Music - Race - Empire was a research circle organized by Ronald Radano (School of Music) and Teju Olaniyan (English, African Languages and Literature), with funding provided by the International Institute and the Global Studies program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Between 2009 and 2012, the cirlce hosted a series of workshops, presented three invited speakers, and began a major research project to document the production and circulation of popular music between 1890 and 1940. In 2011, the cirlce organzied an international symposium that focused on the transnational production of race through musical practices and form.

Music Race Empire Symposium image

April 28-30, 2011

Music Race Empire: A Symposium

University of Wisconsin - Madison

Keynote presentations by

  • Kofi Agawu (Princeton University)
  • Michael Denning (Yale University)

Please see our Conference page for more details.

World Pop

The Music-Race-Empire World Pop Project represents an attempt to document the global presence and circulation of jazz and popular music recordings prior to 1940. Please visit the World Pop homepage for more information.