Mellonee Victoria Burnim (born 1950) is an American

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 ...

. A

professor emerita ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

who specializes in African American gospel music, she previously served as director of the university's Archives of African American Music and Culture.

Early life and education

Burnim grew up in rural

Teague, Texas Teague ( ) or ( ) is a city in Freestone County, Texas, Freestone County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,384 at the 2020 census. Settlement Teague, Texas, was initially settled around the time of the American Civil War, Civil War and ...

in the 1950s and 1960s. She attended all-Black schools and churches, where she sang

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...

. By the age of 12, Burnim was the pianist for three different church choirs in her community. Burnim attended

North Texas State University The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

, majoring in

music education Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as primary education, elementary or secondary education, secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a rese ...

with a concentration in piano. During her studies, she continued to play piano for a Black

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

church choir on Sundays. Burnim went on to complete a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

at the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

, with a thesis on songs in Mende folktales. Burnim was recruited to Indiana University Bloomington to complete her

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 ...

and to found the university's African Choral Ensemble in 1976. She earned her doctorate in ethnomusicology in 1980, with a dissertation titled ''The Black Gospel Music Tradition: Symbol of Ethnicity''.

Career

Following her graduation, Burnim continued at Indiana University, joining the faculty of the Department of Afro-American Studies (now the Department of

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

and African Diaspora Studies). She went on to chair the department. She transferred to the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology in 1999. She served as director of the Archives of African American Music and Culture from 2014 to 2016. As of 2017, Burnim holds professor emerita status. Burnim is recognized as a pioneer and expert in the study of African American gospel music. She was a "prolific" researcher who published and lectured widely on the history and practice of Black religious music. Burnim co-edited two textbooks with her Indiana University colleague Portia K. Maultsby: ''African American Music: An Introduction'' (2006) and ''Issues in African American Music: Power, Gender, Race, Representation'' (2016). A collection of Burnim's papers and audiovisual materials can be found in the Indiana University archives.

Selected works

Books

*''African American Music: An Introduction'' (co-edited with Portia K. Maultsby), 2006; *''Issues in African American Music: Power, Gender, Race, Representation'' (co-edited with Portia K. Maultsby), 2016;

Journal articles

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Book chapters

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burmin, Mellonee 1950 births Living people 20th-century American musicologists 21st-century American musicologists 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century African-American women writers 20th-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics 21st-century American women academics African-American women musicians People from Freestone County, Texas University of North Texas College of Music alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Indiana University Bloomington alumni Indiana University Bloomington faculty African-American women academics American ethnomusicologists Women ethnomusicologists Academics from Texas African-American music educators American women musicologists African-American musicologists Date of birth missing (living people)