Elissa Harbert, one of the newest additions to the DePauw School of Music faculty, is delighted and excited for her time at DePauw.
As a musicologist, Harbert mostly studies the history of western music, or European and American music. Being an Americanist, she prefers researching Broadway musicals, music of the 1970s and especially presentations of the American Revolutionary War in music.
“I’m interested in the way that Americans remember the war and what kinds of musical sounds they hear when they think about it, or when they write television, film or musicals about it,” explains Harbert.
In addition to her research, Harbert is currently writing her first book entitled “History Musicals: The American Past on the Broadway Stage.” In terms of Broadway, Harbert describes the impact of new shows such as “Hamilton” by Lin-Manuel Miranda, a production about one of America’s Founding Fathers, Alexander Hamilton.
“The president and the first lady have been to see it, all the important politicians have been to see it, and many celebrities are saying that it’s changed their lives,” says Harbert. “It’s really interesting the way that the Revolutionary War is in our cultural consciousness right now in a way that it always has been. There’s never been a time when it’s not on people’s minds.”
When it comes to the classroom, Harbert keeps things fresh and engaging to cater to all of her students’ learning preferences.
“I really like to try to mix things up and do things differently each day and within each particular class period, because everybody learns differently," explained Harbert. "So I’m always on the lookout for new, interesting ways of teaching.”
Harbert is a graduate from Lawrence University, a campus that possesses a similar environment to DePauw. Because of this, Harbert was eager to return to a liberal arts-focused college.
“I’ve only been here for two months, and I love it so much already,” Harbert professed.
The campus has also recently shown its appreciation for Harbert. She was named one of the Women’s Center’s Women of the Week for this week.
In terms of future events at DePauw, Harbert was most looking forward to “Spamalot,” which was put on this past weekend. On top of that, Harbert is most excited for her students’ success both inside and outside of the classroom, as well as learning new things about DePauw as a whole.
“Since it’s all new to me, I’m excited every time I learn a new thing about DePauw,” Harbert declared.
