Chérie Rivers Ndaliko

Chérie Rivers Ndaliko is an interdisciplinary scholar who studies radical arts interventions in conflict regions of Africa through ethnomusicology, film studies, and cultural theory. Her work centers on film and music as catalysts of movements of socio-political transformation as well as on the ethics and aesthetics of humanitarian aid in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In this context she devotes particular attention to youth and gender politics. Beyond her academic engagement with issues of audio-visual representation, power, and resistance, she also advocates socially engaged scholarship and was a pioneer of Harvard University’s Social Engagement Initiative during her graduate training. She is also a composer and pianist who holds a B.M. in film scoring from the Berklee College of Music, an M.A. from Harvard University in Ethnomusicology, and a Ph.D. from Harvard University in African Studies. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Music Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.