Alexander W. Cowan

Alexander W. Cowan is a Research Fellow at Jesus College, University of Cambridge, specializing in American musical culture of the 20th century, musicology, and cultural history. His work examines intersections of music with race, science, technology, and eugenics movements.

• Academic interests include: Music and race, Music, science, and technology, The Blues, Musical modernism(s), Opera and music theater

His current research focuses on the history of musical talent as a eugenic tool, detailed in his first book project Unsound: A Cultural History of Music and Eugenics. He has received prestigious awards such as the AMS-50 Dissertation Completion Fellowship and the Paul A. Pisk Prize for graduate research.