Ellen Hebden
Ellen Hebden
Pronouns: she | her | hers
Carole & Alvin I. Schragis Faculty Fellow, Assistant Professor
CONTACT
Art and Music Histories
308 Bowne Hall
Email: eehebden@syr.edu
Office: 315.443.4184
Degrees
Ph.D. Ethnomusicology & Cultural Anthropology (Joint Degree), University of Wisconsin-Madison
M.A. Cultural Anthropology, University of Wisconsin - Madison
M.Mus. Ethnomusicology, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London
B.Mus. Bassoon Performance and Open Studies (International Arts focus), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Social/Academic Links
Biographic Overview
Dr. Hebden’s research examines the intersections of music and dance performance, gender and sexuality, and mobility politics. Her current book project, Beauties in Motion, documents the innovative ways in which tufo dancers in Mozambique pursue mobility amidst political, economic and social restraints, by foregrounding aesthetic innovation, play, and feminine beauty practices. In addition to her research on tufo, her secondary project on veteranos—night clubs for the elderly in northern Mozambique—examines listening, dancing, and DJing practices to understand the relationship between aging, memory and care.
Research Interests
My research interests include the gendered politics of mobility as they intersect with organized, competitive music and dance practices in southeastern Africa. I’m also interested in the relationship between care, aging, and memory in nightclub contexts.
Research Specializations
ethnomusicology; dance studies; gender and sexuality; (post)socialism; southeast Africa; Lusophone studies; Indian Ocean soundworlds
Honors and Awards
Selected Fellow, Research Development Fellows Program (RDFP), University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023-2024
Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts Faculty Research/CreativeActivity Grant, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2022
Faculty Research Grant, Kenyon College, 2022
The Clara Henderson Award, Society for Ethnomusicology, 2018
Mellon-Wisconsin Fellowship, Spring Semester, 2019
Summer Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship, U.S. Department of Education, 2018
Society of Ethnomusicology’s 21st Century Fellowship, 2016
Fulbright Institute of International Education (IIE) Research Grant, 2016