Dr. Giulia Ripani has always been on the fast track, which is continuing after she earned her Ph.D from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music this spring. Her latest move forward is a coveted tenure-track position as assistant professor of music education at Columbia University, Teachers College.
“She has demonstrated extraordinary productivity for someone at an early stage of her career,” says Carlos Abril, Frost School music education professor and Associate Dean of Research, who was on Ripani’s dissertation committee and taught many of her courses. “Her research has already appeared in leading journals known for their rigorous standards.”
Originally from the Umbria region of Italy, Ripani earned her initial degrees overseas, in music performance and social psychology. She completed both her graduate degrees at the Frost School, earning a master’s in music education in addition to her doctorate.
Ripani’s principal academic work has been interdisciplinary research on musical identities, focused on how individuals use music to express non-musical aspects of personality and assimilate into society. While at the Frost School, Ripani also co-founded the Miami Strings Institute, a laboratory for pedagogical development and promotion of community music.
“When I came to the U.S. and enrolled at Frost, I started teaching outreach programs and soon realized my idea of music education was very different from what I was experiencing in Miami,” says Ripani. “I decided to research this topic, exploring what people think about music and how they use it to define themselves. I did a study among children at different age levels across different ethnic and racial groups.”
Since graduating from the Frost School, Ripani has worked as a post-doctoral research fellow at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, which she says has “pushed my research area toward the idea of mental and physical health in music." She’ll conclude her Hopkins fellowship in July and then move to New York City, where her job at Columbia will be split between teaching and research.
Abril estimates that there were likely a high number of qualified candidates competing for the Columbia position, making the selection process especially rigorous. “Giulia's ability to secure the position speaks volumes about her preparedness and the quality of mentorship she received at Frost,” he adds.
“Being at the Frost School prepared me for the next step,” Ripani says. “The professors there guided me while giving me the freedom to explore different research areas and methods. That freedom has been important in allowing me to explore what I want to be as a scholar. It’s quite a unique place.”
For a graduate to land a position at a prestigious Ivy League university is also of immense benefit to the Frost School.
“We always aspire for our graduates to become influential researchers and leaders in music education,” Abril notes. “For one of our recent Ph.D. graduates to earn such a prestigious appointment at Columbia Teachers College – an institution renowned for its longstanding contributions to education and music education – enhances our school's reputation. We are already exploring ways to collaborate with her and build bridges between the Frost School and Teachers College.”
