Abstracts
Abstract
Eurocentrism is deeply embedded in the structures governing post-secondary music, from admissions to curricula. In this article, an Inuit student from northeastern Labrador recounts her journey to and through music school, including the challenges of accessing music instruction and navigating the audition, the considerable supports she received from mentors and organizations, and the culture shock, isolation, and racial micro-aggressions she experienced in university. Several recent qualitative studies of Indigenous students’ university experiences provide context for and support our conclusion that decolonization of post-secondary music must include deep structural change to provide broader and more flexible pathways for students and curricula that respond to the needs of a pluralistic society.
Résumé
L’eurocentrisme est profondément ancré dans les structures gouvernant la musique au postsecondaire, de l’admission au programme de formation. Dans cet article, une étudiante inuite du nord-est du Labrador relate son expérience à l’école de musique : les défis à accéder à une formation musicale et à naviguer les auditions, l’appui considérable de ses mentors et d’organismes de soutien, ainsi que le choc culturel, l’isolement et les micro-agressions raciales qu’elle a éprouvées à l’université. Plusieurs études qualitatives récentes au sujet des expériences universitaires d’étudiant-e-s autochtones fournissent le contexte de notre réflexion et vont dans le même sens que notre conclusion; à savoir que la décolonisation de la musique au postsecondaire doit s’appuyer sur un profond changement structurel et des cheminements plus flexibles pour les étudiants de même que des programmes de formation qui répondent aux besoins d’une société plurielle.
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Appendices
Biographical notes
Kendra Jacque is an Inuk from Makkovik, on the northeast coast of Labrador. She is a fourth-year student, specializing in violin, in the conjoint degree program in Music and Music Education, at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s. Kendra is a research assistant for Dr. Tom Gordon’s project on Inuit Moravian music. She aspires to be a teacher and take what she has learned at university back home upon completion of her studies.
Ellen Waterman is a settler-Canadian who grew up in rural Manitoba on Treaty One land. In 2019, she was appointed Helmut Kallmann Chair for Music in Canada at Carleton University. An ethnomusicologist and flutist specializing in improvisation and experimental music, she co-edited Negotiated Moments: Improvisation, Sound and Subjectivity (with Gillian Siddall, Duke 2016). Previously, Ellen taught at Memorial University of Newfoundland from 2010 to 2018, and was dean of the School of Music from 2010 to 2015.
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