Clifton Boyd

New York University

Clifton Boyd (he/him) is a Ph.D. candidate in music theory at Yale University. Beginning in Fall 2022, he will be Visiting Assistant Professor (tenure track; Assistant Professor effective Fall 2024) in the Department of Music at New York University. His research lies at the intersection of (racial) identity, politics, and social justice in American popular music. His dissertation, “The Role of Vernacular Music Theory in the American Barbershop Community,” uses the Barbershop Harmony Society as a case study to examine how institutions instrumentalize music theory to uphold discriminatory sociopolitical values within their communities. His publications appear or are forthcoming in Music Theory and Analysis, Music Theory Spectrum, Theory and Practice, the Oxford Handbook for Public Music Theory, and the #BlackintheIvory edited collection. He is also the founder of Project Spectrum, a graduate student-led coalition committed to increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in music academia. For more information, please visit: clifton-boyd.com

Areas of Expertise

• Music and Musicology
• Race and Ethnicity

Methodology

• Archival Methods
• Ethnographic Methods
• Interviews
• Music Analysis