B.M. (music education), Carson Newman College; M.M. (conducting), University of Tennessee, Knoxville; D.M.A. (music education), Arizona State University
Jeananne Nichols was appointed to the Music Education faculty at the University of Illinois in 2010. Prior to that appointment she was Associate Professor of Music and Director of instrumental Studies at Olivet College in Olivet, Michigan. A school music educator for many years, Dr. Nichols taught middle and high school band in the Tattnall County schools in Georgia and the Roane County schools in Tennessee. In 1994, she founded the Knoxville Youth Concert Band, a pioneering effort to provide instrumental music education to home schooled students in the East Tennessee region.
Drawing upon narrative inquiry and other qualitative research designs, Dr. Nichols’ research highlights the lived experiences of persons whose voices may otherwise be muted in the prevailing discourses of music and music education. Her specific projects include music education practices in homeschooling, the United States Air Force Women In the Air Force (WAF) Band (1951-1961), and LGBT students in school music. A regular presenter at regional and national research conferences, Dr. Nichols’ work has been published in the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, the International Journal of Education and the Arts and Narrative Soundings: An Anthology of Narrative Inquiry in Music Education.