by Laura Dallman, Co-Editor
This year’s Teaching Music History Conference (THMC) took place June 7-9, 2024, at Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia. THMC began as a Teaching Music History Day in 2003 and became a conference, nominally, in 2014. Organized by the AMS Pedagogy Study Group, this gathering has occurred nearly every year since 2003.
Anita Hardeman chaired the 2024 program committee and the conference was hosted by Dr. Reba Wissner and many of her public musicology students. The program was packed with presentations for educators at both the university and K-12 levels. 69 participants registered for the conference, with 22 attending online.
The conference featured an exciting variety of presentation types, including workshops, discussions, panels, and traditional papers. Three themes stood out to me during the conference. First, the idea of “doing”. During many of the sessions, attendees were robustly engaged in activities. Participants worked together to prepare indeterminate performances, envision possible grant opportunities, and discuss issues around AI. We learned, in real time, how to use Perusall, code music, and take a soundwalk. Taking advantage of local Columbus history, Saturday morning was dedicated to visiting Ma Rainey’s house and taking a guided tour of “Crossroads: Chattahoochee Valley Blues and Folk Music,” a display at the Columbus Museum curated by Wissner’s public musicology students. This culture of “doing” created a conference environment that nurtured new relationships. I found myself engaging in more networking—pleasurable networking—than I have in at least the last seven years.
“Doing” led to the second theme: abundant discussion. Since many of the sessions involved active participation, attendees talked quite a bit. There were the usual Q&A segments, where presenters fielded questions from the audience. These segments, though, included a considerable amount of cross-conversation. Attendees were engaged with each other during and beyond session activities. Furthermore, fruitful conversations occurred between educators of all levels. I especially enjoyed fresh perspectives that K-12 educators provided in the workshops and Q&A segments, and I would like to see the Pedagogy Study Group continue to cultivate relationships with this demographic. I learned just as much from my K-12 colleagues as my university colleagues.
The K-12 participants also had specific time dedicated to discussion each day. In fact, AMS successfully ran its first “K-12 Educators Grants in American Music” program at this year’s TMHC, which brought K-12 teachers and students to the conference to participate in the Many Musics of America Workshop. Teachers attended from all of the country and TMHC does plan to run this program again next year. Here, I must also note TMHC’s gratitude to the National Endowment for the Humanities, which helps fund the Many Musics of America Workshop.
The final theme I noticed was interdisciplinarity. Some of this theme was evident from session titles, such as “Exploring Music and Philosophy Together” and “Tools for Interdisciplinary Studies within the High School Performing Ensemble.” In many sessions, though, music was joined with fields outside the arts, including trauma and environmental studies. It’s clear that no matter where you are teaching music—whether in K-12 schools or universities, or even private or public institutions—there are opportunities and appetites for cross-disciplinary work.
Resources from the conference will soon be housed on the AMS Many Musics of America website, and when that occurs, this post will be updated to reflect their availability. Keep your eyes peeled, too, for next year’s Teaching Music History Conference, which will occur online. This continues a trend begun in 2021 of alternating in-person and virtual conference years, in part to make TMHC available and accessible to all!
