Alan Hicks

Alan Hicks was born and raised in Wollongong, Australia. After completing high school, Al accepted a full scholarship to William Paterson University in New Jersey for Music/Jazz Studies. As a professional drummer Al spent the next several years traveling with various bands while also performing and studying with jazz legend Clark Terry. In 2009, along with his close friend and director of photography Adam Hart, Al began the filming of his first feature “Keep On Keepin’ On” based on the life of Clark Terry, Terry’s teaching legacy, and his relationship with piano protégé Justin Kauflin. During the process of filming, Hicks and Hart seemingly became part of Clark Terry’s and Justin Kauflin’s extended families. This in turn provided them dramatic and unprecedented access to intimately capture the unfolding story of “Keepin’ On,” which was shot over the course of five years.  “Keep On Keepin’ On” premiered to rave reviews at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2014, winning the Audience Award. Al was also honored with the Tribeca Film Festival’s Best New Documentary Director Award.

We are pleased to present a screening of “Keep On Keepin’ On” as part of the NIME5 Conference.  The screening will be held at the Art Theater in downtown Champaign, a historic and locally operated co-op theater,  followed by a Q and A keynote with director Alan Hicks.  More information about the film can be found at www.keeponkeepinon.com

Patricia Leavy

Patricia Leavy, PhD is an independent scholar and novelist (formerly Associate Professor of Sociology, Chair of Sociology and Founding Director of Gender Studies at Stonehill College). She is widely considered an international leader in the fields of arts-based research and qualitative inquiry. Her eighteen published books include Method Meets Art: Arts-Based Research Practice (first and second editions) (Guilford Press), The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research (Oxford University Press), Fiction as Research Practice (Left Coast Press), Essentials of Transdisciplinary Research (Left Coast Press), and the best-selling feminist novels Low-Fat Love and American Circumstance (Sense Publishers). She edits five book series including Social Fictions, Teaching Gender, Teaching Race & Ethnicity and Teaching Writing for Sense Publishers and Understanding Qualitative Research for Oxford University Press. Known for her commitment to public scholarship, she is frequently called on by the national news media and has regular blogs for The Huffington Post, The Creativity Post and We Are the Real Deal. The New England Sociological Association named her the 2010 New England Sociologist of the Year, she received the 2014 American Creativity Association Special Achievement Award and the 2015 Special Career Award given by the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry.

Sandra Stauffer

Sandra Stauffer is Professor of Music in Music Education at Arizona State University. Her research interests include creativity, composition, and music teacher preparation, using narrative inquiry, arts-based educational research, and qualitative research designs. She is the co-author (with Margaret Barrett) of two books on narrative inquiry in music education, “Narrative Soundings: An Anthology of Narrative Inquiry in Music Education” (2012) and “Narrative Inquiry in Music Education: Troubling Certainty” (2009). She is also the author of multiple research articles on children and adolescents as composers and book chapters on creativity in music. Her creative activities include collaborations with various educators and musicians, including work with composer Morton Subotnick on the development of his music software for children.

In addition to her research publications, Dr. Stauffer has written articles on music teaching and learning for various audiences, and designed and contributed to pedagogical publications, K-8 texts, and software programs and apps. She was a contributing author for The Music Connection textbook series, and she is a primary author for the Silver Burdett Making Music text series. Her work also includes education materials for orchestras and other performing arts organizations. She is a popular guest lecturer, clinician, and consultant for music education and arts education organizations throughout the United States and abroad.

Dr. Stauffer was the first Evelyn Smith Professor of Music (2003-2006) at ASU, and she currently serves as coordinator of doctoral studies in music education. Prior to joining the ASU faculty, she was a faculty member and Coordinator of the Music Education Division at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. Prior to her academic appointments, Dr. Stauffer was a music educator in the public schools of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Virginia, and served as a volunteer music teacher in Arizona. She is a graduate of West Chester University (PA) and the University of Michigan.

Heidi Westerlund

Heidi Westerlund has been a professor at the Sibelius Academy, Finland since 2004, and is the current Chair of the Doctoral School of Music Education, Jazz and Folk Music at the Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki. Her research focuses on philosophical and theoretical issues concerning teacher education, higher music education, collaborative learning, cultural diversity and democracy in music education. She has published widely in international and national journals, written numerous book chapters, and has served as Associate Editor and review reader in several international journals. Currently, she is the Editor-in-chief of the Finnish Journal of Music Education. Westerlund has also held leadership roles in national and international organizations, such as the International Society for Philosophy of Music Education.