| FT-265120-19 | Research Programs: Summer Stipends | Monique M. Ingalls | Creating Convivial Community through British Gospel Choirs | 5/10/2019 - 7/9/2019 | $6,000.00 | Monique | M. | Ingalls | | | | Baylor University | Waco | TX | 76798-7284 | USA | 2019 | Ethnomusicology | Summer Stipends | Research Programs | 6000 | 0 | 6000 | 0 | Research and writing leading to publication of an article followed by a
monograph about British gospel choirs and interracial relations in the United
Kingdom.
Community gospel choirs, often comprised of singers from widely varying backgrounds, have become increasingly widespread in contemporary British society. As such, they provide an important window into interracial and interethnic relations. This project uses oral history interviews and ethnographic participant-observation of British gospel choirs and choir networks to examine the role of gospel choir performance in everyday interracial relations in the United Kingdom. My goal is to determine how shared musical participation in gospel choirs has built interethnic and interracial networks and how participating in gospel choirs influences the way singers understand and navigate racial, ethnic, and cultural difference in their everyday lives. Ultimately, this historical and ethnographic study seeks to elucidate the social roles these gospel choirs perform, and will analyze how this popular, yet previously overlooked, religious choral tradition creates a sense of community across difference. |