Ruth Stone: Making Connections

In an interview conducted in 2020, ethnomusicologist Ruth M. Stone looks back on a career that began with field research in Liberia in the Kpelle communities where she grew up and continues, despite her retirement, to this day. In her reflections, Dr. Stone emphasizes the people in her life—students she has taught; families with whom she has lived, conducted research, and maintained long-term relationships; and colleagues with whom she has worked across disciplinary lines to foster rich understandings of expressive cultural dimensions of African life. She discusses her commitment to administration and service, including her efforts to institutionalize ethnomusicology and the study of African music in North America, Africa, and beyond.