KATELYN E. BEST, Ph.D.
RESEARCH
Applied Ethnomusicology Section Paper/Project Prize, 2019
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"This award recognizes SEM conference presentations that advance the understanding and scope of applied ethnomusicology and the goal of connecting ethnomusicology to the public arena."
Crossroads Section for Difference and Representation Music and Social Justice Paper Prize (Society for Ethnomusicology), 2019
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— "The paper exemplifies social justice through its advocacy for underrepresented voices, while reinforcing the recognition of Deaf artists as such. Best critiques etic scholarship of deafness and music and argues for emphasizing audio-centrism in music scholarship and practices. This paper has great potential in transforming future scholarship in music and deafness, general topics of health and cognition in relation to ethnomusicology, and even social/political representation."
SEM North American Travel Award (Society for Ethnomusicology), 2016
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"The Travel Fund Award Committee selects awardees on the basis of the quality of their presentation abstracts."
Carol Krebs Research Fellow Award (Florida State University), 2013-2015
2023: “Ethnocentrism 2.0: The Impact of Hearing-Centrism on Musical Expression in Deaf Culture.” (click here for publication)
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In At the Crossroads of Music and Social Justice, edited by Brenda Romero, Susan Asai, David McDonald, Andrew Snyder, and Katelyn Best, Activist Encounters to Folklore and Ethnomusicology Series, Indiana University Press.
2021: “Expanding Musical Inclusivity: Representing and Re-presenting Music and Deaf Culture through Deaf Hip Hop Performance.” (click here for publication)
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In Participatory Approaches to Music and Democracy, edited by Fritz Trümpi and Marko Kölbl, mdwPress (new unit of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna)
2021: Reviewed Work: Flip the Script: European Hip Hop and the Politics of Postcoloniality by J. Griffith Rollefson (click here for publication)
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In Ethnomusicology 65/2 (Summer 2021): 394-396.
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Special Issue, Journal of American Sign Languages and Literatures, (2018)
2015/16: “‘We Still Have a Dream:’ The Deaf Hip Hop Movement and Struggle Against the Socio-Cultural Marginalization of the Deaf.” (click here for publication)
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Special Issue, Lied und Populäre Kultur/Song and Popular Culture 60/61, (2015/2016): 61-86.
2023: “Women in Music: Musicology, Research, and Independent Paths." Lecture,
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Women in Music Symposium at Saint Mary's College, South Bend, IN April 2023.
2022: “Music and Deaf Culture." Lecture/discussant,
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MUSC 5939 Music and Neurodiversity at Florida State University, remote, September 2022.
2022: “Acts of Musicking: Applied Approaches to Music, Service, and Social Justice." Lecture,
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President's Lecture for Kappa Gamma Pi National Catholic College Graduate Honor Society, remote, May 2022.
2022: “Creating Spaces for Musical Diversity: Music and Cultural Activism within Deaf Hip Hop." Lecture,
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MUSC 5939 Music and Neurodiversity at Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL March 2022.
2022: “Online Book Presentation of the isaScience reader Music and Democracy: Participatory Approaches" Presentation,
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University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, remote, January 2022.
2021: “'You'll Never Look at Music the Same Way Again:' Deaf Hip Hop and the Impact of MTV and Digital Recording Technology." Lecture
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The Luise E. Peake Music and Culture Colloquium Series at the University of South Carolina, remote, April 2021. (click here for more information)
2021: “Deaf Culture, Music, and Hearing-Centrism.” Lecture
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The Sound of Life: Observation, Art, and Ecology at Hampshire College, remote, April 2021.
2020: “Music and Deaf Culture.” Lecturer/ discussant
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MUCO 410 Music and Disability Studies at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, remote, April 2020.
2019: “Sounds and Politics.” Discussant
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The Anthropology of Music Master Class Workshop on Acoustemology with Steven Feld at Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany, June 2019. (click here for more information)
2019: “Narratives of Presence and Absence: Representations of Gender within Deaf Hip Hop.” Lecture
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Interdisciplinary Lunch Lecture Series hosted by Frauen und Familienförderung and the Department of Philosophy and Philology at Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany, May 2019. (click here for more information)
2019: "Deaf Identity, Culture, and Musical Expression in Deaf Hip Hop." Lecture
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Winter 2018/2019 Anthropology and African Studies Institute Colloquium at Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany, February 2019. (click here for more information)
2018: “The Politics of Music.” Discussant
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The Anthropology of Music Master Class Workshop on Valuing Music with Timothy Taylor at Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany, June 2018. (click here for more information)
2017: “The Voice and Disability Studies.” Discussant
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MUS5939 Vocality and the Politics of Embodiment at Florida State University, remote, April 2017.
2016: “Pedagogical Techniques, Challenges, and Solutions.” Speaker
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Tutor Training for the Student Athletic Academic Services at Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, February 2016.
2015/2016: “Music in Deaf Culture.” Lecture
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MUH2019 Modern Popular Music, Department of Musicology at Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, December 2015 and November 2016.
2015: “The Development of Folk Music.” Lecture
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MUH2019 Modern Popular Music, Department of Musicology at Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, November 2015.
2014: “Teaching Assistant Forum on Instruction and Grading.” Roundtable participant
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The Society for Musicology Graduate Studies Seminar Series at Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, October 2014.
2023: "Negotiating the Musical Mainstream: The Music Industry and the Impact of Technological Advances on the Development of Dip Hop"
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2021: “New Paths for Justice-Oriented Ethnomusicological Research”
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Roundtable sponsored by the SEM Crossroads Section for Difference and Representation and the Applied Ethnomusicology Section organized for the 66nd Annual Meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology, Atlanta, GA, October 2021. (click here for more information)
2020: “Musicking Remotely: An SEM Orchestra Virtual Performance and Discussion."
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Session organized by the SEM Orchestra for the 65th Annual Meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology, remote, October 2020 (click here for more information)
2019: “Narratives of Presence and Absence: Representations of Gender within Deaf Hip Hop”
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Paper presented at the 64th Annual Meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology, Bloomington, IN, November 2019 (click here for abstract)
2018: “Ethnocentrism 2.0: The Impact of Hearing-Centrism on Musical Expression in Deaf Culture”
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Paper presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology, Albuquerque, NM, November 2018 (click here for program)
2018: “Expanding Musical Inclusivity: Challenging Constructions of Music and Deafness through Deaf Hip Hop Performance”
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Paper presented at isaScience— the International Summer Academy of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Reichenau an der Rax, Austria, August 2018 (click here for abstract)
2018: “Alternative Experiences of Music Making: Exploring Musical Diversity through Deaf Culture”
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Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the British Forum for Ethnomusicology, Newcastle, England, April 2018 (click here for abstract)
2017: “Differing Diversities: Ethnomusicological Encounters Across Neurodiverse Communities and Deaf Culture”
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Paper presented as part of a Disability and Deaf Studies SIG sponsored panel titled Different Diversities: Ethnomusicological Encounters across Neurodiverse Communities and Deaf Culture organized for the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology, Denver, CO, October 2017 (click here for abstract)
2017: “Off the Record: Deaf Hip Hop in an Aural World”
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Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the British Forum for Ethnomusicology, Sheffield, England, April 2017 (click here for abstract)
2017: “Musical Belonging in a Hearing-Centric Society: Adapting and Contesting Dominant Cultural Norms through Deaf Hip Hop”
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Paper presented at The School of Performing Arts Annual Conference hosted by the University of Malta, Valletta, Malta, March 2017 (click here for program)
2016: “Washington, D.C.: The Birthplace of the Deaf Hip Hop Scene in the United States”
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Paper presented at the 61st Annual Meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology, Washington, D.C., November 2016 (click here for abstract)
2016: “Living in Two Worlds: Using and Contesting Dominant Cultural Norms within Deaf Hip Hop”
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Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southeast and Caribbean Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology, San Fernando, Trinidad, March 2016 (click here for conference program)
2015: “Deaf Hip Hop in the United States: Using Hip Hop to Create a New Kind of Def”
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Paper presented at the 60th Annual Meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology Austin, TX, December 2015 (click here for abstract)
2014: “Dip Hop: The Deaf Hip Hop Movement and Struggle for Cultural Recognition”
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Paper presented at the African American Studies International Conference on African American Music in World Culture, Boston, MA, March 2014 (click here for abstract)
2014: “The Application of Music Research within the Lives of Resettled Refugees”
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Paper presented at an Interdisciplinary Social Justice Symposium, Tallahassee, FL, March 2014
2011: “Music as Refuge: Cultural Integration and Transformation in the Lives of Refugees living in Prospect Park”
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Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southeast and Caribbean Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology, Nashville, TN, March 2011 (click here for conference program)