See below where Prof. Melanie Shaw answers our questions about her chapter in
Indigenous Research of Land, Self, and Spirit (ISBN:9781799837299). Her chapter, “Sustainable Heritage Tourism Through Gullah Geechee Musical Performance”, examines how the Gullah Geechee people, originally enslaved Africans from West Africa, settled along the sea islands from North Carolina to Florida. Despite harsh conditions, their cultural practices remained intact. Today, efforts are being made to preserve their traditions due to environmental and cultural threats. A qualitative research study explores the role of music in sustainable heritage tourism. Interviews with sea islands' musicians reveal their perspectives on using music to promote preservation locally and globally. Traditional tourism models are cautioned against, and the importance of younger generations in preserving Gullah Geechee music is emphasized.
Read a preview of the chapter
HERE.
Contributing Author Question & Answer
How does your professional background support your ability to be an authority on this project/chapter's coverage?
Prof. Shaw: My husband and I are both musicians and researchers. I come from a traditional research background and have taught research methods courses for two decades. I have also served as a dissertation chair and committee member over this time honing my skills in supervising research. My husband is a professional musician, and his doctoral field is interdisciplinary studies. We drew from our backgrounds in these areas to create a qualitative inquiry that drew from both of our specializations.
What specific problems does your chapter address?
Prof. Shaw: We were interested in determining if selected musicians representing the Gullah Geechee community believed that sustainable tourism could serve as a preservation tool for their artistic works.
How does the chapter provide a solution to these problems?
Prof. Shaw: While we were able to have profound conversations with key musical figures, the research showed that tourism is not seen as a viable preservation approach because it has been abused historically. Those who benefit from tourism are not the artists and local residents of the Gullah Geechee community. Instead, intentional preservation efforts must be undertaken apart from sustainable tourism activities to avoid cultural misappropriation.
What was the driving force or motivation for starting your chapter?
Prof. Shaw: My husband and I are frequent visitors to the sea islands along the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia. When we visit, we often have the delight of interacting with local residents from the Gullah Geechee community. We have been inspired by their artistic contributions and wanted to better understand if sustainable tourism might be an avenue of preservation for cultural arts. We learned about the IGI publication coming out around this topic and decided to do research to contribute to the growing field of inquiry.
What special organizations or other professional affiliations give you the experience and the areas that are covered by the book?
Prof. Shaw: With over 30 years of professional experience in musical analysis and research, my husband and I have established ourselves in various professional affiliations. These include serving as a Peer Reviewer for the Online Learning Journal at the Online Learning Consortium since 2016, being part of the Editorial Board for Sage Open since 2012, and holding membership and serving as a Professional Development Facilitator at the Online Learning Consortium since 2009. Additionally, I have contributed to the field as a member of the Editorial Board for the Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration since 2015. Notably, we were awarded a $600,000 grant as Co-PI from the National Science Foundation for our work on integrating experiential learning into sustainability STEM MOOCs in 2016. Furthermore, I had the privilege of participating in the Center for Online Innovation in Learning Research Initiation Grant Review Committee at Penn State University in 2014.
Have you been recognized for academic excellence or other related achievements in this field of study?
Prof. Shaw: The three most relevant awards I have received are the Commitment To Mission Award from Colorado State University, Global Campus in 2021, the Outstanding Student Engagement and Teaching Excellence Award from Northcentral University in 2019, and the Distance Learning Administration Best Paper Award in 2016. Additionally, I was honored with the Effective Online Practice Award from the Online Learning Consortium for CONCERT, ENCORES, and BACKSTAGE in 2015, as well as the Wagner Award for Outstanding Instructional Support at the Distance Learning Administration Conference in 2014.
About the Chapter Author
Melanie Shaw has spent the past decade teaching and serving as an administrator in online higher education settings. She is the Assistant Dean, Dissertation Faculty in the School of Education at Northcentral University. She also serves as an adjunct faculty at several institutions and facilitates webinars for the Online Learning Consortium. In addition to her teaching roles, she trains faculty to develop and deliver courses online, conducts research on topics related to nontraditional education, and is involved in strategic leadership relative to the vision for online education. Melanie received a Ph.D. in Education with a specialization in Curriculum and Teaching from Northcentral University, a master’s degree in Education Administration from Grand Canyon University, and a second master’s degree in School Counseling for the University of West Alabama. She received her bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies and Music from Excelsior College. She holds teaching certificates in online teaching, elementary education, and guidance counseling.
About IGI Global
Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA with a subsidiary office (IGI Science and Technology, Ltd.) operating out of Beijing, China, IGI Global is a leading medium-sized independent international academic publisher of scholarly reference sources. They are committed to facilitating the discovery of pioneering scientific research that enhances and expands the body of knowledge available to the research community through traditional and open access publishing workflows. Working in close collaboration with more than 150,000+ expert researchers and professionals from leading institutions, IGI Global publishes quality peer-reviewed content in three major academic subject areas:
Learn more about IGI Global
here.