Katie Bank

Dr. Katie Bank is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Music Department at the School of Languages, Arts and Societies, University of Sheffield. Her research focuses on early modern English song and musical-visual culture through an interdisciplinary lens examining music's role in early modern intellectual history, natural philosophy, and sense perception.

Her educational background includes:

• PhD in Musicology from Royal Holloway, University of London (2016)
• MMus in Musicology from King's College London (2012)
• Master of Teaching from the University of Southern California (2007)
• BA from Bowdoin College (2005)

Bank's research critically reinterprets vernacular recreational song, challenging traditional historiography by demonstrating its role in knowledge formation and historical experience. Her work explores non-lexical refrains (e.g., 'fa-la'), travel literature, and musical-visual intersections, revealing complex meanings beyond superficial interpretations.

Her publications in Early Music, Renaissance Studies, and edited volumes consistently examine how early modern English music functioned as intellectual discourse, with recurring themes of truth representation, myth construction, and sensory experience across diverse contexts from Hardwick Hall to madrigal compositions.

Accolades include:

• AHRC Collaborative Skills Development Grant (2012) for 'Renaissance Art & Music' project
• Reid Scholarship for doctoral research
• Associate Fellow status of the Higher Education Academy

As an educator, Bank taught music undergraduates at Oxford and early modern studies postgraduates at UCL. Her public engagement includes co-curating Courtauld Gallery events (2014-2018) and Association for Art History conference presentations. She actively performs as a choral singer internationally.