Leadership

Program Director

Nicholas Hockin: B.F.A. Music (Performance), York University, Canada; M.A. Music (Ethnomusicology), Wesleyan University; Ph.D. Candidate Music (Ethnomusicology), Wesleyan University. Professor Hockin is an ethnomusicologist completing his doctorate at Wesleyan University. The working title of his dissertation is, "Drumming Modernity: Musical Transformation and the Rise of the Jenbe in Bamako, Mali."

In addition to an active career as a percussionist in various jazz, pop, and world music ensembles, and as creative collaborator with modern dance schools and troupes in his home city of Toronto, Nick has extensive experience teaching Malian and Guinean djembe and dunun repertoire and Senegambian kuotiro, as well as some Shona mbira music from Zimbabwe. His work at Wesleyan has run the gamut from editing English translations of Sanskrit and Tamil song texts, to teaching courses on Mande music and culture, and creating the original library catalogue for the World Music Archives' African Market Cassette Collection, comprised of over 300 audio tapes of Malian, Guinean, Senegalese and Gambian popular and traditional music.

Professor Hockin's research in Mali began in 1999. Extensive audio and visual documentation and interviews supplement his experiences as a student and performer of Malian music, providing the practical grounding for his theoretical work on indigenous, local engagement with tradition and modernity in an increasingly globalized world economy. Over the last ten years he has developed an extensive network of contacts both in and outside of the Malian culture industry, including visual and performing artists and artisans who personify Mali's unique bridging of historical and contemporary cultural elements.

In addition to his ongoing research on Bamakois wedding ceremonies and Malian drum ensembles, Nick is currently a member of a multidisciplinary research team studying and documenting the D'mba mask ceremonies of the Baga people of coastal Guinea, funded in part by the Fulbright Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Malian Staff and Faculty

A team of local program assistants is responsible for different aspects of on-site coordination:

Neïssa Coulibaly: Site Coordinator (housing, travel, logisitics)

Sekou Camara: Academics Coordinator

Moussa Camara: Languages Coordinator

Daye Kone: Apprenticeship Liaison

Arts Mentors and Guest Lecturers: Drawn from an abundance of established professional artists, musicians, dancers, and artisans living in Bamako.

Administrative Support

The Antioch Education Abroad office provides administrative support for the Arts and Culture in Mali, West Africa program.