Dear reader,

I get dozens of emails every single day. I simply cannot answer this volume of email personally and still get anything else done. So here are some common questions and their answers.

Sept. 2008: I am now Chair of the Music Department, and no longer Director of the Center for Ethnomusicology or head of the Ethnomusicology Area Committee.  Most inquiries about the Center should be addressed first to Prof. Ana Maria Ochoa, the new Director (ao2110@columbia.edu) and most inquiries about the Ethnomusicology graduate program should be addressed to Prof. Christopher Washburne, the Area Chair for 2008-9 (cjw5@columbia.edu). Some exceptions to these general rules are explained below -- if you're specifically interested in the Center's archived holdings of field recordings, and/or working with me specifically as a member of our graduate program, I welcome your inquiry. 

Please note well: if I answer a question below, I will no longer necessarily respond to emails that ask the same question. Please read below before you contact me by email.

Thanks!

Aaron Fox
_____________________

Q. How can I learn more about the PhD program in ethnomusicology at Columbia?

A. Read our Grad Program's FAQ in detail. Almost any question I've ever received about the program is answered there (go on, try to stump it!).

Q. I want to visit the Ethno grad program because I am thinking of applying.  Can you set this up?

A. Contact my colleague, Prof. Christopher Washburne at cjw5@columbia.edu .  Prof. Washburne is now the head of the Ethnomusicology area committee and is handling all initial inquiries from prospective students.  If you are specifically interested in working directly with me as a member of our program, I am of course happy to entertain inquiries. 

Q. I am a musician/ performer/ group/ representative of a performer, and want to get a gig at Columbia. Can you help?

A. The short answer is, usually and sadly, no, and don't get your hopes up.   The Center receives *dozens* of inquiries from musicians seeking performance opportunities every month, and sponsors only a few performance events per year. But in any case, I am no longer the Director of the Center for Ethnomusicology, so there's no point in asking me.  Please write to Prof. Ana Maria Ochoa, who is the new Director of the Center, with all inquiries of this sort. Prof. Ochoa's email address is: ao2110@columbia.edu

As a general rule, you should send a professional press kit to Prof. Ochoa by mail prior to making email inquiries. 

Q. I am a journalist and I want to interview you. How can I arrange that?

A. First, if you want to interview me about country music or American culture in general, I expect you to be somewhat familiar with my published work on the subject. If -- after wading through some of my work -- you are seriously interested in interviewing me, send (by email) me a rough precis of the proposed article (indicating whether it's on assignment or on spec),a list of sample questions, your own resume or vita (with sample publications I can review online).  In the last couple of years I have been rejecting most interview requests.  I am especially uninterested in talking about country music in New York City, so please don't ask about that.  Nor do I have anything to say on country music and American politics. I am primarily interested in issues of Native/Indigenous cultural rights and cultural property these days. 

I will never grant an interview where I do not have the right to review and challenge the representation of my views prior to publication or broadcast. I may request the right to record any interview *myself.*

Q. Does the Center have any (whatever) music in its archives? Can I get copies or gain electronic access to these recordings?

A. Again, Prof. Ochoa (ao2110@columbia.edu) is the new Director of the Center and is handling official inquiries concerning repatriation and holdings.  But I am more than happy to assist as well if you have a serious interest in something in our archives, and especially with inquiries concerning repatriation of Center archive holdings. But before you ask me this sort of question, please download the metaindex of Center audio holdings and search for what you want. Only under rare and exceptional circumstances will it be possible to use Center archive holdings without actually visiting the Center in person. We do not release digital copies of our holdings to members of the public in most cases.  All uses of our archive are bound by strict conditions on appropriate scholarly use. I cannot answer general inquiries ("Do you have any Cambodian music?") that are not seeking specific items listed on our metaindex. We will almost never license Center archive holdings for publication or comercial recording projects. Non-profit projects should ask, but do not expect "most favored nation" status with respect to rights and limitations.

I am happy to entertain (and indeed encourage) inquiries from agents or members of communities or descendants of performers represented in our archives. Please be patient when making such inquiries. Record companies, documentary film makers, curious composers, and so forth, should approach Prof. Ochoa or myself with specific inquiries only. We take the intellectual and cultural property rights vested in our archive very, very seriously, and in a manner that is usually discouraging to folks looking to license or work with our archives. Any licensed use will entail specific restrictions and may entail payment to descendants or communities with an interest in the music licensed.

Q. I'm making a film/writing a book/producing a show/suing over a copyright violation. Can I pick your brain for free?

A. Probably not, unless you are doing a strictly scholarly or non-profit project. If your project is commercial, I need to be paid. I can't help you brainstorm if you aren't my student or a close colleague. My published work can help you brainstorm. Or come take one of my classes. I don't work for free in most cases. 

Q. I need a letter of recommendation. Will you write for me?

A. I will write letters for my current and former graduate and undergraduate students, and for colleagues coming up for tenure or applying for a job, if:
a) I feel I can write something detailed and constructive
b) There is no conflict if I am writing for someone else
c) You give me at least 30 days notice before a deadline
d) You send me (in a single email message) all relevant information, including the address and deadline and a description of what I am recommending you for, as well as your application letter or essay and/or transcrpts and/or copies of work done in one or more of my classes, if applicable.
e) You provide a stamped, addressed envelope if mail submission is required.
f) You waive your right to see the letter I write, if that is an option, on the relevant application form. I will never write a letter for which that right is not waived. Period.

Q. Are there adjunct teaching opportunities for me at Columbia?

A. If you are a PhD-holding ethnomusicologist/musical anthropologist or musicologist in New York, and you are looking for adjunct teaching work, please send me a complete CV and a brief note of introduction. We rarely have adjunct teaching positions, and when we do we have a roster of folks to take them in most cases. I will hold CVs on file and get in touch with you if there's something to discuss.

We do not normally hire performance teachers as Associates with whom we don't already have a relationship. Musicians looking to teach an instrument or performance tradition are welcome to inquire with Prof. Ochoa, but the odds are very poor that we can hire you. We can, however, sometimes refer private students to New York-based teachers.

Q. Can I come see you and pitch my publishing company's latest textbook?

A. No. Really. I don't teach with textbooks. Ever.  You'd be wasting your time.

Q. I am looking for "bright, energetic, motivated" student interns willing to work for nothing. Can you recommend someone?

A. No, never, really. Not unless you're paying them decent wages, and the internship has genuine educational value as well -- i.e., it entails not just busywork or administrative labor. In my experience, a majority of "internships" are meant to exploit free student labor. 

Q. Are there volunteer opportunities at the Center? Is there paid work at the Center?

A. If you have a very specialized skill set (let's say you speak Navajo or can do advanced database programming or are an intellectual property law student or sharp web designer), and are seriously interested in ethnomusicology or traditional musics, get in touch with the Center's Director, Prof. Ana Maria Ochoa (ao2110@columbia.edu). The Center does have occasional employment for skilled people, and welcomes motivated volunteers with specific skills. 

Paid work, when available, generally goes to CU/Barnard students first. The Center does occasionally employ others with special skills as consultants or on contract. Otherwise, any open employment opportunities will be announced on the Center website's front page

Q. Can I get on/off the Center's (e -) mailing list?

A. Yes, just send me an email with "add to mailing list" in the subject line. However, please note that our website is always the best place to stay abreast of our events and news. 

You may subscribe to the site's RSS feed to stay updated on new postings. 

Q. Does the Center buy (or accept donations of) privately held archives of recordings or instruments?

A. We never buy collections. We are limited in our ability to accept collections for the archive by our staffing, budget, and facilities. We do occasionally accept collections, but only if they have an exceptional value to scholarship and do not duplicate materials held in other major archives in the US -- and if we can manage them physically. If you would like to approach us about depositing materials here, please give me at least a rough inventory of the collection in question, a sense of its physical dimensions and condition, its location, and flag any especially significant items. In most cases, accepting a collection for the archive is impossible unless the gift includes funding for cataloging and care of the materials. You may wish to approach the Archive of Contemporary Music, also in New York City, or the Columbia University Libraries as well.

Please first contact Ana Maria Ochoa, Director, with all such inquiries: ao2110@columbia.edu

Q. Will you review a book manuscript for our press or an article manuscript for our journal?

A. I'm really, really busy these days and take very few review assignments. I will only review books and papers for publication that are directly within my own areas of expertise (ethnomusicology, American music, country music, linguistic anthropology), and then only if I am allowed at least 3 months to complete the review. If you're in a bigger hurry than that, I'm not the reviewer for you. I do expect remuneration for book manuscript reviews.

Q. Will you write a book review for our journal?

A. At the moment (Spring 2007) I am not accepting any book review assignments for journals.  I will try to recommend a colleague or graduate student who can take a review assignment if you are having trouble finding a reviewer.

Q. Will you join our panel for a conference as a discussant/presenter?

A. I go to AAA every year. I go to SEM if it is possible. I do not go to other national meetings these days. This year (2008) I am already committed to panels at AAA and SEM. Beginning next year, 2009-10, I am planning to take a hiatus from attending all conferences, so I do not anticipate being able to join any panels for 2009-10 meetings. 

Q. We'd like to invite you to come give a talk. What do you say?

A. I will speak on current research interests if you pay all of my travel expenses and at least a $350 honorarium for a one-day visit, or $500 for a two-day visit with up to 3 events. I can't justify the time it takes to travel and talk for less at the moment. I require a decent hotel if I travel to give a talk.

Q. Will you serve on a grant-review committee or evaluate proposals for us? (outside of Columbia University)

A. Only if I have previously done so for a specific agency or grant program in the past. At the moment, I can rarely do this otherwise.

Q. Will you serve on a non-Columbia dissertation committee?

A. Yes, but only if the dissertation is squarely in one of my areas of specialization. I must have at least 30 days to review a dissertation draft. I will only travel for a defense if all travel expenses are paid.

Q. Can I sit in on or audit one of your classes if I am not at Columbia?

A. Columbia does not permit auditing by non-matriculated students, so I do not permit auditors. You may visit one of my classes for a single session if you are considering our graduate program or are a student in another PhD program, if you give me at least 2 weeks notice by email. This is my personal policy. My colleagues may have other policies and should be contacted individually if you plan to visit our program.