Erin Johnson-Williams

Dr Erin Johnson-Williams is a Lecturer in Music Education and Social Justice at the University of Southampton, where she directs the Centre for Music Education and Social Justice. She holds a PhD from Yale University and has previously worked at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and Durham University. Her research focuses on decolonisation, imperial legacies of music education, trauma studies, gender and maternity, hymns and race, and colonial soundscapes.

Erin’s academic journey includes co-editing major works such as Intersectional Encounters in the Nineteenth-Century Archive and Hymns and Constructions of Race. As Project Lead for the AHRC Hub for Public Engagement with Music Research (since August 2024), she actively bridges academic research with public discourse. She supervises multiple PhD students in music, trauma, and colonialism-related disciplines.

Her recent publications (2023–2025) explore topics ranging from maternal soundscapes in media to the commodification of sacred music, reflecting her interdisciplinary approach to music’s role in cultural and colonial histories. Erin’s work emphasizes decolonizing pedagogical frameworks and addressing systemic inequities through music education.