Assistant Director

Ken Habib earned his Ph.D. in ethnomusicology at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) with specializations in the Middle East and American popular music. He has particularly concentrated on the music of the Eastern Mediterranean, and especially on the collaboration of the Lebanese superstar singer, Fairouz, and the Rahbani composers. Foci of his work include musical and textual analysis, use of musical arts in the creation of personal and social meaning, and experience of music culture in diaspora. At UCSB he also received his Certificate in College and University Teaching and his M.A. in Music Composition, and at UCLA he earned his B.A. in Communications Studies. He has been a visiting assistant professor of ethnomusicology at Pomona College, taught Arabic at Santa Barbara City College, and taught music at UCSB. Currently he is assistant professor of ethnomusicology at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo where his course load includes directing the Arabic Music Ensemble.