Katherine Johanna Hagedorn (October 16, 1961 – November 12, 2013) was an American ethnomusicologist. Born in Summit, New Jersey to a white family, she became a traditional Cuban drummer and Santería priestess.
She spent her career as a Professor of Music at Pomona College in Claremont, California, where she directed the Ethnomusicology Program, served as co-coordinator of the Gender & Women’s Studies Program, and became an associate dean.[1] She also served as a "scholar-in-residence at Harvard University’s Center for the Study of World Religions and as a visiting professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara."[2]
Trained in languages and classical piano at Tufts University, Hagedorn earned an M.A. in Soviet Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She became a White House fellow, and worked on the Afghanistan desk at the State Department.[2]
Starting in 1989, Hagedorn traveled to Cuba to study the batá drum in Matanzas Province. There, she was initiated as a Santería priestess. At Pomona, she taught the batá drum, Tuvan throat singing, and directed a Balinese Gamelan ensemble. Her classes were described as "emphatically participatory, not to mention loud."[3]
Her best known work is Divine Utterances: The Performance of Afro-Cuban Santería.[4]
Works
- Hagedorn, Katherine J. (2001). Divine utterances: the performance of Afro-Cuban Santería. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN 156098922X.
- Hagedorn, Katherine J. (2006). "Toward a Theology of Sound". Harvard Divinity Bulletin. 34 (2). Archived from the original on October 9, 2013. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
- "Katherine J. Hagedorn". Microsoft Academic Search. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
References
- ^ Bald, Anthony (November 15, 2013). "In Memoriam: Katherine Hagedorn". The Student Life. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
- ^ a b Wood, Mark (November 13, 2013). "In Memoriam: Professor of Music Katherine Hagedorn". Pomona College. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
- ^ Colker, David (November 18, 2013). "Katherine Hagedorn dies at 52; Pomona professor was Santeria priestess". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
- ^ Sampedro, Benita (2004). "Divine Utterances: The Performance of Afro-Cuban Santería by Katherine J. Hagedorn". Research in African Literatures. 35 (2): 203–04. doi:10.1353/ral.2004.0053. S2CID 161748099. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
External links
- "Faculty Profile, Katherine J. Hagedorn". Pomona College. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
- "Photo of Katherine Hagedorn with the Harvey Mudd American Gamelan". Harvey Mudd College. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
- "Tangible Effects of Preserving Intangible Culture in Cuba : Afro-Cuban Religious Performance and the Conjunto Folklórico Nacional – A Case Study", an article by katherine J. Hagedorn at lameca.org
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