Kenneth Schweitzer
- Associate Professor of Music, Ethnomusicology, Percussion, Electroacoustic Music and Production/Recording
Education
- D.M.A., Percussion Performance, University of Maryland, 2003
- M.M., Ethnomusicology, University of Maryland, 1997
- B.A., Music, State University of New York-Stony Brook, 1994
Research
Dr. Schweitzer research and performance expertise focus on Afro-Cuban music, particularly the sacred batá drumming that accompanies the possession rituals of the religion known widely as Santería. Dr. Schweitzer’s research into Santería traditions is ongoing; he has traveled to Cuba numerous times, as well as to Mexico City, Toronto and throughout the East Coast to Washington D.C., Philadelphia, New York City, Baltimore, Atlanta, Miami and Union City, N.J. to research Santería traditions outside Cuba.
Since 2015, Dr. Schweitzer's research in Cuba has expanded to include thie impact of edutourism on both particpants and local communities, as well as the intersection between tourism, the COVID pandemic, and the political friction both within Cuba and between Cuba and the United States.
Teaching
Dr. Schweitzer has a wide range of teaching interests. In addition to leading the jazz, rock, and Afro-Cuban ensmbles, his work at Washington College supports many aspects of the Music Production program. He offers courses in Ableton Live (production/composition) and Protools (recording), supports an electornic music esemble, and exposes students to modular synthesis. Below are some of the courses he teaches in regular rotaton.
- MUS 106 Rock, Pop, and American Culture
- MUS 205 History of Western Music: Music Since 1900
- MUS 206 History of Jazz
- MUS 313 Music of Latin America
- MUS 332 Music Production
- MUS 395 Recording Methods
- MUS 475 Jazz Combo
- MUS 289 Afro-Cuban Ensemble
- MUS 263/462 Applied Music: Percussion/Drum Set
- MUS 265/465 Applied Music: Ableton Composition
Select Publications
Book
2013 The Art and Aesthetics of Afro-Cuban Batá, Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi.
Recent Articles and Book Chapters
2021 “Transforming Imaginaries of Cuba: Disruptive Learning Approaches in Short-Term Study Abroad Programmes” in Disruptive Learning Narrative Framework: Analyzing Race, Power and Privilege in Post-Secondary International Service Learning, co-authored with Aaron Lampman. Edited by Sharma, Allen and Ibrahim. Bloomsbury Academic.
2020 “Study Abroad Tourism in a Time of Pandemic” In Studying Tourism in Times of Pandemic: COVID-19 Miniseries, co-authored with Aaron Lampman. 2020. American Anthropological Association Anthropology, Tourism Interest Group. http://atig.americananthro.org/study-abroad-tourism-in-cuba-in-a-time-of-pandemic/
2020 “Forbidden Learning: The Challenge of Dispelling Post-colonial Tourist Imaginaries of Cuba through Study Abroad” in Study Abroad: Service, Student Travel, and the Quest for an Anti-Tourism Experience, co-authored with Aaron Lampman. Edited by John J. Bodinger de Uriarte and Michael A Di Giovine. Lanham: Lexington Books
2019 “Santería” in The SAGE Encyclopedia of Ethnomusicology, ed. Janet Sturman. Sage Publications.
Recent Conferences
2023 “Looking through the Lens of Decolonialization: The Near-Collapse of the Cuban Neo-Colonial Tourism Industry.” Paper presentation at the annual meeting of the International Council for Traditional Music, Legos, Ghana. June 2023.
2021 “The Covid Effect: Transformations of Study Abroad Tourism and Host Communities in a Time of Coronavirus (in Cuba).” Paper presentation with Aaron Lampman at the annual American Anthropology Association meetings, Baltimore, MD. November 2021.