A wide shot of a ceramics studio, featuring students working with pottery wheels and other tools.

On This Page

Oliver Shao

Assistant Professor

Contact

Bio

Education: PhD (Ethnomusicology) Indiana University; MMus (Ethnomusicology) School of Oriental and African Studies; BBA, College of William and Mary. Publications: Composing Aid: Music, Refugees, and Humanitarian Politics (Indiana University Press 2023); “‘How is that going to help anyone?’: A Critical Activist Ethnomusicology,” (Oxford University Press, 2021). Awards: Social Justice Paper Prize, 2021 (Society for Ethnomusicology); Applied Ethnomusicology Paper Prize, 2021 (Society for Ethnomusicology); University Distinguished Ph.D. Dissertation Award, 2019 (Indiana University); CSAS Paper Prize, 2018 (Central States Anthropological Society); African Libraries Paper Prize, 2016 (Society for Ethnomusicology); Bess Lomax Hawes Paper Award, 2015 (Society for Ethnomusicology).

Current Interests: music and migration; music and violence; music in East Africa; hip hop and the Asian Diaspora; Applied Ethnomusicology

Book Publication
Composing Aid: Music, Refugees, and Humanitarian Politics (Indiana University Press 2023) offers a critical account of music, dance, and performance in the United Nations-run Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. This study offers insights for better understanding the social life of a long-term refugee camp, for conducting musical aid projects, and for reimagining state and humanitarian approaches to forced migration.

This research has been supported by the following grants and fellowships: The Andrew W. Mellon Graduate Dissertation Fellowship – Mellon Innovating International Research, Teaching and Collaboration (MIIRT); The Ruth Norman Halls Graduate Fellowship (Indiana University’s College of Arts and Sciences); and The United States Department of Education, Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) Award.

Courses

Title Department Catalog Term

Description

What does it mean to hear the world through ?imperial ears?? How can music and sound be used to decolonize minds, bodies, and land? What can listening to music teach us about the interwoven relationships between colonizing and decolonizing forces? This course will address these questions and others through examining the diverse roles of music in various colonial and postcolonial contexts. We will study a range of topics that include British colonialism?s impact on music and sonic practices; the role of music in resistance movements in Africa and Asia-Pacific; and the capacities of music to negotiate, oppose, and refigure colonial legacies. This course aims to strengthen our abilities to hear and critique the echoes and reverberations of coloniality across time and space. Most importantly, we will center our attention on the sounds and songs of indigeneity with an emphasis on the role of musicians and communities involved in generating freedom from oppression. Coursework may include short writing assignments, essays, presentations, and podcasts.

Class Number

1654

Credits

3

Description

This course examines the roots and routes of hip hop from its emergence in New York City to its circulation across select areas of the globe. Why do people living in different parts of the world engage in hip hop? What kinds of aesthetics, ideologies, and behaviors are manifested through hip hop music? How do hip hop scenes differ, and how are they connected? We will discuss these, and other questions, through studying the lived experiences of participants involved in various hip hop music scenes throughout the globe. Through analyzing films, texts, and audio/visual recordings, we will develop our vocabulary for critically discussing the manifestation of hip hop cultural practices across temporal, spatial, and social boundaries. We will pay particular attention to the ways cross-cultural engagements with hip hop shapes intersecting identities of race, gender, sexuality, class, religion, and nation. We will also consider what hip hop artists can teach us about pressing global issues ranging from racism and sexism to economic marginalization and religious discrimination. Coursework will include reading responses, short writing assignments, and a final research paper/presentation that focuses on the social life of a hip hop performing artist(s).

Class Number

1530

Credits

3

Description

This course examines the multifaceted ways music is interwoven with social processes of war and peace. In what ways do people use musical sounds to control, torture, and kill individuals and populations? What types of concepts elucidate the ways music reproduces oft-hidden forms of violence? How can music heal trauma and resolve conflict? Throughout this course, we will work towards developing a deeper understanding about the ways music is used to support, oppose, and heal from actions and consequences made in the name of war and peace. Through studying films, texts, and audio recordings, students are expected to think critically and write persuasively about the diverse ways musicians, politicians, military personnel, and civilians use music in wartime contexts. While case studies will vary, we will pay particular attention to the role of Western popular music in the United States-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A broader goal of this course is to analyze music in ways that generate critical responses to the permeation of violence throughout society and everyday life. Coursework will include reading responses, short writing assignments, a mid-term, and a final project.

Class Number

1636

Credits

3

Description

This course examines the ways music shapes intersectional identities within broader contexts of migration. What makes music a potent means through which migrants maintain, negotiate, and transform their identities? How does music figure into broader discussions of race, gender, class, and religion in the lives of migrant communities? How is music used to reproduce and contest restrictive immigration policies? We will provide answers to these and other questions in our pursuit of understanding why music matters in the lives of people labelled as 'immigrants,? ?illegal migrants,' and 'refugees.? Readings and screenings will vary but will typically include case studies on traditional and popular music styles affiliated with Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Through a multidisciplinary approach, we will draw on theories and methods from ethnomusicology, historical musicology, media studies, gender studies, and critical race studies in our analysis of the linkages between music, migration, and identity. While coursework will vary, students should expect to complete reading responses, exams, fieldwork assignments, and a final project.

Class Number

1533

Credits

3