Judith Becker
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Judith O. Becker (born September 3, 1932) is an American academic and educator. She is a scholar of the musical and religious cultures of South and Southeast Asia, the Islamic world and the Americas. Her work combines linguistic, musical, anthropological, and empirical perspectives. As an
ethnomusicologist Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...
and Southeast Asianist, she is noted for her study of musics in
South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
and
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
, including
Javanese gamelan Gamelan () ( jv, ꦒꦩꦼꦭꦤ꧀, su, ᮌᮙᮨᮜᮔ᮪, ban, ᬕᬫᭂᬮᬦ᭄) is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. T ...
,
Burmese harp The ''saung'' ( Burmese: စောင်း, MLCTS caung: ; also known as the ''saung-gauk'' ( စောင်းကောက်), Burmese harp, Burma harp, or Myanmar harp), is an arched harp used in traditional Burmese music. The saung is r ...
, music and trance, music and emotion, neuroscience, and a theoretical rapprochement of empirical and qualitative methods. Becker teaches at the
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
.Terry E. Miller, "Becker, Judith O." in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2001). In 2000, Becker was named the Glenn McGeoch Collegiate Professor of Musicology at the
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, and she was named professor emerita of music in 2008. From 1993 to 1997, she was a Senior Fellow of the Michigan Society of Fellows.


Scholarly work and contributions

Becker completed a bachelor's degree in music at the
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
before completing the doctorate there in 1972. Her early work was based on in-depth ethnography and on-site research of the Burmese harp (sang gauk) and Javanese gamelan; however, her later work challenged in-depth
ethnography Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
as the dominant research method in
ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...
, specifically by investigating the relationship between esoteric texts of Tantrism and Sufism with musical thinking and more recently through explorations of the intersections of neuroscience, music, and emotion.Interview with Judith Becker by R. Anderson Sutton, ''Newsletter of the Society for Ethnomusicology,'' vol. 47, no. 2 (March 2013), http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.ethnomusicology.org/resource/resmgr/newsletters/semnl47-2.pdf (accessed January 2014). These studies, which were informed by ethnography as well as other research methods, were the basis for Becker's books ''Gamelan Stories'' (1993) and ''Deep Listeners'' (2004). From 1968 to 2002, Becker was director of the University of Michigan
Javanese gamelan Gamelan () ( jv, ꦒꦩꦼꦭꦤ꧀, su, ᮌᮙᮨᮜᮔ᮪, ban, ᬕᬫᭂᬮᬦ᭄) is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. T ...
ensemble ('' Kyai Telaga Madu''), and with
Alton L. Becker Alton L. (Pete) Becker (April 6, 1932 – November 15, 2011) was an American linguist known for his studies of Burmese grammar and other Southeast Asian languages, including Malaysian, Javanese and Kawi. He was a professor of linguistics at th ...
directed many performances of
wayang , also known as ( jv, ꦮꦪꦁ, translit=wayang), is a traditional form of puppet theatre play originating from the Indonesian island of Java. refers to the entire dramatic show. Sometimes the leather puppet itself is referred to as . Perfor ...
and klenengang in Ann Arbor and Indonesia. Becker's latest work, bringing perspectives from empirical studies of the brain and perception to the study of musical perception and emotion, focused on "trying to create bridges, between the two disciplines, and different ways of understanding musical experience." She has been a distinguished lecturer in ethnomusicology at conferences and symposia, and in 2003 was selected as the Charles Seeger lecturer for which she delivered an address titled "Trancers and Deep Listeners." Becker received the
Alan Merriam Alan Parkhurst Merriam (1 November 1923 – 14 March 1980) was an American ethnomusicologist known for his studies of music in Native America and Africa.Bruno Nettl, "Merriam, Alan P." in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (Londo ...
Prize from the Society for Ethnomusicology in 2005 for her book, ''Deep Listeners: Music, Emotion, and Trancing''. She was named an Honorary Member of the Society for Ethnomusicology in 2010.


See also

*
Women in musicology Women in musicology describes the role of women professors, scholars and researchers in postsecondary education musicology departments at postsecondary education institutions, including universities, colleges and music conservatories. Traditiona ...


Select bibliography

*"Time and Tune in Java", in ''The Imagination of Reality: Essays in Southeast Asian Coherence Systems'', ed.
Alton L. Becker Alton L. (Pete) Becker (April 6, 1932 – November 15, 2011) was an American linguist known for his studies of Burmese grammar and other Southeast Asian languages, including Malaysian, Javanese and Kawi. He was a professor of linguistics at th ...
and A.A. Yengoyan (Norwood, New Jersey: 1979), pp. 197–210. * * (based on dissertation, 1972) * * * * * * * * *


References


External links


University of Michigan profileBiography from Society of EthnomusicologyOral history interview transcript by Sarah E. Fike, March 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Judith O. 1932 births University of Michigan faculty American women anthropologists Cultural anthropologists Ethnomusicologists Living people University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni University of Michigan fellows American women academics 21st-century American women