Anita Hanawalt
Music History and Appreciation; Music of the United States; Women's Experience in the US
I’m currently teaching online classes at three schools, the University of La Verne, the University of Maryland Global Campus, and Excelsior College (New York). I hold the rank of Senior Adjunct Professor at the University of La Verne, where I have taught music and women’s studies courses since 1983 (online since 2002). I served as course author for the team that developed the first online music course to be offered at UMGC. I now teach MUSC 210 Music as Cultural Expression and Introduction to Humanities at UMGC. In May 2011, I began teaching Music History and the History of Rock and Roll at Excelsior College, adding Introduction to Humanities and Cultural Diversity classes in 2014. I also developed courses in Innovations in Art, Communication and Culture, and Creative Problem Solving that made their debut in 2017 and began teaching Communication and Diversity in 2019. From 1995-2011, I was the Organist at First Presbyterian Church of Monrovia (California).
I am especially interested in theories of online education, higher educational theory and practice, historic keyboard music, church music, convergent worship liturgies, and music-making in many cultures (especially music created by women). I edit the Members’ News column for the Journal of the International Alliance for Women in Music (IAWM), publishing “The Empress of Online: Reflections of an Experienced Online Instructor” in the Journal of the IAWM, 2005. I have made presentations on online college music teaching for several regional and national meetings of The College Music Society. When I taught at Glendale Community College (2001-2011), I also presented at the annual meeting of the Music Association of the California Community Colleges.
I was born and raised in northern Indiana and lived in southern California from 1983-2011 before becoming a full-time RVer in 2012. I’m married to a brilliant, patient retired electronics engineer, Jay Hanawalt, who shares my love of travel and historic pipe organs. Jay very kindly supports my online teaching as my technical adviser. Our family includes several formerly homeless felines. We recently purchased a home in the Hill Country of Texas following 9 years as full-time RVers. We hope to travel the United States and Canada again during late summer and fall in our 5th wheel in a post-pandemic world.
Educational Background
Bachelor of Arts in Music. Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA (1981)
Master of Music in Organ Performance. Westminster Choir College of Rider University, Princeton, NJ (1983)
Ph.D. in Music Cultures. Union Institute and University, Cincinnati, OH (2000)
Additional Information
My dissertation title is: “Flowers in the Musical Canon: A Transformed, Gender Inclusive, Culturally Pluralistic Model Core Curriculum in College Music.”
The three areas of specialization in doctoral studies included: Curriculum Transformation, Adult Education and Women’s Studies. At a life-changing doctoral seminar, “The Cultural and Psychological Aspects of African American Music (June 19-23, 1998),” I learned from Core Faculty member Dr. Arthur (Art) Jones that as it was for Marian Anderson, my artistry (in the sense of being an artisan) is my activism. If I teach like an artist and my artistry is my activism, my teaching is also my activism.
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