Karen Howard, professor of music education at the University of St. Thomas, recently spoke with the Sahan Journal about access to Somali music resources in Minnesota.
From the story:
Howard, an associate professor of music education at the University of St. Thomas and the series editor for the World Music Initiative, said that local music teachers have been asking her for Somali music resources since she moved to Minnesota nearly a decade ago. But until now, she had nothing to offer them.
“The Somali community was just not represented,” Howard said. This book can help teachers challenge a traditionally Eurocentric model of music education, she said: “to treat Somali music in the U.S. as a form of American music.”
Helping Somali students see themselves in the music curriculum has a particular significance – it’s sometimes a subject area of misunderstandings between parents and teachers.
