Faculty Feats

Faculty Feats are a great resource for everyone to quickly discover what is happening with individual Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts faculty members.

Kay Norton, Associate Professor, Music

2006-08-28
Kay Norton, associate professor of music history, and the School of Music presented an ASU Anti-Slavery Ensemble Video Series featuring historic anti-slavery music from Jairus Lincoln’s 1843 abolitionist song book in March 2006. Other partners included the English department, School of Nursing, and Iowa State University EServer. The ensemble supports the Antislavery Literature Project, which was established in 2002 as a collaborative electronic publishing project in a major but understudied are of American literature. The project is based in ASU English department and works in cooperation with the EServer, located at Iowa State University.

The goal of the Antislavery Literature Project is to increase public access to a body of literature crucial to understanding African American experience, U.S. and hemispheric histories of slavery, and early human rights philosophies. These multilingual collections contribute to an educational consciousness of the role of many antislavery writers in creating contemporary concepts of freedom. Studying the history of 19th-century slavery promotes educational consciousness and provides ideas for ways individuals may become involved in the causes of individual rights for all.

The measurable impact of the collaboration comes in hundreds of online views per month.  For August 1-27, there were 178 viewings of this music and that rate can be sustained and increased.  The community benefit comes in increasing awareness of historical and contemporary slavery as a social continuum, and of the necessity for continued public action against slavery.  The community benefits through education on the many different ways American culture has confronted slavery, particularly in its musical cultures. For more information on the Antislavery ensemble, visit antislavery.eserver.org/video/antislaveryensemble/.  

Kay Norton’s bio