As a cogent survey of the vast topic of ethnomusicology, I never tire of recommending Bruno Nettl’s magisterial survey. To keep up with the state of the field, at the forefront of journals (click here) is Ethnomusicology, under the aegis of SEM. I’m quite resistant to conferences, but browsing the programme for this year’s SEM virtual gathering from 17th to 26th October makes an update on the breadth of research, both daunting and inspiring.

The talks, panels, and films on a wealth of themes subsume much of the globe, including devotional music, jazz, gender, post-colonialism, festivals, the internet, violence and trauma, historical ethnomusicology, and research tools. Just a tiny selection to whet your appetite, inevitably reflecting my own tastes:

• Teaching Palestine through Music, Dance, and the Arts
• Gender in Music of Iran
• Daily Ethnomusicologies: Or, Ethnomusicologists are Everywhere and Why That Matters
• Maqam Creativity on the Borders: Musical Alternatives to the Nation-State
• Music and violence
• The Music of Our Neighbors: Cultural Diversity in Small-Town Germany
• Diego Carpitella Fellowship’s Experiences: Reflections on Audiovisual Ethnomusicology
• Race, Gender, and the Violin.

On this blog, the world music category has a range of stimulating posts, including Society and soundscape and What is serious music?!, as well as series on raga and flamenco.