GWU Department of Music Hosts Musicology Presentation on Football, Music and Culture

Dr. John McCluskey Presents His Research on the Sport’s Musical Repertoire

The Gardner-Webb University Department of Music welcomes Dr. John McCluskey, associate professor of music at Shorter University in Rome, Ga., for a musicology presentation on Nov. 17 at 8 p.m. in Faith Hall, Tucker Student Center. McCluskey will explore the use of music and its impact on football culture. The program is free and open to the public.

“I am thrilled to host a leading researcher in the area of football, music, and culture,” asserted Aaron Rice, chair and associate professor in the Department of Music. “Dr. McCluskey’s findings will inspire fans and music educators alike to appreciate and engage the breadth of the football community in the gameday experience.”

Drawing from in-person fieldwork, game broadcasts, and interviews, McCluskey’s project considers aspects of representation within the sport’s musical repertoire. He critically explores through the academic lens, the musical backdrops of football and its reflection and representation of cultural interactions.  

McCluskey is chair of the Edith Lester Harbin Department of Music at Shorter, where he teaches courses on western music history, world musics, and other music topics. He has presented his work at a number of international, national, and regional conferences, and he is published in the journals American Music and the Journal of the Society for American Music.

McCluskey is an active member of the Society for American Music (SAM), the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM), and the American Musicological Society (AMS). He holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Musicology and Ethnomusicology from the University of Kentucky, where he completed his dissertation on music in American college football.

Auxiliary aids will be made available to persons with disabilities upon request 10 working days prior to the event.  Please call 704-406-4270 or email [email protected] with your request.