MATTHEW D. MORRISON, PH.D.
Assistant Professor | The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music
New York University | Tisch School of the Arts
25 E 21st Street, Office 507 |NY, NY 10010
917.325.6509 | matthew.morrison@nyu.edu
EDUCATION
Columbia University in the City of New York
Ph.D., musicology, 2014
Dissertation: Sound in the Construction of Race: From Blackface to Blacksound
Advisor: George E. Lewis
M.Phil., musicology, 2012
Thesis: Analyzing the Body in Contemporary Urban Dance Music
Advisor: Ellie Hisama, Ph.D.
The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC
M.A., musicology, 2008
Thesis: Disturbing the Groove: Towards a Critical Analysis and Cultural Consideration of Contemporary
Rhythm and Blues; Advisor: Andrew H. Weaver, Ph.D.
Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA
B.A., music, Magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 2003
Semester abroad in musicology and violin performance,
Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, Spring 2002
PUBLICATIONS
Blacksound: Making Race and Popular Music in the United States (proposal and monograph in progress)
“The Sound(s) of Subjection: Constructing American Popular Music and Racial Identity Through
Blacksound,” Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory (forthcoming Spring 2017)
The Smithsonian Anthology of Hip Hop and Rap for the Museum of African American History and
Culture (forthcoming 2017); author entries on “It Takes Two” (Rob Base and DJ EZ-Rock);
“Crooked Smile” (J. Cole); “Just a Friend” (Biz Markie); “My President” (Young Jeezy feat. Naz);
“The Next Movement” (The Roots)
“Interview and Conversation with Musicologist Matthew Morrison and Composer Courtney Bryan,”
Current Musicology (forthcoming)
“Pattin’, Tappin’, and Jiggin’: William Henry ‘Master Juba’ Lane and the Improvisation of Identity in
Nineteenth-Century American Popular Music,” Black Music Research Journal (revise and resubmit)
“The Cakewalk, Ragtime, and Fashioning Cosmopolitanism in the West,” Special Issue on “African
Heritage Couple Dances in the Circum-Atlantic World,” ed. Ananya Kabir (King’s College,
London), Atlantic Studies: Global Currents (in progress)
“Lauryn Hill.” The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd edition (New York: Oxford University
Press), edited by Charles Hiroshi Garrett, 2013
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Special Issue 93, editor-in-chief, “Race, Sound, and Performance,” Current Musicology, a peer-reviewed
biannual journal, Spring 2012
“Race and the Boundaries of Musicology,” Journal of the American Musicological Society, 65, no. 3 (Fall
2012): 851-61
Issue 92, editor-in-chief, Current Musicology, a peer-reviewed biannual journal, Fall 2011
SELECTED HONORS
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Postdoctoral Faculty Fellow for Academic Diversity, 2014-2016
The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, Tisch School of the Arts,
New York University
The Howard Mayer Brown Dissertation Fellowship, 2013-2014
American Musicological Society
Mellon Interdisciplinary Dissertation Fellowship, 2012-2014
Interdisciplinary Center for Innovative Theory and Empirics, Columbia University
Herbert L. Hunter Fellowship in Music, 2011-2012
Music Department, Columbia University
Eileen Southern Travel Fund Recipient, Fall 2007
American Musicological Society
Presidential Scholar in Music, 1999-2003
Morehouse College
EDITING AND PUBLISHING EXPERIENCE
Editor-in-chief, 2011-2012
Current Musicology, Columbia University
Assistant Editor, 2010-2011
Current Musicology, Columbia University
Reviews Editor, 2009-2010
Current Musicology, Columbia University
Publications Fellow, Summer 2008
Tanglewood Music Center, Lenox, MA
ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE
Assistant Professor, 2016-Present
The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music
Tisch School of the Arts, New York University
• Race and 20th Century American Popular Music (Fall 2016)
• Popular Music and Protest in the 21st Century (Spring 2017)
• Motown (Spring 2017)
• Sound Studies and Popular Music (Spring 2017)
Postdoctoral Faculty Fellow/Assistant Professor, 2014-2016
The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music
Tisch School of the Arts, New York University
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Diasporic Sounds (Fall 2014; Fall 2015)
Race and 20th Century American Popular Music (Spring 2015; Spring 2016)
Adjunct Faculty, 2011-2013
Music and Africana Studies, Vassar College
• A History of Black Music (Fall 2011; Fall 2012)
Instructor, Summer 2012
Columbia University, Department of Music
• Western Music Humanities
Graduate Reader, Spring 2012
Department of Music, Columbia University
• Salsa, Soca, & Reggae; Christopher Washburne, Ph.D., Professor
Graduate Reader, Spring 2010
Department of Music, Columbia University
• The American Musical; Walter Frisch, Ph.D., Professor
Dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs, Spring 2015-Present
W. E. B. Du Bois Scholars Summer Institute, Princeton University
Instructor, Summer 2010-Present
• Critical Reading (Summers 2011-Present)
• Performance Workshop (Summer 2010)
• Black Sounds: African American Popular Music and the Shaping of an American Conscience
(Summer 2010)
Fundraising efforts: Over 250k
INVITED TALKS
Invited Presenter, “Ragging and Cakewalking: Reenacting Blackness in the Construction of
Cosmopolitan White Identities,” UNC Chapel Hill Music Department Conference: “Performing
Commemoration: Musical Reenactments and the Politics of Trauma,” April 2017
Invited Presenter, “When was Black Secular Music Ever Not Sacred?,” Yale Institute of Sacred
Music Conference: “The Afterlives of Amazing Grace: Religion and the Making of Black Music
in a Post-Soul Age,” April 2017
Keynote, “Black Lives Matter: Music, Race, and Justice,” Harvard Graduate Music Forum Conference,
February 2017
Invited Lecturer, “Making Lemonade: A Musical Analysis of Beyoncé’s Lemonade,” Center for
Multicultural Education and Programs, New York University, November 2016
Invited Presenter, “Race, Resonance, and American Popular Music,” New York University
Postdoctoral Research Showcase, May 2016
Invited Lecturer, “From Representation to Reality: Blackface Minstrelsy in Past and Present,” Preconcert lecture for performance of The Minstrel Show Revisited, Skirball Center for the Performing
Arts, New York, October 2015
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Invited Lecturer, “Patting Juba, Cakewalking, and Ragging Modernism in fin-de-siècle Europe,”
Research showcase on Afro-Heritage Couple Dance, Modern Moves, King’s College, London,
England, May 2015
Invited Lecturer, “Race, Identity, and American Popular Music,” Musicology Colloquium, The
Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, March 2015
Invited Lecturer, “Race, Sound, and Performance,” Racial and Ethnic Relations in Music, course taught
by Professor Tamara Levitz, Department of Musicology, University of California at Los Angeles,
April 2014
Invited Lecturer, “From Blackface to Blacksound,” Musicology Colloquium,
The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, October 2013
Invited Lecturer, “On Minstrelsy and Black Masculinity,” Black Nationalism and Internationalism in the
First Half of the 20th Century, course taught by Postdoctoral Fellow Asia Leeds, Department of
History, University of California, Los Angeles, Spring 2011
PANELS
Panelist, “Race, Resonance, and American Popular Music,” American Studies Association, Denver,
Colorado, November 2016
Panelist, “Embodied Rhythms and Possessive Rituals in Caribbean Popular Music,” Caribbean
Studies Association, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, June 2016
Chair and Panelist, “Black Resonance and ‘All that Jazz’ in European Cosmopolitanism,” in Black
Portraitures (II) Revisited, New York University, February 2016
Chair and Panelist, “Out of Body: Composing Blackness through Sound, Music, and Performance
Art,” Black Portraitures (II): The Black Body in the West, bi-annual international conference,
Villa La Pietra of New York University, Florence, Italy, May 2015
Panelist, “The Politics of Sound and Movement in Music Made for Twerking,” Popular Cultural
Association and American Cultural Association National Conference, New Orleans, April 2015
Discussant, “Prophetika: An Oratorio,” La MaMa Experimental Theater, New York, New York,
March 2015
Panelist, “Improvising Sound, Movement, and Possession on the Dance Floor,” on panel “Music,
Fashion, and the Power of (Queer) Nightlife,” American Studies Association Annual Meeting,
Los Angeles, November 2014
Respondent, “Blood on Fire” by Professor Dale Cockrell, Musicology Colloquium, Columbia
University, April 2014
Moderator, “The Ring Shout and the Foundation of African-American Dance Music,” Postperformance conversation with Rashida Bumbray, Adenike Sharpley, and Dance Diaspora
Collective, Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life, Columbia University, November 2013
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Panelist, “Structures of Inequality,” on panel “Envisioning a ‘Relational Musicology’: A Dialogue
with Georgina Born,” American Musicological Society Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA,
November 2012
Moderator, “Conversation with Blues Musician Keb’ Mo’,” Department of Music,
Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, October 2012
Panelist, “Constructing the Urban,” Experience Popular Music/International Association for the
Study of Popular Music annual conference, New York, NY, March 2012
Panelist, “(De)Racialized Sound: The 1980s, Michael Jackson, and Post-modern Pop,” Annual
meeting of the National Association of Ethnic Studies, New Orleans, LA, Spring 2012
Panelist, “Post-modern Pop: The 1980s, Whitney Houston, and the ‘new’ American Popular Sound,”
Annual meeting of the National Council of Black Studies,
Atlanta, GA, Spring 2012
Moderator, “Black Arts in the Age of Obama,” Dance New Amsterdam, New York, NY, Fall 2011
Moderator, Composer Conversation with Major Andres Scurlock on the premiere of choreographed
monodrama “Black Moon,” Dance New Amsterdam, New York, NY, Fall 2011
Panelist, “‘Big Mama Says: Pull ‘em Up!’: The Politics of Sagging in Hip Hop Music and Culture,”
The Urban Catwalk, American Studies conference, Yale University, Spring 2011
Panelist, “Performing Race between the Color Line(s): A Pre-Dissertation Workshop,” Center for
the Study of Ethnicity and Race, Columbia University, Fall 2010
Panelist, “The Spirit of the Ritual,” A Symposium: The Current Relevancy of the Negro Spirituals,
Bethany Baptist Church, Newark, New Jersey, Summer 2010
SERVICE AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Faculty Diversity Mentor/Mentee Affiliate, Office of the Provost
New York University, Fall 2015-present
Committee Member, NYU/American Musicological Society Lecture Planning Committee
New York University, Fall 2016-present
M.A. Thesis advisor, Peter A. Winne (Gallatin School of Individualized Study), performance/thesis
on the sonic dimensions of southern gospel music
New York University, Spring 2017
M.A. Thesis defense committee, Alicia Waller (Gallatin School of Individualized Study), “A World
Apart: The Timelessness, Efficacy, and Essential Need for Cultural Diplomacy”
New York University, Spring 2017
Coordinator and Moderator, “Inclusion, Awareness, and Responsibility in Art and Entertainment”
roundtable,
Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, Tisch School of the Arts day of Community, New
York University, October 2016
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Invited Guest Speaker, Black Student Union Graduate Dinner
New York University, September 2016
Faculty coordinator, “Operation Stay Woke,” (community Townhall organized with students in the
department to address diversity and equity)
The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, New York University, September 2016
Faculty Search Committee (Writing, History & Emergent Media), 2016-2017
Faculty Search Committee (Music Business), 2015-2016
Admissions Committee, Early Decision (I&II) and Regular Decision
The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, New York University
“Sense Matters” Working Group, Fall 2016-present
New York University
New Student Follow-Up Program Faculty Mentor, Fall 2015
Tisch School of the Arts, New York University
Faculty Diversity Network, 2015-Present
National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity
“Erotics and Pop Music” Workshop Group, October 2015
The University of Pennsylvania
Black Performance Theory Workshop Group, May 2015
New York University and St. John’s University
Postdoctoral Fellows Council, 2014-2015
New York University
Graduate Student Representative, Spring 2013
Dean of Academic Diversity Search Committee, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences,
Columbia University
Graduate Student Representative, Spring 2011
Faculty Search Committee, Department of Music and Institute for Research in African American
Studies, Columbia University
Student Representative, 2010-2011
Academic Review Committee, Department of Music, Columbia University
Founding Member, 2009-2014
Workshop on Critical Approaches to Race and Ethnicity, Columbia University
Faculty Teaching Fellow, 2008-2012
Columbia University
Student Representative, 2007-2010
Committee on Cultural Diversity, American Musicological Society
Department Representative, 2006-2008
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Graduate Student Association, The Catholic University of America
RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS
Associated Researcher, Fall 2014-Present
Modern Moves: Kinetic Transnationalism and Afro-Diasporic Rhythmic Culture,
Director: Ananya Kabir; European Research Council Advanced Grant (2013-2018),
King’s College, London, England
Core Researcher, Summer 2012
Contemporary Civilizations (undergraduate core curriculum), Columbia University
Publications and Research Fellow, Summer 2008
Tanglewood Music Center, Lenox, MA
Junior Fellow Intern, Summer 2007
Music, Special Materials Cataloging Division, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Research Assistant, 2006-2008
Dominique-René de Lerma, Lawrence Conservatory
Irving Schwerké collection at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Research Assistant, Fall 2006
Jane Hardie, Ph.D., University of Sydney
Wilson Kyriale manuscript at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC
PUBLIC SCHOLARSHIP
Program Notes, The Dream Unfinished: A Symphonic Benefit for Civil Rights, New York, New York,
July 2015
“Julius Eastman: Gay Guerrilla,” Oxford University Press Blog, online peer-edited publication, <
http://blog.oup.com/2015/05/julius-eastman-gay-guerilla/>, May 2015
“Gaye vs. Thicke: How Blurred are the Lines of Copyright Infringement?”
Oxford University Press Blog, online peer-edited publication,
< http://blog.oup.com/2015/03/blurred-lines-copyright-infringement/>, March 2015
“Iggy Azalea Pop: Is Cultural Appropriation Inappropriate?” Oxford University Press Blog, online
peer-edited publication, < http://blog.oup.com/2015/02/iggy-azalea-music-culturalappropriation/>, February 2015
“Revisiting the ‘Colored Waiting Room’ at the Blue Note Jazz Club (NYC),”
Musicology: Where Music’s Past and Present Collide, online edited music blog,
< http://musiqology.com/blog/2014/05/27/revisiting-the-colored-waiting-room-at-the-bluenote/>, Summer 2014
“What’s Graffiti Got to Do with Street Fashion?” Thought Catalog,
online peer-reviewed publication, <http://thoughtcatalog.com/2011/graffiti-got-to-do-withstreet-fashion-saggin/>, Spring 2011
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“Fluxus with Us: A Personal Perspective on Benjamin Patterson,” Studio Museum of Harlem Blog,
<http://www.studiomuseum.org/studio-blog/harlem/interviews-friends/flux-us-personalpersepective-benjamin-patterson>, Spring 2011
PUBLIC WORK
Judge (Music), Fusion Film Festival, New York, New York, March 2017
Invited Speaker, Pan-African Student Union Dinner Conversation, Manhattan School of Music, New
York, New York, November 2016
Contributing Writer, “Friskin the Whiskers,” historical performance art piece funded by Franklin
Furnace, curated by Justin Thompson, Florence, Italy/New York, New York, August 2016
Invited Presenter, “From Jazz to the Improvisation of Everyday Life,” by invitation of First Lady
Chirlane McCray, Gracie Mansion, New York NY, February 2016
Curator and Orchestra Contractor,
“The Messiah,” Oratorio by G. F. Handel, Abyssinian Baptist Church, Harlem, New York, 20102014
Curator and Orchestra Contractor, Stabat Mater, Oratorio by Dvořák; Abyssinian Baptist Church,
Spring 2012
Curator and Orchestra Contractor, “Christ on the Mount of Olives,” Oratorio by Beethoven,
Abyssinian Baptist Church, Spring 2011
Production Assistant, “This Week at Tanglewood,” with host Ira Siff, Tanglewood Music Center,
Lenox, MA, Summer 2008