Dr Samuel Boateng

I am a Music scholar specialising in Jazz, African music, and twentieth-century Black popular performance. My research draws from the intersections of music, migration, Atlantic history, and decolonial activism across the African diaspora. I am also an award-winning jazz pianist, composer, filmmaker, and playwright with a commitment to promoting intercultural collaboration and artistic engagement across diverse communities.

Prior to joining St John’s College, I held a teaching fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh where I received my PhD. I also hold a Masters in Ethnomusicology from Kent State University, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a combined focus in Music, Dance, and Theatre Arts from the University of Ghana, Legon.

Teaching

African Jazz Perspectives – University of Oxford, TT25

I have previously taught a broad range of Music and Dance courses as a Teaching Fellow, Teaching Assistant, Teaching Artist, and Guest Lecturer at the University of Pittsburgh, The Juilliard School, Kent State University, McGill University, University of Virginia, University of Ghana, and the Brooklyn Music School. These courses include History of Jazz, Jazz After 1970s, Jazz Diasporas, Jazz Today, Music Theory, Fundamentals of Western Music, Music as a World Phenomenon, Popular World Music, African Dance and Drumming, Music Recording Technology, and Theories in Ethnomusicology.

Publications

Boateng, Samuel. 2023. “The Artistry of Bheki Mseleku”: Lilley, Andrew (2020). Cape Town: African Minds. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2989/18121004.2023.2288519

Awards and Distinctions

Career Development Research Fellowship, St John’s, Oxford (2024)

Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship (2021)

Heinz Endowment for the Arts - Small Arts Initiative (2021)

Immersive Dissertation Research Fellowship - Mellon Humanities Engage (2020)

Winner of ‘Best Student Paper Prize’ in African and African Diasporic Music at Society for Ethnomusicology Annual Conference (2019)

ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award (2019)

Outstanding Performance Award - Elmhurst College Jazz Festival (2015)

Finalist - Young and Emerging Composers Competition, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, (2015)