March 21st Colloquium: Dr. Dulcie Dixon McKenzie & The Roots of Black British Gospel Music

[Monique Ingalls]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Johnson, Birgitta" <BJOH...@mozart.sc.edu>

Subject: Next up Peake Colloquium: Dr. Dulcie Dixon McKenzie & Roots of Black British Gospel Music Fr. March 21st, 1:10 pm ET/5:10 pm GMT

Date: March 13, 2025 at 2:23:32 PM EDT

Hello Everyone!!

Please feel free to join us in person or virtually for the next Luise E. Peake Music and Culture Colloquium Series event on next Friday, March 21, 2025 at 1:10-2:00 pm ET (5:10 pm GMT) in the Music Building, room 232 at the University of South Carolina. Our guest will be Dr. Dulcie Dixon McKenzie from the Center for Black Theology at The Queen's Foundation for Ecumenical Education in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Her topic, “Look Where God has Brought Us!: Remembering the Religious Foundations of Black British Gospel Music,” will illuminate the rich roots and Afro-diasporic connections found in Black British gospel music traditions. Dr. McKenzie is not only a pioneering scholar in the history of Black gospel music in the UK, she is also multi-awarded pioneering radio programmer and currently the director of the Center for Black Theology at the Queen’s Foundation in Birmingham. She is quite literally the mother of Black British gospel music history research in the UK and we are delighted to that she will be presenting virtually for the Peake Colloquium as the School of Music celebrates its 100th year at the University of South Carolina. Before globally televised royal wedding appearances and platinum selling concert albums, Black British gospel traveled many waterways and roads on both sides of the Atlantic to develop its sonic voice. Join us on next Friday to learn more. 

See more about Dr.McKenzie and her research below. This event is co-sponsored by the USC African American Studies Department and is free and open to the public. Virtual attendees MUST register to attend. Clink on this link to register:  https://tinyurl.com/USCColloquiumMcKenzie  OR click on the blue box featured on the enclosed event flyer. For our in-person guests, the event will be held in the School of Music at 813 Assembly Street in Room 232.

Dr. McKenzie’s bio: 

Dr Dulcie Dixon McKenzie is the Director of the Centre for Black Theology (CBT) at the Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education in Birmingham.  She leads the strategic development and theological training in the centre, primarily for students from Black Majority/Pentecostal churches across Britain.  Dulcie is a Black Pentecostal scholar, who traverses the intersectionality of race and gender, making important links to Black church history, spirituality, and sacred music.  She achieved her PhD in 2014 at the University of Birmingham, and her research study was the first academic investigation about Black British gospel music.  Dulcie channelled her historical enquiry through Black theological lens, tracing the impact of the spirituality and liturgical practices of African Caribbean Pentecostal congregations as foundational to Black British gospel music. Alongside her leadership and teaching roles, Dulcie enjoyed a long career as a radio presenter and producer with the BBC at local and national level.  During her time as a radio broadcaster, she received multiple awards, including a lifetime achievement award for her role as a pioneer of gospel music radio in the UK. More recently, Dulcie co-edited a book, Black British Gospel Music: from the Windrush Generation to Black Lives Matter (published in June 2024) and has a forthcoming book that explores the theology and cultural legacy of Black Pentecostal congregational worship as foundational to Black British Gospel Music.  

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Birgitta Johnson, PhD 
Garnet & Black Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology
Associate Dean of Inclusive Excellence (SOM)
School of Music and African American Studies Department

School of Music
University of South Carolina
813 Assembly Street
Columbia, SC 29208
803-777-8370 (Office)
bjoh...@mozart.sc.edu | https://tinyurl.com/BjohnsonSCFaculty