Musicology Colloquium | Who Put the Western in the Country and Western?
Dr. Nadine Hubbs
Thursday, October 15, 2026 | 02:00 pm
Waters Room | Zimmerman Library
About:
Mexico and Mexican-descended people figure frequently in country music, often in representations that place them outside the frame of country’s ‘us.’ In fact, the genre’s character and survival have been grounded in Mexican culture. This talk presents a Mexican history of country music, narrating the process that turned Mexican elements—cowboy, ranch, western wear, Southwest—into country’s most ‘iconically American’ attributes.
Nadine Hubbs is a historian, theorist, and critic and professor of Women’s and Gender Studies, Music, and American Culture at the University of Michigan. She has published on topics ranging from Bernstein to queer disco to Taylor Swift; two books, The Queer Composition of America’s Sound and Rednecks, Queers, and Country Music; and the co-edited collection Uncharted Country: New Voices and Perspectives in Country Music Studies. Her public-facing work features in the New York Times, The Guardian, NPR, BBC, and other outlets. With ACLS Fellowship support, she just completed Border Sounds and Buckaroos: The Mexican History of Country Music (California 2027).
Notes:
This event is free and open to the public.
