Associate Professor of Music Denise Odello has been named the 11th UMN Morris Founders Scholar in the Liberal Arts. Odello’s proposal, “Musica mundana, Musica humana: Locating Music in a Liberal Arts Education,” will examine the benefits of the liberal arts approach to music and will make the case that a liberal arts music program is uniquely situated to answer the demands of music’s role in higher education and in a greater social context.
A musicologist, Odello studies how people use music, especially in the creation of identity and community. Her past research has focused on American collegiate marching band traditions; drums corps; musical athleticism; and musicology and the wind band.
Founders Scholars and Projects
Since its establishment in 1960, the University of Minnesota Morris has fostered a spirit of self discovery and thoughtful inquiry. Today that spirit is celebrated through the campus’s Founders’ Fund, which supports research that increases knowledge of the campus mission. The UMN Morris Founders Scholar was established through the generous support of a private donor in honor of UMN Morris’s founding faculty members, staff, students, and citizens of the region.