Deonte Harris

Assistant Professor

Deonte L. Harris (Assistant Professor) is a Ph.D. trained ethnomusicologist whose research interests include global Black studies, African diasporic music studies, critical race studies, and the anthropological study of value.

Harris received his B.M. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Performance (Music Composition), and both his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from UCLA in Ethnomusicology. His 2022 article, “On Race, Value, and the Need to Reimagine Ethnomusicology for the Future,” was awarded the Jaap Kunst Award in 2023 by the Society for Ethnomusicology, recognized as the most significant article published in the field by an early career scholar.

Harris is currently working on a book project on music, race, and value in the African diaspora, which focuses on the cultural production of London’s Caribbean carnival arts scene and its value, meaning, and significance among Black Caribbean Britons.