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J.
Nathan Corbitt
Eleven years
of living in Africa, thousands of miles of travel, and uncountable
hours with African people and their music led Nathan to not only
love the cultures of this vast continent but also to record and
transcribe a part of its vast expressive culture. Since 1979, when
he first visited Malawi (later living in Kenya and Zimbabwe), the
simple call and response, adapted harmonies, thunderous drums, and
oral theology has influenced his world-view and writing. When Michael
Hawn, long time friend and colleague, asked him to contribute CG,
he was more than willing to dig through his files of remote African
choruses to share the richness of music--so freely shared with him.
Corbitt is indebted to African musician and Swahili teacher Manaseh
Mutsoli of Kenya who so patiently taught him language, culture,
and African Christian song.
Currently, J.
Nathan Corbitt is Associate Dean for Research and Development and
Professor of Cross-Cultural Studies at the Campolo School for Social
Change at Eastern University located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In 1999 he co-founded BuildaBridge International a faith-based arts
education organization committed to empowering artists, church leaders
and community workers to cross cultural boundaries and bring their
faith to life through the arts.
Author of The
Global Awareness Profile (Intercultural Press, 1988); The
Sound of the Harvest: Music's Mission in Church and Culture
(Baker 1998) and co-author of Artsreach: Using the Arts to Transform
Your Community (forthcoming from Baker 2003), he is currently
co-conducting a national research project, funded in part by the
Louisville Institute, on artists of the Christian faith involved
in urban community ministry.
A graduate of
Mars Hill College B.M.E. (1971), Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
M.C.M. (1976), and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary D.M.A,
(1985) and with postgraduate studies in communications, administration,
linguistics, and anthropology, Dr. Corbitt has been a faculty member
at Eastern University since 1992. Between 1993 and 1999, he chaired
the Communications Department in the School of Arts and Sciences
at Eastern University. He speaks and consults widely in the areas
of cross-cultural living and orientation, organizational culture,
curriculum development, arts in community mission, and consults
as a professional coach.
See his bio
at www.buildabridge.org/Personnel/jnc.htm
See his research on community arts at
www.urbanprophets.org
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