Assimilation v. Integration in Music Education

During a movement when music conservatories ramp up their efforts to recruit more students of color, we ask ourselves how to properly integrate students of color rather than focus on assimilation. Join Christopher Jenkins of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music for a session on the importance of diversifying classical music and how to build an environment that is more welcoming to students of color. 

Date & Time: April 2, 2024 at 1:00 PM ET

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About Christopher Jenkins 

At Oberlin Conservatory, Christopher Jenkins is the Associate Dean for Academic Support; the Conservatory Liaison to the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; and a Visiting Assistant Professor of Musicology, as he teaches courses on hip-hop analysis and the racial politics of classical music. He is completing a DMA in viola performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and a Ph.D. in Musicology from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). His alma maters include Harvard College and Columbia University, where he earned a master’s degree in international affairs. His book, Assimilation vs. Integration in Music Education, was published by Routledge Press in the summer of 2023. Before arriving at Oberlin, he was Deputy Director and instructor of viola and violin at the Barenboim-Said Foundation in Ramallah, West Bank.

Alongside music theorist Philip Ewell, Chris is a co-founder of the Theorizing African American Music Conference. Chris is the winner of several awards for service, scholarship, and music performance, including the Cleveland Orchestra’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Service in the Arts Award; the Cleveland Music Settlement’s Ida Mercer Community Service Award; Karamu House’s “Room in the House” Fellowship; CWRU’s Adel Heinrich Award for Excellence in Musicological Research; the American Society for Aesthetics’ Irene Chayes “New Voices” award; the American Viola Society’s David Dalton Research Competition; and as third-place laureate in the Sphinx Competition. In 2024, his first solo recording, of Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s Blue/s Forms, will be released by the American Viola Society, and his chamber group Linking Legacies will release its debut recording on Innova Records. His alma maters include Harvard University, Columbia University, New England Conservatory, and the Manhattan School of Music