On Race, Value, and the Need to Reimagine Ethnomusicology for the Future

Deonte L. Harris, assistant professor in the International Comparative Studies program at Duke University, holds a PhD in Ethnomusicology from the University of California, Los Angeles. His research interests include global Black studies, diaspora studies, critical race studies, and the anthropological study of value. These broader interests animate his current book-in-progress, which investigates the local, diasporic, and global dimensions of Caribbean carnival culture in postwar UK, and the value of carnival among Black Britons of Caribbean heritage. Harris is a past chair of the SEM Student Union (2014–2016); former member of the SEM Council and Diversity Action Committee (2017–2020); and current co-chair of the Gertrude Rivers Robinson Network of Black Ethnomusicologists (2020–2022).