Benjamin J Harbert

Benjamin J Harbert is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Performing Arts at Georgetown University, where he explores the intersection of music and social institutions through prison music, documentary film, and American cultural history. He is also the Director of Undergraduate Studies in Music and an affiliate faculty member in American Studies, Anthropology, and Film & Media Studies.

• Education: Ph.D. and M.A. from University of California, Los Angeles; B.A. from Wesleyan University.

His research focuses on music's role within institutional contexts, particularly state prison systems and urban soundscapes. Early work centered on Louisiana's Angola Prison, while recent projects investigate soundscapes in Washington DC's jail system through Georgetown's Prisons and Justice Initiative.

Scientific awards include the Irving Lowens Book Award, Music in American Culture Award, and Portia K. Maultsby Prize for his scholarship. He has also co-founded the Journal of Audiovisual Ethnomusicology and curated documentaries and edited volumes on music, politics, and modernity.

As an educator, he has held teaching fellowships at UCLA, lectured at Pomona College, and directed music programs at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music. His courses at Georgetown cover ethnomusicology, documentary film, and American music, complemented by collaborations with prominent musicians and filmmakers.