Grant Woods

Grant Woods received his PhD in historical musicology from Columbia University in May 2025 under the direction of Professor Julia Doe. Prior to this, he received a Bachelor of Musical Arts from DePauw University (summa cum laude) as well as a Master of Arts and a Master of Philosophy in historical musicology from Columbia. His research broadly explores the British Empire’s role in constructions of British musical identity in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with a particular emphasis on folk song revivalism. His dissertation, “‘By Right of Inheritance’: Empire and Identity in the First British Folk Revival,” examines the ideological underpinnings of the Revival and its connections to the British Empire, interrogating the intellectual frameworks through which revivalists defined, collected, and circulated English folk traditions. Some of his other research interests include musical exoticism/Orientalism, film music, propaganda, and the work of Percy Grainger. He has presented his research at both national and international conferences, including at the North American British Music Studies Association and the American Musicological Society.

Dr. Woods has taught the core class Music Humanities since 2020, and has also served as a Lead Teaching Fellow—and later Senior Lead Teaching Fellow—at the Center for Teaching and Learning. He was elected to two terms as President of Columbia’s Organization of Music Graduate Students (2023 and 2024), and was appointed to the role of Publishing Manager for the journal Current Musicology (2020-2021). Outside of Columbia, he is the Programs Officer for the American Musicological Society.