NCSU Music Department Professor to Present at Conferences in India
Teaching Professor Jonathan C. Kramer will spend two weeks in India this January, presenting at conferences in Kolkata and in the Jayati Hills, West Bengal. These conferences are sponsored by the Institute for Cross Cultural Studies (ISSCA) and Academic Exchange, an organization that focuses on intercultural understanding. Dr. Kramer, whose on studies focus on ethnomusicology and world music, has presented several papers to the ISSCA.
Dr. Kramer’s presentations will be on his research on traditions of world sacred music. He will present “What Does ‘Sacred’ Mean in ‘Sacred Music’: A View of the 23rd Annual World Sacred Music Festival, Fez, Morocco” at Derozio Memorial College in Kolkata. His first-hand experience with the festival provided the insight for his presentation- he attended the World Sacred Music Festival in summer of 2017 with thirteen NCSU Caldwell Fellows.
A week later, at Maynaguri College in the remote Jayati Hills, Dr. Kramer will present a paper titled “Gongs, Drums, and Firecrackers: How the Music/Noise Dichotomy Sonically Shapes Ritual Time.” This presentation is based on a comparative study of rituals he observed in China, India, Ethiopia, and Suriname from 2007-2014. His participation in these conferences has been generously supported by travel funds from the Music Department and Arts NC State.
