Dear Colleagues,

I am happy to announce that after a close election, Dr. Guilnard Moufarrej will be taking over as SAMR chair-elect for the next year. Guilnard’s position will change to “chair” upon the election of a new chair-elect, most likely following our next meeting at SEM in Ottawa in October. Thanks to Dr. Andrea Shaheen for generously agreeing to stand for the election, and to everyone who participated.

On another note, as we approach the New Year - and conference-abstract-writing season - please consider submitting your 2020 SEM paper, panel, or special event for sponsorship by the Society for Arab Music Research. I will send out relevant details and deadlines next week.

Until then, congratulations and welcome again to Guilnard,

Beau

Dr. Guilnard Moufarrej

Dr. Guilnard Moufarrej is assistant professor in the Languages and Cultures Department at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Her research interest include music and liturgy in the Eastern Churches in the Middle East and the diaspora; music and social protest in the Arab world; music and gender; music and emotion; and the role of music in foreign language Acquisition. Her recent publications include an essay in the edited volume Songs of Social Protest and an article in al-‘Arabiyyah journal on the effects of songs on vocabulary retention in the learning of Arabic as a foreign language. She has a forthcoming article in the Yearbook for Traditional Music on the role of traditional Maronite chant in the negotiation of the Maronite Church identity in the United States. Guilnard is past president of the Society for Ethnomusicology Northern California Chapter (2007—2009). She has been a member of the Society for Arab Music Research since 2008.