Tim Murray
- School of Music
Tim Murray holds a PhD and an MA in ethnomusicology from the University of Florida and a BA in English Literature from the University of North Texas. He is an Assistant Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate ethnomusicology classes, the Quest 1 course Music and Spirituality, and directs the UF World Beat Ensemble.
Dr. Murray’s research spans Arctic ethnomusicology and anthropology, with a focus on musical soundscapes, phenomenology, and the semiotics of music and emotion. He has presented his research at national and international conferences, including the Society for Ethnomusicology and the Society for Ethnomusicology Southeastern and Caribbean Chapter.
His book The Impacts of Inuit Drum Dancing on Psychosocial Well-Being (Bloomsbury, 2023) examines how adaptive practices surrounding Inuit drum dance support evolving understandings of cultural productivity and competence among younger Canadian Inuit. He also published a book chapter on Connecticut’s ancient fife and drum tradition in Researching Secular Music and Dance in the Early United States (Routledge, 2020), and a review of Called Upstairs: Moravian Inuit Music in Labrador in the Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association (2024). Dr. Murray has also served as a peer reviewer for Arctic Anthropology.
A jazz drummer, Dr. Murray remains musically active throughout North Central Florida.
Book Chapter:
Murray, Timothy E. 2021. “Soundscapes of Tradition: Ancient Fifing and Drumming, and the Embodiment of Place in the Connecticut River Valley.” In Researching Secular Music and Dance in the Early United States, edited by L. Lohman, 153-171. New York: Routledge.
Book Review:
Murray, Timothy E. 2024. Review of Called Upstairs: Moravian Inuit Music in Labrador. Edited by Brien Weiner. Notes: The Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association. Volume 81, Number 4, June 2025, pp. 705-708.
Recent Conference Presentations:
“Inuit Drum Dancing and the Unfolding Taskscape.” Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM) Annual Meeting. Atlanta. October 2025.
“Healing Heart, Healing Mind: Theorizing the Effects of Bilateral Stimulation on Psychosocial Trauma in Inuit Music and Dance.” International Presentation: Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM) Annual Meeting. Toronto, Canada. October 2023.
“Less of a Performance than a Kinship: Inuit Drum Dance, Cultural Competence, and the Metacommunication of Ihuma in the Inuit Community of Ulukhaktok.” National Presentation: Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM) Annual Meeting. New Orleans, Louisiana. November 2022.