. Taking up Latour’s challenge through acoustemology, the study of sound as a way of knowing, this talk engages histories of hearing heat that affectively entangle cicadas and humans in Papua New Guinea, Japan, and Greece.
Music from the Americas presents Ensemble Vertebrae
Music from the Americas presents “New Music from Mexico,” featuring world premieres by Juan José Bárcenas, David Hernández-Ramos, José-Luis Hurtado, Victor Ibarra and Rodrigo Valdez-Hermoso. Works will be performed by the Ensemble Vertebrae featuring Oliva Abreu, flute, Ana Paolina Hasslacher, piano and Camille Emaille, percussion.