aykelman (at) UC Davis (dot) eduIncluding projects completed, those under construction, and those planned for the future.
Fugitive Sounds
In this project, I am entertaining the question of what the context of sound is, in the age of mechanical reproduction. Taking issue with the notion of “soundscapes,” I want to explore the possibility that the context of no context might be a productive site for considering the meaning, transmission, and production of sounds. This project includes examinations of audio books, home recordings, mix tapes, books about mix tapes, and other audio artifacts found out of context.
The Sound of the Sacred
In this project, I am exploring contemporary Evangelical worship music. Through interviews with songwriters, musicians, music industry professionals, teachers, and members of the clergy, I want to investigate the relationship between style and message in contemporary Evangelical worship. More than just the latest chapter in the “worship wars,” that have been ongoing since God-knows-when, I am interested in examining the nexus of popular music, technology and worship, and how they facilitate contemporary experiences of worship.
Synagogue Transformation in America
Together with a team of Professors from Hebrew Union College (Isa Aron, Steven M. Cohen, and Larry Hoffman), I am involved in an examination of how Jewish congregations initiate, undertake, and experience change both as communities and as institutions. The research on the project has been completed, and we are currently in the process of compiling and analyzing our findings.
Jewish Communities in the 21st Century
Together with Sociologist Steven M Cohen, I am working on a project mapping out and analyzing the ways in which media and communications technologies, generational shifts, and other changes in the social and historical landscape are informing new directions in Jewish community associations and affiliations.
Recent Publications
- Beyond Distancing (a quantitative analysis of attachment to Israel among American Jews)
- Book Review of Selling Jerusalem by Annabel Jane Wharton
- The Continuity of Discontinuity (a qualitative exploration of new producers of Jewish culture in America)
- Cultural Events and Jewish Identities (an ethnographic analysis of participants in Jewish cultural events in New York City)
- “The Acoustic Culture of Yiddish.” Shofar 25:1 (Fall, 2006)