The Executive Board of the Society for Music Theory condemns the anti-Black statements and personal ad hominem attacks on Philip Ewell perpetuated in several essays included in the “Symposium on Philip Ewell’s 2019 SMT Plenary Paper” published by the Journal of Schenkerian Studies.
The Executive Board of the Society for Music Theory condemns the anti-Black statements and personal ad hominem attacks on Philip Ewell perpetuated in several essays included in the “Symposium on Philip Ewell’s 2019 SMT Plenary Paper” published by the Journal of Schenkerian Studies.
The conception and execution of this symposium failed to meet the ethical, professional, and scholarly standards of our discipline. Some contributions violate our Society’s policies on harassment and ethics.
As reported by participants, the journal’s advisory board did not subject submissions to the normal processes of peer review, published an anonymously authored contribution, and did not invite Ewell to respond in a symposium of essays that discussed his own work. Such behaviors are silencing, designed to exclude and to replicate a culture of whiteness. These are examples of professional misconduct, which in this case enables overtly racist behavior. We humbly acknowledge that we have much work to do to dismantle the whiteness and systemic racism that deeply shape our discipline. The Executive Board is committed to making material interventions to foster anti-racism and support BIPOC scholars in our field, and is meeting without delay to determine further actions.
Patricia Hall, President
Robert Hatten, Past-President
Gretchen Horlacher, Vice President
Philip Stoecker, Secretary
Jocelyn Neal, Treasurer
Inessa Bazayev
Anna Gawboy
Julian Hook
Jennifer Iverson
Nancy Yunhwa Rao
Leigh VanHandel