Deborah Justice
Setnor School of Music
Instructor, Music Education

Deborah Justice is an ethnomusicologist and active folk musician. Critical questions arising from her own music-making led her to study how people use music to make sense of the social worlds around them. As a result, her research draws on interdisciplinary scholarship—from ethnomusicology and sociology to media studies and architecture—to interrogate constructs of “American-ness” and ethnicity by investigating the changing musical, spiritual, and demographic borders of communities.
Justice’s comparative experiences living abroad in Europe and the Middle East have helped bring this global context into her work and teaching. In addition to ringing church handbells, she performs locally with the Bird-in-Hand Stringband, Jane Doe Trio, and Doolin O’Dey.
Education
- Ph.D., Indiana University
- M.A., Wesleyan University
- B.A., College of William and Mary
Expertise
Ethnomusicology, music and religion, and american music
Courses Taught
- Graduate Research Methods in Music
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