Jonathan Ritter is an associate professor of ethnomusicology at the University of California, Riverside. He received his MA and PhD in ethnomusicology from UCLA, and his BA summa cum paid in American Indian Studies from the University of Minnesota. Prof. Ritter's work, as a scholar, teacher, and musician, addresses broad questions of how musical expressions are implicated in the work of cultural memory and political activism, particularly during times of political violence. He has conducted field research with Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples throughout the Americas, including extended work in Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Peru.