Prof. TM Pooley

Qualifications

• PhD – University of Pennsylvania
• MA – University of Pennsylvania
• MMus (distinction) – University of the Witwatersrand
• BA Honours (summa cum laude) – University of KwaZulu-Natal
• BA Music – University of KwaZulu-Natal 

Fields of academic interests

Research interests

• African tone systems
• Music and language
• Prosody
• Zulu music and dance
• South African art and choral music
• Music and Politics

Field of Specialisation

• African ethnomusicology
• Music psychology
• Music history
• African music
• Piano music

Books

Book chapters:

• Pooley, T.M. “The phenomenology of collapsing worlds: Territorializing space in isishameni Zulu dance.” In N. André, Y. Covington-Ward & J. Hungbo, eds. African performance arts and political action. University of Michigan Press (Forthcoming).
• Pooley, T.M. “Chapter 8: Linguistic tone and melody in the singing of sub-Saharan Africa.” In F. Russo & A. Cohen (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Interdisciplinary Studies in Singing, Volume 1: Development (New York: Routledge, 2020), pp. 108-120.
• Pooley, T.M. “Chapter 10. Singing in South African Schools.” In H. Gudmundsdottir and A. Cohen (eds.). The Routledge Companion to Interdisciplinary Studies in Singing, Volume 2: Education (New York: Routledge, 2020), pp. 123-133.
• Pooley, T.M. Chapter 28: Initiation Songs as Intergenerational Communication: The Zulu uMemulo and Initiation Schools in Southern Africa. In R. Heydon and A. Cohen (eds.). The Routledge Companion to Interdisciplinary Studies in Singing, Volume 3: Wellbeing (New York: Routledge, 2020), pp. 357-367.
• Pooley, T.M. “Dismantling Music”: Reductionist models and evolutionary explanations in music cognition, pp. 43-48. In Leroy, J.-L (dir.). Actualités des Universaux en Musique/Topics in Universals in Music (Paris, France: Edition des Archives Contemporaines, 2013).

Journal articles

• Pooley, T.M. “Thomas More’s silence and the ethics of conscience.” Moreana: Thomas More and Renaissance Studies. Vol. 56, 2 (2019): pp. 190-212.
• Pooley, T.M. “Depressing Melodies: Consonants and tone in Zulu song.” Journal of the Phonetic Society of Japan. Vol. 22, 3 (2018): pp. 42-49.
• Pooley, T.M. “Continental Musicology: Decolonizing the myth of a singular ‘African music.’” African Music. Vol. 10, 4 (2018): pp. 177-193.
• Pooley, T.M. “‘Umaskandi Izibongo’: Semantic, prosodic and musical dimensions of voice in Zulu popular praises.” African Music. Vol. 10, 2 (2016): pp. 7-34.
• Pooley, T.M. “‘Extracurricular Arts’: Poverty, inequality and indigenous musical arts education in post-apartheid South Africa.” Critical Arts: South-North Cultural and Media Studies. Vol. 30, 5 (2016): pp. 639-654.

Reviews and Reports

• Pooley, T.M. Review: ‘Dust of The Zulu: Ngoma Aesthetics After Apartheid’ by Louise Meintjes (Duke, 2017). Anthropos: International Review of Anthropology and Linguistics, Vol. 2 (2018): pp. 749-750.
• Pooley, T.M. Book Review: ‘Music Notation, A South African Guide.’ African Music. Vol. 9, 2 (2012): pp. 181-186.
• Chimba, M. and T.M. Pooley. ‘Report on the First Annual Conference of the South African Society for Research in Music.’ South African Journal of Musicology, Vol. 25/26 (2006): pp. 163-167.
• Pooley, T.M. “Afrika-Voorstellings”: Stefans Grové se Liedere en Danse van Afrika as fiksies. Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe. Vol. 53, 2 (2013): pp. 170-182. [‘African Inventions’: Stefans Grové’s Songs and Dances of Africa as Fictions. South African Journal of Humanities].
• Pooley, T.M. “‘Never the twain shall meet’: Africanist art music and the end of Apartheid.” South African Music Studies. Vol. 30/31 (2010): pp. 45-69.
• Pooley, T.M. “Organic Unity in Hendrik Hofmeyr’s Piano Music.” Musicus, Vol. 35, 2 (2008): pp. 72-82.

Paper presentations

• “Phenomenology of iNgoma.” Migrant Socialities: Publics, Music, Language. University of Johannesburg. 16 September 2019.
•  “Mother tongues: UShaka KaSenzangakhona.” Symposium on the Intellectual Legacy of Professor James Steven Mzilikazi Khumalo. University of South Africa, Pretoria, 14 August 2018.
•  “Tonal categories and combinatoriality: Prosody in Zulu Song.” School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 24 October 2017. (Public Seminar Presentation to the Departments of Music and Linguistics.)
• “White Supremacy and Black Choralism: Apartheid’s Parallel Praxis.” Expressive Arts and the Political Space. University of Johannesburg, 19 September 2017.
•  “The phenomenology of collapsing worlds: Isishameni Zulu Dance in Johannesburg and Rural KwaZulu-Natal.” 7^th European Conference on African Studies. University of Basel, Switzerland. 1 July 2017.
•  “The phenomenology of collapsing worlds: The isiShameni Dances of abaThembu Migrants in Johannesburg.” Performance Arts and Political Action. Mellon Workshop. Maropeng, South Africa. 27 June 2017.
•  “Collaborative eLearning in Music and the Arts.” Research and Innovation Week. University of South Africa, 6 March 2015 (Panel in collaboration with researchers from the University of Jyväskylä, North West University, and University of Applied Sciences, Finland).
•  “Zulu Song Prosody.” University of Jyväskylä, Finland, 10 October 2014.
•  “Melody is a Complex Adaptive System: A Case Study of Zulu Song.” BKN25. McGill University, Montreal, Canada. 7-8 July, 2014 (Poster).
•  “‘Beyond Semantics’: Continuities and Discontinuities in Maskandi Izibongo.” Third International Conference on Analytical Approaches to World Music. School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Meeting held in conjunction with the British Forum for Ethnomusicology, 4 July 2013.
•  “Music and Elites in South Africa.” Contesting Freedoms: Music Studies in a Democratic South Africa. University of South Africa, Pretoria, 28 March 2014.
•  “Zulu Song Prosody.” Biennial Meeting of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition. Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada, August 8 2013.
•  “Africanist art music and the end of apartheid.” American Musicological Society Joint Annual Conference with the Society for Ethnomusicology and the Society for Music Theory, New Orleans, 4 November 2012.
•  “Modeling melody: A phonetic study of Zulu song prosody.” SASRIM Conference, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, 21 July 2012.

Professional positions, fellowships & awards

• Co-Editor: Muziki, Journal of Music Research in Africa
•  African Heritage Initiative Seed Grant, University of Michigan (2018-2019) with Professor Naomi André, University of Michigan
•  Benjamin Franklin Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania (2008-2013)
•  Booth Ferris Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania (2011-2012)
•  Penfield Research Award, University of Pennsylvania (2012)
•  Cross Travel Grant, University of Pennsylvania (2012)
•  National Research Foundation of South Africa Prestigious Masters Scholarship (2007)
•  University of the Witwatersrand Postgraduate Merit Awards (2006 and 2007)
•  Special Honours Scholarship, University of KwaZulu-Natal (2005)
•  First Prize, University of KwaZulu-Natal Undergraduate Piano Scholarship (2004)
•  Cecil Renaud Undergraduate Scholarship, University of KwaZulu-Natal (2001-2004)

Projects

• The Intellectual Legacy of Professor Mzilikazi Khumalo
• Zulu Tone Systems and Song