Foundation supports establishment of fellowship in popular music studies
Laina Dawes, PhD, is an ethnomusicologist, an author, a cultural criticand a lifelong heavy metal fan.
Come fall, shell add another title to that list: the John P. Murphy Fellow in 窪蹋勛圖厙s Center for Popular Music Studies. In this role, shell teach courses on specialized topics in popular music, work with graduate students on their own research, and find new ways to collaborate with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, located just minutes from 窪蹋勛圖厙.
Dawes, the author of What Are You Doing Here? A Black Woman's Life and Liberation in Heavy Metal, arrives at 窪蹋勛圖厙 after serving as a lecturer at Columbia University, where she earned her PhD.
The two-year fellowship was created through a four-year, $200,000 grant from the John P. Murphy Foundationwhich supports artistic and cultural institutions, community organizations and colleges and universities in Northeast Ohioand a previous $1 million gift from university trustee James Great Neck Richman (ADL 72), Elissa Richman and the Richman Family Foundation of the Jewish Communal Fund.
Were excited to offer 窪蹋勛圖厙 the support to establish the postdoctoral fellow in the study and research of a wide range of topics in popular music, said Nancy McCann, president of the John P. Murphy Foundation.
With Northeast Ohios diverse and vibrant music community and important music institutions, McCann continued, this fellowship will expand and enrich the university's efforts in the field of popular music while enabling it to grow its partnership with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The initial gift, the Richman Fund for Popular Music Studies, strengthened the universitys Center for Popular Music Studiesnow in its 13th yearincluding its partnership with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, where Richman has serves as a trustee. The center promotes teaching and scholarship about the significance and history of popular music.
We are thrilled to have this support from the John P. Murphy Foundation, in association with the Richman Fund for Popular Music Studies, to help establish the fellowship, said Daniel Goldmark, director of the center. What a wonderful opportunity it gives us to bring up-and-coming scholars to Cleveland to work with our students and connect with our faculty.
Originally published in the summer 2023 issue of Forward Thinking magazine