In this episode, Fred Lawrence speaks with Tammy L. Kernodle, University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Music at Miami University, whose work explores African American music, gender, and race in American popular culture. Kernodle shares how her working-class upbringing in Danville, Virginia, and a home filled with music led her to Virginia State University, graduate studies at The Ohio State University, and a career dedicated to expanding the narratives taught in music history. She discusses her mission to change classroom conversations, create scholarships for underrepresented musicians, and broaden what audiences hear in the concert hall. She also reflects on her roles as curator of the New World Symphony’s I Dream a World Festival and her work on the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.  
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Tammy L. Kernodle 

Tammy L. Kernodle is University Distinguished Professor of Music at Miami University in Oxford, OH. Dr. Kernodle is an internationally recognized musician and scholar whose research focuses on African American music, gender studies in music, and race in American popular culture. She is the author of the biography Soul on Soul: The Life and Music of Mary Lou Williams, which chronicles the six-decade career of jazz pianist/arranger and educator Mary Lou Williams. She served as Associate Editor of the three-volume Encyclopedia of African American Music and on the Editorial Board for the revision of the New Grove Encyclopedia of American Music. Her scholarship has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, and she has appeared in numerous award-winning documentaries including Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band, Girls in the Band, and Miles Davis: The Birth of Cool. Dr. Kernodle has written for and consulted with The American Jazz Museum, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Walker Art Center, NPR, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, BBC, and Carnegie Hall. She currently serves as Curator of the I Dream a World Festival, multi-year initiative with New World Symphony that celebrates the legacy of the Harlem Renaissance. She was previously the President of the Society for American Music. 

About Key Conversations 

 

Key Conversations with Phi Beta Kappa is a podcast featuring in-depth conversations between Fred Lawrence, Secretary/CEO of Phi Beta Kappa, and Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholars. With a new episode released monthly, each podcast invites listeners to take a seat at the table to learn more about the featured Scholar's background, research, and how they have taken their respective paths to where they are now, and where they are headed. 

Since 1956, the Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Program has been offering undergraduates the opportunity to spend time with some of America's most distinguished scholars. The purpose of the program is to contribute to the intellectual life of the campus by making possible an exchange of ideas between the Visiting Scholars and the resident faculty and students.​
 

Our Host

Frederick M. Lawrence is the 10th Secretary and CEO of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. An accomplished scholar, teacher and attorney, he is one of the nation’s leading experts on civil rights, free expression, and bias crimes. Learn More.

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