Matthew Valnes

Assistant Teaching Professor of African American Studies

Area(s) of Specialization:
African American History and CultureBlack Popular Music

Professional Bio

Matthew Valnes earned his bachelor of arts degree in music theory from Youngstown State University and a doctoral degree in music from the University of Pennsylvania.

His research interests include Black popular music and post-civil rights era Black expressive culture. His research has been published in African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal, American Music, Interactions: Studies in Communication and Culture, and Journal of Popular Music Studies. He is currently working on a book that examines how the sonic and sociocultural elements of funk help us understand changing urban cultural geographies, Black feminist epistemologies, and developments in music technologies in post-civil rights era Black America.