Ellen Waterman

Ellen Waterman is a Professor in the School for Studies in Art and Culture at Carleton University, holding the Helmut Kallmann Chair for Music in Canada. Her interdisciplinary research bridges music, sound studies, improvisation, and social change, with a focus on

• Environmental and acoustic ecology
• d/Deaf and disability-led music
• Community-engaged research-creation
• Experimental pedagogy

. She co-facilitates the Listening to Social Transformation through Engagement Network (LiSTEN) and directs the Research Centre for Music, Sound, and Society in Canada.

Her research-creation explores embodied listening, as seen in her instructional score Bodily Listening in Place (2022). Waterman’s work has been supported by collaborations with institutions such as the Lotus Centre for Special Music Education and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. She actively supervises graduate students in the Music and Culture MA and Cultural Mediations PhD programs.

Waterman’s recent publications analyze

• interdisciplinary sound practices
• improvisation’s role in social equity
• critical re-evaluations of R. Murray Schafer’s legacy
• inclusive music technology applications

. She contributes to open-access scholarship through editorial roles at Critical Studies in Improvisation/Études critiques en improvisation and Music Research Annual.

Projects led by Waterman include:

• Resonance: community-engaged research-creation with 2SLGBTQIA+ and Deaf communities
• Expanding the Music Circle: all-abilities improvisation initiatives
• Reimagining the Global Music Ensemble: decolonizing post-secondary world music pedagogy

.