Elise Anderson

2015

Updated 10 August

Elise Anderson
Xinjiang Arts Institute
78 Tuanjie Rd.
Urumqi, Xinjiang, China 830046
+86 13139915367 (mobile)
andersem@umail.iu.edu
EDUCATION
Ph.D. (dual) in Folklore and Ethnomusicology and Central Eurasian Studies, Indiana
University (IU), Bloomington, IN, expected 2016
Passed Folklore and Ethnomusicology qualifying exams With Distinction, Jan. 2012;
passed Central Eurasian Studies qualifying exams, Aug. 2012
Dissertation title: Uyghur Arts, History, and Heritage in Contemporary Xinjiang
M.A. in Central Eurasian Studies, IU, 2011
M.A. in Folklore and Ethnomusicology with a concentration in Ethnomusicology, IU,
2009
Thesis: Intertextual Connections: The Construction of Amannisaxan as a Musical
Culture Hero
B.Musical Arts in Voice, Oklahoma Baptist University (OBU), Summa cum Laude and
With Honors, Shawnee, OK, May 2006
Minor: Anthropology; Honors thesis: The Muqam in Modern Uyghur Life
Non-degree Study
Muqam Research and Performance, Xinjiang Arts Institute, Urumqi, China, Spring 2014
present
Language Certificate, CET Program in Intensive Mandarin, Harbin Institute of
Technology, Harbin, China, Fall 2012
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Ethnomusicology; historical ethnomusicology; ethnographic research; comparative
methodologies; intellectual histories; genre; performance; intangible cultural heritage;
Uyghurs, Xinjiang; minorities in China; Central Asia; mshrp; muqam/maqom/maqam
traditions in China and Central Asia; dastan (epic poetry); tot (sketch comedy); maqaltmsil (proverbs); translation
MAJOR RESEARCH GRANTS
201314
Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA)
Fellowship (11 months in China, 1 month in Sweden), $49,251
201213
U.S. Fulbright Student Grant, International Institute for Education (China)
2012
Fulbright Critical Language Enhancement Award (Mandarin)
FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS
2014
ztrk Scholarship for Female Graduate Students, rmchi, China
201314
Dorson Dissertation Award, Department of Folklore and
Ethnomusicology, IU
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Elise Anderson
2015

2012
2011
2011
2011
2009
200809
2008
2008
200708
2006
2006
2006
2006
2005
200206

Updated 10 August

IU East Asian Studies Center Travel Award

IU College of Arts and Sciences Conference Travel Award
IU Department of Central Eurasian Studies Conference Travel Award
Pre-Dissertation Research Grant, Office of the Vice President for
International Affairs, Indiana University
Summer Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship in
intermediate Tajik, IU
Academic-year FLAS fellowship for advanced directed study in Uyghur,
IU
Summer FLAS Fellowship in beginning Tajik, IU
IU Graduate and Professional Student Organization Travel Award
Academic-year FLAS Fellowship in advanced Uyghur, IU
Summer FLAS Fellowship in introductory Uyghur, IU
Outstanding graduate in Music, OBU Warren M. Angell College of Fine
Arts
Bison Jazz Orchestra Directors Award, OBU
Outstanding Research and Writing Award, OBU Division of Music
Outstanding Research and Writing Award, OBU Division of Music
Numerous academic and fine arts scholarships, OBU

PUBLISHED ARTICLES AND BOOK CHAPTERS

2015
Uyghur Dastan, with Rahile Dawut, In Music of Central Asia: an
Introduction, edited by Theodore Levin and Elmira Kuchumkulova, Aga
Khan Trust for Culture and the University of Central Asia (in press)
2012
The Construction of mnnis Khan as a Uyghur Musical Culture Hero,
Asian Music 43 (1): 6490.
PUBLISHED REVIEWS
2015
Review: Staatens Musikwerk, Dissertation Reviews, under review
2014
Review: Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Museum, Dissertation
Reviews, posted on Jan. 23, http://dissertationreviews.org/archives/7487
2009
Review: Intimate Heritage: Creating Uyghur Muqam Song in Xinjiang
by Nathan Light in the Journal of Folklore Research Reviews,
http://www.jfr.indiana.edu/review.php?id=833
OUTREACH & POPULAR WRITINGS
2014
Taking a Leap: In Support of Student Debt, Society for
Ethnomusicology Student Newsletter 8:12, Jun.
http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.ethnomusicology.org/resource/resmgr/sem
_student_news/sem_student_news_volume_8_-e.pdf.
2014
Field Report: Uyghur Arts, History, and Heritage in Contemporary
China, Association for Chinese Music Research Newsletter 20 (1): 911,
May
http://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10524/36255/acmr
_v20n1_2014.pdf?sequence=1

Elise Anderson
2015

2014

Updated 10 August

What the IAUNRC Has Meant to Me, Inner Asian and Uralic National
Resource Center Newsletter, Indiana University, Apr. 2014
http://www.indiana.edu/~iaunrc/newsletter/spring-2014/inner-asian-anduralic-events-and-culture/spring-2014-newsletter

PROFESSIONAL WORK EXPERIENCE

201112
Editorial Assistant, Journal of Folklore Research, IU
201011
Associate Instructor (Right Start Seminar, Culture of College, Right Start
Seminar Online) Student Academic Center, IU
200910
Associate Instructor (World Music and Culture), Department of Folklore
and Ethnomusicology, IU
2007 (spring) Graduate Assistant, Sound and Video Analysis and Instructional
Laboratory, IU
ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Dec 2012present, Dissertation research in Urumqi, Xinjiang, China and
Stockholm/Lund, Sweden
Archival and ethnographic research on the Uyghur performing arts world, 20th c.
present
MayJun 2011, Pre-dissertation research in Urumqi and Khotan, Xinjiang, China
Documented the activities that constitute the dastan world of Xinjiang, China; collected
resources; established professional relationships with scholars and performers
JunAug 2010, Pre-dissertation research in Urumqi, Xinjiang, China
Documented the activities that constitute the professional muqam world of Urumqi,
China; collected resources; established professional relationships with scholars and
performers
JunAug 2007, Masters thesis research in Kashgar, Xinjiang, China
Collected written, visual, oral, and other resources related to Amannisaxan, the
historical figure on whom I eventually wrote my masters thesis and published my first
article
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
The History of Ustaz-shagirt in Muqam Education, Second Annual Conference on
Xinjiang Studies, Brussels, Belgium, forthcoming in Oct. 2015
Yigirminchi siridiki uyghur orunlash snitining tarixi trqqiyati [The development
of the Uyghur performing arts in the 20th century], Meeting on Uyghur Music Studies,
Xinjiang Arts Institute, Urumqi, China, forthcoming in Sept. 2015 (in Uyghur)
[The status of protection and
inheritance of the Xinjiang Uyghur Twelve Muqam], Meeting of the Conference on
Minority Cultural Protection and Development, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China,
Aug. 2014 (in Chinese)
The Past, Present, and Future of Muqam Pedagogy in Xinjiang, China, Society for
Ethnomusicology Annual Meeting, hosted by Indiana University-Bloomington,
Indianapolis, IN, Nov. 2013
Symbols of Identity, History, and Geography: Uyghur Music and the Arts in TwentiethCentury Xinjiang, Musical Geographies of Central Asia conference; Institute of
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2015

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Musical Research, School of Advanced Study; the School of Oriental and African
Studies; and the Aga Khan Music Initiative, University of London, May 2012
Making Minzu Heritage in Contemporary Xinjiang, Association for Asian Studies
annual meeting, Toronto, Mar. 2012
The Irony of the Intangible, Central Eurasian Studies Society annual conference, The
Ohio State University, Columbus, Sept. 2011
Singing the Homeland: Music and Musicians in Uyghur Diaspora Communities,
Central Eurasian Studies Conference, Bloomington, Feb. 2009
Amannisahan as a Symbol for a Modern Uyghur Nation, Association for Asian Studies
annual meeting, Atlanta, GA, Apr. 2008
Performing Memory, Recreating the Present: A Performative Approach to
Understanding Modern Uyghur Identity, Midwest Chapter of the Society for
Ethnomusicology, Terre Haute, IN, Apr. 2007
The Muqam in Modern Uyghur Life, University of Oklahoma Honors College
Undergraduate Research Day, Norman, OK, Apr. 2006
A Unique Cultural Identifier: The Muqam in Modern Uyghur Life, Middle East and
Central Asia Conference, Salt Lake City, UT, Sept. 2005
INVITED LECTURES
An Introduction to Uyghur Music, Where There Be Dragons, Urumqi, China, Jul. 2015
Research Report: Uyghur Arts, History, and Heritage in Contemporary Xinjiang, the
Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center Brown Bag Lecture Series, IU, Nov.
2013
Pop Goes the Uyghur!: Uyghur Popular Music in Contemporary Xinjiang, the Summer
Workshop in Slavic, East European, and Central Asian Languages (SWSEEL), IU, Jul.
2012
Networking in Central Asia, Research Roundtable of SWSEEL, IU, Jun. 2012
Making Minzu Heritage in Xinjiang (one-hour version), Sinor Research Institute for
Inner Asian Studies Lecture Series, IU, Mar. 2012
Music and Musical Instruments in Central Asia, a lecture given to CEUS R199, Central
Asia: Cultures and Customs, instructor Dr. Gulnisa Nazarova, Nov. 2011, Dec. 2010,
Dec. 2009
The Politics of Expressive Culture: The Case of the Uyghur Twelve Muqams,
ANTH E200: Social and Cultural Anthropology, IU, instructor Kimberly J. Marshall,
Nov. 2011
Led graduate seminar discussion of Theodore Levins The Hundred Thousand Fools of
God, CEUS R533: Cultures and Civilizations of Xinjiang, IU, instructor Dr. Gardner
Bovingdon, Mar. 2011
Arutunian and Prokofiev in a Mozart Year, Pre-Concert Lecture of the annual
Concerto-Aria Concert, OBU, Feb. 2006
The Influence of Folk Tradition on Rachmaninoff and Vaughan Williams, Pre-Concert
Lecture of the annual Concerto-Aria Concert, OBU, Feb. 2005
TRANSLATION
2014present Uyghur-English Translator, China Nationalities Press (Minzu chubanshe,

Elise Anderson
2015

Updated 10 August

Milltlr nshriyati) (Translated 200 folksongs currently in press for a

massive collection of Uyghur folk music)
2011present Freelance Translator (Uyghur-English, Chinese-English) specializing in
CVs, resumes, song texts, and academic papers (music, folklore,
anthropology, etc.)
2011present Uyghur-English Translator, Dastan (epic poetry) Collection Project,
Xinjiang University
Under review Insanity, a Uyghur-to-English translation of Memtimin Hoshurs short
story, Sarang
LANGUAGES (IN ORDER OF PROFICIENCY)
English (native)
Uyghur (fluent speaking, reading, writing)
Mandarin Chinese (advanced speaking, reading, writing; ALTA Level 9 in 12/2012)
Chaghatay (intermediate reading)
German (high beginner reading)
Tajik (basic speaking, reading)
Literary Chinese (rudimentary reading)
French (rudimentary reading)
Vocal diction studies in Italian, French, German, Latin (three years)
LEADERSHIP AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Member, Uyghur ilim munbiri (Uyghur academic forum), 2015present
Student Representative, Association for Chinese Music Research, 201314
President, Navruz Students Association, IU (planned and executed a concert and dinner
in celebration of the Persian/Central Asian New Year), 201112
Mentor to new graduate student, Ethnomusicology Student Association (ESA), IU, 2011
12
President, ESA, 200910
Studentfaculty liaison, ESA, 200809
Mentor to new graduate student, ESA, 200809
Conference book exhibit coordinator, Association for Central Eurasian Students, IU,
20078
Assistant Website Editor (news), Society for Ethnomusicology, 200710
Professional Development Series Coordinator, ESA, 200607
College of Fine Arts Student Representative to University Curriculum Committee,
OBU, 200506
PUBLIC OUTREACH
Invited performer of dutar and Uyghur folksong, Tnhaliq kesili xatirilsh kni
[Autism awareness day], sponsored by Xyriyt balilar salamtlikini slig kltrsh
mrkizi [Xyriyt childrens therapy center], Urumqi, March 30, 2014
Contributor (original written and A/V resources; translation), Introductory and
Intermediate Uyghur textbooks, coordinated by Gulnisa Nazarova and Kurban Niyaz,
Center for the Languages of the Central Asian Region (CeLCAR) at IU, 2010present
Invited performer, Uyghur operatic song Bir piyal my (A teacup of wine), Silk Road
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2015

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Bayram, Bloomington, IN, Jul. 2009

Organized Central Asian musical instruments display Meet the Instruments: Asia at
Wonderlab in Bloomington, IN, Oct. 2009
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS AND HONOR SOCIETIES
Society for Ethnomusicology
American Folklore Society
Association for Asian Studies
Central Eurasian Studies Society
Womens Central Eurasia Network
Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society
MUSIC PERFORMANCE AREAS
Solo classical voice, mezzo-soprano (active 19982006)
Choral singing, alto (active 19942006)
Vocal jazz, solo (active 200408)
Baritone saxophone, jazz, ensemble (active 200406)
Clarinet, jazz and legit, solo and ensemble (active 19942006, 2015 present)
Bass clarinet, jazz and legit, solo and ensemble (active 19982006)
Soprano recorder, Renaissance repertoire, solo and ensemble (active 200306)
Dutar (two-stringed lute), folk and classical repertoires (active Feb 2013present)
Muqam, vocal and instrumental (active March 2014present)
REFERENCES
Available upon request