Kira Thurman

Kira Thurman is an Associate Professor of History, German Studies, and Musicology (School of Music, Theatre, and Dance) at the University of Michigan. She holds a PhD in History from the University of Rochester with a minor in Musicology from the Eastman School of Music. Her research bridges musicology, cultural history, and African Diaspora studies, focusing on the intersections of music, national identity, and race in Central Europe. Thurman's work has been widely recognized, including seven major awards for her book Singing Like Germans: Black Musicians in the Land of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms.

Her current research project, Pop after Empire, explores post-WWII European popular music and its reliance on Black European artists amid global cultural shifts. She is also co-founder of the public history initiative Black Central Europe.

• Affiliations: Germanic Languages & Literature, School of Music, Theatre, and Dance
• Fields of Study: Modern Central Europe, Black studies, nationalism, transnationalism

Thurman has published in top journals such as the American Historical Review and Journal of the American Musicological Society, and her public scholarship appears in The New York Times and The New Yorker. She teaches courses like The Origins of Nazism and advises doctoral candidates.