"The UWI Campus as Caribbean Music Laboratory" with Andrew Martin

Show notes: Universities often present themselves as neutral institutions devoted to the pursuit of knowledge. But what counts as knowledge? Who decides which ways of learning are legitimate? And why have certain forms of education—particularly those rooted in community, oral tradition, and collective practice—so often been excluded from the academy in favor of European models of expertise?Today, we're exploring these questions through the lens of Caribbean music in higher education. I'm joined by ethnomusicologist Andrew Martin to discuss his article, "Traditional Methods: The UWI Campus as Caribbean Music Laboratory."Together, we discuss the history of steel pan and its transformation from a grassroots music tradition into an object of academic study. We examine how colonialism continues to shape what universities recognize as legitimate knowledge, why experiential and community-based learning often remains subordinated to lecture-based instruction, and how practices such as liming challenge dominant assumptions about productivity, education, and social life.We also explore the relationship between universities and the communities that surround them, asking how music can serve as a bridge between formal and informal education rather than remaining confined to the classroom. Along the way, we discuss oral traditions and alternative systems of musical notation, the politics of curriculum design, the influence of tourism on Caribbean musical cultures, and the surprising role American universities played in legitimizing steel pan studies before many Caribbean institutions did.Biography: Andrew Martin holds a Ph.D. in Musicology/Ethnomusicology, an M.A. in Musicology, and an M.M. in Percussion Performance. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay. In 2011, he served as an academic fellow with the Arbeitskreis Studium Populärer Musik at the Institute for Musicology and Music Pedagogy in Osnabrück, Germany. At Inver Hills Community College, Dr. Martin teaches courses in music history, music analysis, and percussion. He also directs the Inver Hills African Drum and Dance Ensemble and the Inver Hills Steelband Ensemble. His research has appeared in journals such as American Music, Pan Podium: The Journal of the British Steel Band Society, and The Journal of New York Folklore, as well as in The Grove Dictionary of American Music. He is the author of the book Steelpan Ambassadors: The US Navy Steel Band, 1957–1999.Link: https://www.pdcnet.org/pdc/bvdb.nsf/purchase26?openform&fp=clrjames&id=clrjames_2024_0999_12_19_116