Arts-based Research
Collaborative Ethnographic Songwriting
With a rich background in professional songwriting, performance, education, and research, Kate developed a participatory research-creation method called, “collaborative ethnographic songwriting” (CES). Drawing on Goodson’s (1998) notion of “storying the self,” Kate uses CES to collaborate directly with individuals who want to compose and record a song about some aspect of their lives. Kate also uses CES to compose music for arts-based research projects using interview material from those projects to compose lyrics and music, and to analyze, understand, and disseminate the knowledge, beliefs, and social worlds of the people interviewed. CES follows a critical ethnographic tradition in that it focuses on an ethical responsibility to address the unfairness or injustice within a particular lived domain (Madison, 2012).
Kate’s CES songs have been used in research-based theatre productions and in digital stories (short narrative films) about people’s lived experiences. They have presented on their CES research at academic and community-based conferences, in university classrooms and public schools, and for professional development training for teachers and teacher candidates. If you are interested in composing your own song or adding original music to your arts-based research project, please contact Kate to discuss possibilities.







Event Listing
Private House Concert
Private House Concert
September 3, 2022Venue
Private Address
Private house concert
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