Khalid Y. Long moderates a critical conversation about Black music's history, culture, and impact on American society. The discussion features musician, composer, and educator Damien Sneed and ethnomusicologist Stephanie Shonekan who is Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Maryland.
This event is part of Strathmore’s Windows series of performances and accompanying programs. Learn more
Meet the Panelists
Dr. Khalid Y. Long
Dr. Khalid Y. Long is an Associate Professor of Theatre Arts and Coordinator of the Foundations Area. Before joining Howard University, Dr. Long was on faculty at Columbia College Chicago in the Theatre Department and held a joint appointment in the Department of Theatre and Film Studies and the Institute for African American Studies at the University of Georgia.
A scholar, dramaturg, and director, Dr. Long specializes in African American/Black diasporic theatre, performance, and literature through the lenses of Black feminist/womanist thought, queer studies, and performance studies. Accordingly, his work addresses the intersections of race, class, gender, and sexuality within marginalized and oppressed communities. Dr. Long teaches various courses, from theatre history and dramaturgy to dramatic criticism, global performance, and Black cultural production. Dr. Long is co-editor of Contemporary Black Theatre and Performance: Acts of Rebellion, Activism, and Solidarity (Methuen Drama). Dr. Long is completing his manuscript, An Architect of Black Feminist Theatre: Glenda Dickerson, Transnational Feminism, and The Kitchen Prayer Series (under contract with Iowa University Press). He is also co-editor of the forthcoming anthology, August Wilson in Context for Cambridge University Press’ “Literature in Context” series. Dr. Long is also co-editing a critical anthology on HBCUs and Theatre Programs, tentatively titled A Cultural Experience: The Role of Theatre at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Dr. Long has published in Continuum: The Journal of African Diaspora Drama, Theatre, and Performance,tBTR: the Black Theatre Review, Theater, The Journal of American Drama and Theatre, Modern Drama, Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, Theatre Topics, Theatre Journal, Theatre, The Cambridge Companion to African American Theatre, Essays on Psychogeography and the City as Performance, and The Routledge Companion to African American Theatre and Performance. Dr. Long is a regular contributor to Black Masks. He has a forthcoming chapter in the edited collection Dramaturgy and History: Staging the Archive.
Dr. Long is the Vice President and Conference Planner for the August Wilson Society and serves on the board for the American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR). Dr. Long recently served as the Vice President and Conference Planner for the Black Theatre Association (ATHE) and was the Vice President for Advocacy of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education.
Damien Sneed
As a multi-genre recording artist and instrumentalist, Damien LeChateau Sneed is a pianist, vocalist, organist, composer, conductor, arranger, producer, and arts educator whose work spans multiple genres. He has collaborated with jazz, classical, pop, and R&B legends, including the late Aretha Franklin and Jessye Norman, Wynton Marsalis, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Denyce Graves, Lawrence Brownlee, Richard Smallwood, The Clark Sisters, and many others. Sneed is also a 2014 Sphinx Medal of Excellence recipient.
Sneed recently joined the esteemed faculties of Howard University and The Juilliard School. As a composer, he has been commissioned by Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, where his reimagined adaptation of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha premiered in June 2023.
Sneed was recently signed to Apple Music Classical and Platoon Records (London). His newest recording project, Kaleidoscope, featuring the solo piano music of African American composers, was released in February 2024.
Stephanie Shonekan
Stephanie Shonekan is Professor of Ethnomusicology and Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Maryland. Dr. Shonekan earned a Doctorate in Ethnomusicology and Folklore with a Minor in African American Studies in 2003 from Indiana University.
From 2003-2011, she was a faculty member at Columbia College Chicago and was also the director of the Black World Studies Program and the associate director of the Cultural Studies Program. From 2011-2018, she was a faculty member at the University of Missouri in the Black Studies Department and the School of Music. She became chair of the Black Studies department at the University of Missouri from 2015-2018. While at Mizzou, Dr. Shonekan created and ran various programs geared towards inclusion and diversity on campus. For example, she created a campuswide program called Citizenship@Mizzou, a mandatory program for all incoming students to the university. The program was also customized for faculty and staff. She also created The Huddle, a mentoring program for underrepresented faculty across the campus.