Member, Nominating Committee
Elected November 2022; term ends November 2023
Lisa Beckley-Roberts is an Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology and Chair of the Department of Music at Jackson State University. She is founder of the Jackson State University African Drum and Dance Ensemble.
Professor Beckley-Roberts has authored articles and film/album reviews that have appeared in the Journal for the Society of Ethnomusicology, Journal of Africana Studies, and Worlds of Music Journal and has presented at numerous professional conferences including African Studies Association Conference, Caribbean Studies Conference, African and Diasporic Religious Studies Association Conference, and Regional Society for Ethnomusicology Conference. She is also an accomplished performer who has been principal harpist with the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra and the Central Florida Symphony Orchestra, has performed with orchestras throughout the Southeast, and maintains an active performance career that includes accompanying singers with the neo-soul and hip-hop performers of Tallahassee Nights Live.
Having been a Fulbright-Hayes Scholar in South Africa as well as a Foreign Language and Area Studies scholar in Nigeria, Professor Beckley-Roberts’ research focuses on traditional African religious practices in diaspora communities of the Americas and the role of music, dance, and chant in conversion processes. She has also completed research on exoticism in the Romantic era, the performance of gender in Western art music, and the musician’s role in contemporary resistance movements in America and Cuba. Professor Beckley-Roberts is also a founding member of Diversity Inclusion and Equity in Music and Arts (DIEMA) consulting group.
Professor Beckley-Roberts serves NASM as a visiting evaluator.
Professor Beckley-Roberts holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Ethnomusicology and Master’s degrees in Ethnomusicology and Harp Performance from Florida State University. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Harp Performance from Dillard University.
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Posted December 2022