SEM Disability and Deaf Studies 

In recent years, ethnomusicologists have begun to question how physiological and neurocognitive diversity impact the ways in which individuals and communities make and experience music. It is to such questions that we, a collective of scholars studying autism, dementia, deafness, and Williams Syndrome, respectively, direct our attention in this panel. Specifically, we see this as a compelling opportunity to critically reflect on the particularities of conducting fieldwork and producing meaningful ethnomusicological work through our research collaborations with neurodiverse and perceptually diverse people. In looking to draw parallels across our experiences, we focus on some of the unique challenges we have encountered while employing traditional approaches to field research and, from there reflect upon how we have endeavored to overcome these challenges using methods ranging from virtual fieldwork to sensory filmmaking. Some of our papers additionally address the nature of our relationships not only with our research interlocutors, but with the people that surround those individuals as part of their care and support networks as well. Understanding ethnographic fieldwork as a series of complex encounters in which the nature of the encounter often shapes its outcome, we hope to encourage dialogue regarding alternative methodologies that have led to the production of rich ethnomusicological knowledge about neurodiverse and Deaf individuals and/or communities