Eric Beeko

  • Teaching Assistant Professor

Eric Kwadwo Odame Beeko is a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Department of Africana Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. His experiences in teaching, research and publication are as follows:

Teaching Experience: The courses that Beeko teaches in the Department of Africana Studies include Introduction to Africa; Cultures of Africa; Early African Civilization; African Liberation Movements; African Literature and Society; Music in Africa; and Black Performance Aesthetics.

Current Publications: Beeko’s recent publications include “African Musical Traditions and Practices: Past and Current Trends,” in (Re)Tracing Africa: A Multi-Disciplinary Study of African History, Societies, and Culture, edited by Salome C. Nnoromele and Ogechi E. Anyanwu, Dubuque: Kendall Hunt Publishing Co. 2012: 153-176; “The Dual-Relationship Concept of Right-Ownership in Akan Musical Tradition: A Solution for the Individual and Communal Rights-Ownership Conflicts in Music Production,” International Journal of Cultural Property, Vol. 18, No. 3, 2011: 337-364; “Toward a New Stylistic Identity: An Analytical Overview of Ghanaian Contemporary Choral Music,” in Composition in Africa and the Diaspora Series, Vol.2, edited by Akin Euba & Cynthia Tse Kimberlin, UK: MRI Press, 2010: 33-41; and Creative Processes in Akan Musical Cultures: Innovations within Tradition. Germany: VDM-Verlag Dr. Muller Aktiengesell Schaft & Co., KG. 2009 (Originally a Ph.D. Dissert., 2005).

Future Publications: The books, monographs, and articles that he is working on for future publication include: “Reviving Tradition, Engaging Modernity: Style and Aesthetics in Ghanaian (Neo)-Pentecostal/Charismatic Church Musical Practices;” “Black Performance Aesthetics: Agency, Resistance, and the Cultural Politics of Identity in the Performance of Ghanaian Cultural Troupes;” “Construction of Stylistic Identity in the Context of Creativity: J. H. Kwabena Nketia’s Akan Solo Pieces, the Sankudwom;” “Modes of Cultural Representation: Koo Nimo’s Sung-Tales as Rhetoric, Innuendo, and Double-entendre;” and Exploration of Procedures of Pitch Organization in Akan Traditional Songs: The Case of Nnwonkro (Originally an M.Phil. Thesis).

Current Research: Beeko is currently interested in expanding his research generally on African performance practices. These include his current research on the Neo-Pentecostal Charismatic performance in Ghana. His aim, as a way of furthering his earlier research, is to explore the processes of innovation, creativity, and ingenuity that are apparent in these churches’ performances, and to demonstrate how these forms of performance have subsequently transformed their way of worship.

Future Research: Beeko intends to extend his future research along two important areas of interest: First will be his further research on how the historical and regional distribution of African linguistic groups subsequently effected the distribution of various cultural elements (such as concepts, behavior, performances, etc.) across the continent. It will contain four volumes: Vol.1, Historical, Social and Cultural Traditions; Vol.2, Aesthetic-Artistic Traditions; Vol.3, Linguistic Distribution of Ethnic Groups; and Vol.4, Regional Distribution of the Ethnic Groups. Second will be research on Black Performance Practices, both in the continent and the diaspora. He will look broadly at how Blacks normally use music and dance not only as arts, but as weapons that enable them to express their creativity identity.

Education & Training

  • Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnomusicology (Ph.D. Mus.) University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA (2005)
  • Master of Philosophy in Music (M.Phil. Mus.) University of Ghana, Legon (2000)
  • Bachelor of Education in Music (B.Ed. Mus. Hons.) University of Cape Coast, Ghana (1996)
  • Post-Diploma in Music Education (P.D.M.E.) National Academy of Music, Winneba, Ghana (1988)

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