Deborah Anne Wong (born 1959) is an American academic, educator, and

ethnomusicologist Ethnomusicology is the multidisciplinary study of music in its cultural context. The discipline investigates social, cognitive, biological, comparative, and other dimensions. Ethnomusicologists study music as a reflection of culture and investiga ...

recognized for her studies of

Asian-American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for ...

and Thai music.

Early life and education

Wong was born on the

east coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the region encompassing the coast, coastline where the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean; it has always pla ...

and currently resides in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology and music from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 1982. She later obtained her master's degree and

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, completing her doctoral studies in 1991. She identifies as

Chinese-American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

, and multi-ethnic.

Scholarship

Wong has been a professor of music at the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

since 1996. She previously served as president of the

Society for Ethnomusicology The Society for Ethnomusicology is, with the International Council for Traditional Music and thBritish Forum for Ethnomusicology one of three major international associations for ethnomusicology. Its mission is "to promote the research, study, an ...

, and founded the Committee on the Status of Women with Elizabeth Tolbert in 1996. Wong is also the president of the Board of Directors for the Alliance for California Traditional Arts. She has served on the advisory council for the Smithsonian

Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage The Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage (CFCH) is one of three cultural centers within the Smithsonian Institution in the United States. Its motto is "culture of, by, and for the people", and it aims to encourage understanding and cultural sust ...

since 2011. Wong was nominated to be a member of the National Council on the Humanities by

President Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. Ob ...

in December 2015.

Asian-American studies

Wong's research examines Asian-American performance and its intersection with racial dynamics in America. She notes, "Race is very much a part of our lives, America has racist structures that drive it, and looking at race when studying music is a different approach". She used a $10,000 grant from the California Council for the Humanities to help fund the research for the site, www.asianamericanriverside.ucr.edu. She wanted to spread the word about the little-known story of the city's lively Asian community. "Asian American Riverside" is a resource for local schools and the community. The project will help support interethnic understanding and strengthen the community in Riverside. Wong has studied

taiko are a broad range of Traditional Japanese musical instruments, Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese language, Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various J ...

and is part of Satori Daiko, a performing group in Los Angeles.

Selected bibliography

* Wong's first book is about ritual performance and its implications for the cultural politics of Thai court music and dance in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

in the late twentieth-century. * This book focuses on music and identity by looking at case studies. Wong has also published on Chinese-American and Japanese-American jazz, Asian-American hip-hop, and Southeast-Asian immigrant music.

Research collectives

Wong has been a part of the oral history collective project Women Who Rock: Making Scenes, Building Communities.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wong, Deborah American ethnomusicologists Women ethnomusicologists University of Michigan alumni University of California, Riverside faculty Place of birth missing (living people) American academics of Chinese descent Living people 1959 births American women academics University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences alumni American women anthropologists 21st-century American women