David Samuels

David Samuels is an Associate Professor of Music and Department Chair at New York University's College of Arts & Science. His research focuses on the intersections of ethnomusicology, linguistic anthropology, and semiotics, with a particular emphasis on Native American music and poetics. He explores how global popular culture interacts with indigenous histories, exemplified in his book *Putting a Song on Top of It: Expression and Identity on the San Carlos Apache Reservation* (University of Arizona Press, 2006). His current work examines folk music revivals, early music performance practices, and post-World War II ethical debates about the human role in modernity. He has published in journals such as *The Annual Review of Anthropology*, *Semiotica*, and *American Ethnologist*.

Samuels' research also addresses vocables and constructed languages (conlangs), bridging language and music studies. His interdisciplinary approach highlights how affective symbols shape cultural identities within vernacular modernities.