Bidgood: Fulbright Scholarship
JOHNSON CITY (April 13, 2018) – Czech bluegrass might seem like a contradiction, but work by musician and ethnomusicologist Dr. Lee Bidgood shows how this music that emerged in the post-World War II United States has come to flourish in the heart of Europe.
An associate professor in the Department of Appalachian Studies and its Bluegrass, Old Time and Country Music Studies program, Bidgood will spend the 2018-19 school year in the Czech Republic as a Fulbright Scholar, teaching and continuing his research on bluegrass-related music making. Non-instructional leave from the College of Arts and Sciences will help support his year abroad.
Bidgood has been a participant-observer in Czech bluegrass scenes since 2000, when he studied for a semester in Prague. He began his formal fieldwork as a Fulbright student grantee in 2002-2003, and continued them during his graduate studies.
Since coming to ETSU in 2010, Bidgood co-produced a feature-length documentary film based on his research with colleague Shara Lange, a filmmaker and faculty member in the Media and Communication Department’s Radio/TV/Film program. “Banjo Romantika: American Bluegrass Music and the Czech Imagination” was produced with support from the ETSU Research Development Committee’s Major Grant Program, has screened at music and film festivals internationally, and was broadcast nationally on PBS in 2015-2016. In January 2018, Documentary Educational Resources released the film in DVD and streamed formats, both for institutions and home viewers.
Bidgood’s book, “Czech Bluegrass: Notes From The Heart of Europe,” was published by University of Illinois Press in 2017.
During his year as a Fulbright scholar, Bidgood will teach courses in ethnomusicology at Charles University in Prague, conduct outreach events that include performances and film screenings, and expand his existing research by collecting oral histories with bluegrass musicians across the Czech Republic.
These projects fit with his work at ETSU, where he teaches courses both in Appalachian Studies and Bluegrass, Old Time and Country Music Studies, focusing on the global connections that link music, place and culture.
Bidgood relates the connections between his proposed project and the larger goal of the Fulbright organization: “The Fulbright program has shaped my work, emphasizing the importance of and possibilities for understanding across national and ethnic lines. I’m honored to have this chance to continue my work, both as an educator and scholar in the area of music and globalization, but also as an artist seeking to explore connections that we can develop through musical experience.”
The goal of the Fulbright Program, which operates in more than 155 countries, is to increase the mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries. Participants are chosen for their academic merit and leadership and have the opportunity to study, teach, conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.