Benjamin Barson

Benjamin Barson is an Assistant Professor of Music at Bucknell University and Affiliated Faculty in Latin American Studies. As a composer, historian, and musicologist, his work interrogates jazz as an Afro-Atlantic art form rooted in histories of resistance and migration.

• PhD in Music from University of Pittsburgh
• Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at Cornell University
• Fulbright Garcia-Robles Fellow at Universidad Autónoma de Baja California

His research focuses on cultural resistance, diasporic identity, and music's role in social movements. Drawing from Africana studies, Atlantic History, and cultural studies, he explores connections between jazz traditions and revolutionary legacies.

Barson's publications span interdisciplinary topics: from Haitian Revolutionary echoes in jazz (2024) to the musical cultures of Chinese indenture in the U.S. South (2023). His 2018 Mirror Butterfly composition was described as a 'call to action' and 'magnificently realized orchestration.'

• Awards: 2018 Johnny Mandel Prize (ASCAP Foundation)
• Fellowships: Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship, Fulbright Garcia-Robles Fellowship
• Teaching Approach: Interdisciplinary frameworks integrating Africana studies, cultural studies, and Atlantic History methodologies