Hello, I’m Emily Achieng Akuno.
I’m a Music Professor, Director, Composer, Instructor.

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Education and Partnership

Vice Chancellor – September 2023

ACADEMIC ADMINISTRATION EXPERIENCE

September 2023 – Vice Chancellor, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology, Bondo, Kenya. CEO of the public university.
March 2017– March 2022 Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs, Cooperative University of Kenya. Responsible for teaching, learning and students matters; ensuring relevant and sufficient learning programmes developed, implemented, monitored, evaluated; quality and standards in teaching and learning; recruitment, teaching and assessment of students; resources mobilised and equitably distributed to learning units; students’ activities at curricular and co-curricular levels, student government, leisure and recreation, clubs, spiritual nourishment, accommodation and catering.

Music Education Research Group

About MERG

The Music Education Research Group – Kenya is a group of individuals who come together to deliberate upon, provide information on and inform policy and practice on matters that relate to and/or involve music as an academic, socio-cultural and educational phenomenon. As a member organization, MERG-Kenya relies on the ideas and resources from its members to guide and support its activities. MERG-Kenya is a non-profit professional association whose principle jurisdiction is the Republic of Kenya.

The specific objectives are:

(a) To promote research in music education in schools and tertiary level institutions in order to inform policy and practice.

(b) To develop theoretical innovation, new strategies and practical approaches for music teacher education

(c) To promote and encourage the rich diversity of music traditions in Kenya by enhancing the use of multicultural resources and approaches in music education in Kenya.

(d) To conduct continuous research on innovative educational programs such as the CBC in order to help in upgrading music teaching and learning processes that are employed in Kenyan institutions.

Governance

MERG-Kenya has a Board of Directors that is the representative of the organisation and, as such, conducts the affairs of the Society. The Board holds and administers all of the property and funds of the Society.

Notable Achievements

Emily A. Akuno

Director, Centre for Creative and Cultural Industries, Technical University of Kenya. Responsible for setting up the framework for the establishment of the centre whose focus is linking the institution with the creative industry/economy. Reporting to the VC, I put in place the structure, described roles and objectives of the centre and each of its units. I also developed 3 certificate and diploma programmes to be mounted by the university through the centre.

Refereed Journals

PUBLICATIONS

2023      ‘Cultural Diversity and 21st Century Music Teacher Education’. International Journal for Research in Cultural, Aesthetic, and Arts Education. Volume 1 (2023), No. 1, 3–6. https://doi.org/10.31244/IJRCAAE.2023.01.01 CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 2023 Waxmann
2021      ‘The ‘African’ in the Global Music Education Discourse: Towards identification and implementation ‘. Jfma46(1) 6-15; doi:10.21608/jfma.2021.70346.1240;                                 https://jfma.journals.ekb.eg/issue_23479_23480.html
2019      ‘Co-operative Principles for the Creative Sector: Musings of a Music Educator’. African Journal of Co-operative Development and Technology. 4(1) 41-47
2018      ‘Digiloguezone: Indigenous and contemporary media in music education in Kenya’. Action, Criticism and Theory for Music Education 17(1) 81-96 Available at http://act.maydaygroup.org/act-171-81-96/

2015      ‘The Singing Teacher’s Role in Educating Children’s Abilities, Sensibilities and Sensitivities’. British Journal of Music Education32(3) 299-313https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-music-education/article/singing-teachers-role-in-educating-childrens-abilities-sensibilities-and-sensitivities/F21D8B2B003B2E5ADDC104F1A1FF788D
2015      ‘Dissonance: The call-and-response of governance and leadership for productive higher music education in Kenya’ East African Journal of Music 3(1) 36-47
2015      ‘Kenya Music Festival as a site for the Development of the Creative Economy’. TALANTA: Yearbook of the Kenya Music Festival 2015 pp 25-31 ISBN 9966-9689-5-4
2015      ‘Adjudication of Singing Games’. TALANTA: Yearbook of the Kenya Music Festival 2015pp 79-82. ISBN 9966-9689-5-4
2014      ‘Zilizopendwa: The ramifications for development and revival’ by Ondieki, D. O; Ogama, S.O and Akuno, E.A in The World of Music (new series) 3(1) 47 – 62https://www.jstor.org/stable/24318232?seq=1
2013      ‘Music Education: Towards the preservation and conservation of Kenyan music and dance’ in NsukkaJournal of Musical Arts Research, 2, 214-235

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

1997 Doctor of Philosophy – Kingston University, Surrey, UK.

1988 Master of Music – Northwestern State University, Louisiana, USA.

1986 Bachelor of Education (Arts) Upper 2^nd Class Honours- Kenyatta University, Nairobi, KENYA.

1981 Kenya Advanced Certificate of Education – Alliance Girls’ High School, Kikuyu, KENYA

1979 East African Certificate of Education – Alliance Girls’ High School, Kikuyu, KENYA.

1975 Certificate of Primary Education – St. Theresa’s Girls’ Primary School, Yala, KENYA.

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS AND PROMOTION

January 2016 – Professor of Music

February 2002 – Associate Professor of Music

1999 – Senior Lecturer, Music

1991 – Lecturer, Music

1989 – Tutorial Fellow, Music

1987 – Graduate Assistant, Music

Notable achievements

School of Music at Kenyatta University in 1998-1999

“leading to the University’s first school that grew out of a department. This included crafting new academic qualifications in response to market needs, thus from the Bachelor of Education (Arts) that included music as both a single (with another subject) and a double (music alone) preparation for teaching, we increased to include certificate and diploma programmes for the many who had no high school music education, and the Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Arts degrees for those who wanted to join the music industry not as teachers, but players in the creative economy.”

Drop Me a Line or Two, I’m Open for a Collaboration!