British Gospel Choirs: Representing Race and Resounding Religion in Twenty-first Century Britain

As part of the Next Generation Visiting Researcher, Monique Ingalls has worked on a number of projects and presentations. We hope for a follow up trip to write a co-authored output.

Activities include


‘Queering the Spirit?:
Performing Gender and Sexuality through Gospel Music’ 27 Feb 2023 Undergraduate music lecture This guest lecture/discussion was given for the unit ‘African American Music in the 20th Century (MUSI20066 / MUSI30105), directed by Dr. Justin Williams. Dr. Ingalls provided a brief history of the development of African American gospel music, then illustrated how three musicians at different points in gospel’s history negotiated gender and sexuality through their musical performances.

‘The Nigerian Christian Songs Project as Cultural Archive, Pedagogical Tool, and Decolonial Resource’ 21 March
2023 Open lecture In this presentation, Dr Ingalls examined a collaborative research project that she and several Nigerian colleagues pioneered. After pointing out several ideological and practical problems arising from the colonial encounter and neo-colonial forces, Dr Ingalls and her colleagues proposed a pedagogical solution: a digital humanities research website whose chief aim is to decolonize university sacred music curricula.

‘Black British Music: Sacred and Secular’ Study Day 25 March 2023 Academic conference for
scholars of Black British music, along with some musical practitioners Dr Williams and Dr Ingalls, along with a committee of three Black British scholars from other UK universities, were the chief organizers and hosts of this event. The study day welcomed over 30 scholars from multiple humanities and social science fields from universities across the UK, as well as a number of music practitioners. Discussion was engaged, lively, and constructive, and event participants’ comments on the day were overwhelmingly positive.

‘The Foundations of Choral Community:
A Social, Cultural, and Institutional History of British Gospel Choirs’ 28 March 2023 postgraduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty staff in music This session of the postgraduate music writing group was devoted to discussing a draft of the first chapter of Dr Ingalls’ monograph in progress on British gospel choirs. She received insightful questions and valuable feedback from both staff and students.