Life Fellow and Emeritus Reader in Ethnomusicology Dr Ruth Davis is to be honoured at the 2025 British Forum for Ethnomusicology Conference.

The Legacy, Impact, and History-Making Role of the UK's First Named Ethnomusicology Post event takes place on Friday 4 April at West Road Concert Hall, from 17.00 - 18.30. Ruth will be joined by a number of former students and colleagues who have gone on to have successful careers within and beyond academia.

Ruth is a towering figure for many ethnomusicologists of North Africa and the Mediterranean. As an early pioneer in the field, her contributions to the understanding of Tunisian Ma’luf, early recordings in Ottoman Palestine and musical circulations in the Mediterranean influenced various generations of scholars. 

Her position, a newly created “Lectureship in Ethnic Music” was the first designated ethnomusicology position in the United Kingdom, part of a scheme launched by Thatcher’s government for positions for young scholars in newly emergent fields. 

As the first female University Teaching Officer in the Faculty of Music and one of the first female Fellows at Corpus, she opened the field in more ways than one. The panel for the event is formed of colleagues and former students, a small showing of the breadth of influence that her contribution to the field has elicited. The current cohort of Cambridge ethnomusicologists is said to be delighted for the opportunity to honour and celebrate her pioneering work and impact as part of the conference.

Last year, Ruth was featured in our Forty Years On: the Portraits, project, when photographer Pari Naderi spent six months photographing the female Fellows of Corpus, each in a College location of the Fellow’s choice and with an item that represents an aspect of her work, an inspiration, or a driving force in her career. Hear from Ruth about her portrait location and item of choice here.

View the 2025 British Forum for Ethnomusicology Conference programme here