CANCELLED: Doctoral Colloquium (Music): Kyra Gaunt, guest

The Doctoral Colloquium is open to all.

Doctoral students (Music) for whom attendance is required must sign the attendance sheet at the colloquium.

Kyra Gaunt, PhD, University of Albany

Black Girls Twerking at the Intersection:

On the Context Collapse of YouTube's Content ID, Hip Hop Music, and Misogynoir.

This presentation explores the erotic autonomy of Black girls' and women's twerking as it intersects with the algorithms of YouTube, patriarchal music from the hip hop generation, and the racialized gender inequalities and anti-Black sexism found in the music industry.  Think of it as a Black Girls' #MeToo meets a Bechdel test for music's misogynoir. #MuteRKelly.

University at Albany professor Kyra Gaunt (Ph.D. University of Michigan) is an ethnomusicologist who studies music, gender, and technology.  Her book The Games Black Girls Play: Learning the Ropes From Double-Dutch to Hip-Hop won the 2007 Merriam Prize from the Society for Ethnomusicology contributing to the emergence of hip-hop studies, black girlhood studies, and hip-hop feminism.  Dr. Gaunt is also a federally-certified expert witness on Facebook and a classically-trained R&B and jazz vocalist and songwriter whose music is downloadable on ITunes.