Dr. Carol Muller

Biography

Carol Muller is a Professor of Music specializing in ethnomusicology at the University of Pennsylvania. She has published widely on South African music and its intersections with themes of home and exile. Her intellectual interests span the relationship between music, gender, religious studies, as well as migration and diaspora studies, and critical ethnography. Among her notable publications are 'Musical Echoes: South African Women Thinking Jazz' (Duke University Press, 2011), 'Sathima Bea Benjamin; Shembe Hymns' (University of KwaZulu Natal, 2010), 'Focus: South African Music' (Routledge, 2008), and 'Rituals of Fertility, Sacrifice, and Desire: Nazarite Women’s Performance in South Africa' (University of Chicago Press, 1999). At Penn, Muller has conducted extensive research and teaching, mentoring graduate students conducting fieldwork in various countries. She has pioneered innovative forms of pedagogy, including Civic Engagement and online learning. Notably, she directs the Penn Grahamstown Interdisciplinary Music Minor as well as Jazz and Popular Music Studies. In 2011, she led a combined online and live summer abroad program in South Africa, coinciding with one of the world’s largest arts festivals. Additionally, she is a skilled gumboot dancer.

Research Interests

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