Patricia Shehan Campbell, professor on the faculties of both Ethnomusicology and Music Education, was appointed recently to a second three-year term as Chair of the Advisory Board of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings (SFRB). An expansive collection and nonprofit record label first established in 1948 to document “people’s music”, the Smithsonian acquired Folkways in 1987 and has expanded the archive and its commitment to cultural diversity, education, increased understanding, and lively engagement with the world of sound.
Campbell brings to the SFRB Chair position her expertise in pedagogical approaches to the study of music in and as culture. She was first appointed to the Advisory Board in 2008, and has been active in the development of certification courses in world music pedagogy that spotlight the archived recordings (and video-recordings) of this international collection. She established a nationally-known certification course featuring Folkways recordings, now in its eighth year at the University of Washington (running June 20-24, 2016) and has advised or taught in course sites at Indiana University, the University of Michigan, West Virginia University, St. Thomas University, the University of Miami, Penn State University, the University of Idaho, and Universidad de Veracruz. Her SFRB work in the preservation of traditional music was recognized by the international committee for the Taiji Prize, which she was awarded in 2012.
As Chair of the SFRB, Campbell will facilitate the identification of cultural heritage music across the world for preservation through recording, archiving, and dissemination. Her board colleagues include ethnomusicologists, educators, recording artists, and copyright lawyers.