Lena, Jennifer C. (jcl42)

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Jennifer C Lena

Associate Professor of Arts Administration
Associate Professor, Arts Administration, Courtesy Appointment in Sociology, Co-Editor, Culture and Economic Life book series (Stanford University Press).

Office Location:

334F Horace Mann

Office Hours:

Fall 2024: Tuesdays, 10-11am; Wednesdays, 4:45-6pm; Mondays 10:15-11am by zoom (email for zoom appointment)
Personal Website

TC Affiliations:

Faculty Expertise:

Educational Background

Columbia University

Ph.D. Sociology, 2003

M.A., M.Phil, 1999

Exams in Social Theory, Methodology, French Language, Sociology of Culture

Colgate University

B.A., Sociology/Anthropology (Honors), English, 1996

Scholarly Interests

Lena is co-editor of the journal Poetics, and co-editor (with Frederick Wherry and Greta Hsu) of a book series, Culture and Economic Life, published by Stanford University Press. She is also the Thesis Advisor for the eMBA program at the Berlin School of Creative Leadership, part of Steinbeis University. 

She is a past fellow of the Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies at Princeton University, and the Curb Center for Arts, Enterprise, and Public Policy at Vanderbilt University, and held faculty positions at Vanderbilt University and Barnard College. She is past Chair of the Sociology of Culture Section of the American Sociological Association. Lena has served as Senior Research Scholar for the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project at Indiana University, and assisted in the development and revision of that survey of over 200,000 graduates from art programs spread across North America. In 2000, she was Inaugural Resident Scholar at the Brooklyn Museum of Art’s show, “Hip Hop America: Roots, Rhythm and Rage.” Lena is reputed to be the first sociologist to commission a Grammy-nominated album: Hilos (composer: Gabriela Frank; performed by ALIAS Chamber Ensemble; released in 2010 by Naxos Records). Lena has also worked as a Visiting Professor at advertising agency DDB Worldwide, and consults for major national and international non- and for-profit arts organizations. 

Her research focuses on understanding processes of classification, particularly the organizational and institutional conditions for the creation, modification, or elimination of cultural categories. Recently, she has started to publish on related issues within the study of artistic identity, careers, and non-profit arts management.

Lena's second book, Entitled: Discriminating Tastes and the Expansion of the Arts, will be published by Princeton University Press September 3, 2019. Utilizing archival and historical methods, in combination with the inductive analysis of traits of several dozen fields, she offers a history and theory of artistic legitimation in the 20th century United States. Lena explores how the legitimation process was harnessed to expand definitions of art (to include graffiti and comics, jazz and computer code), and why such a profound expansion of the arts happened in such a short period of time.

In 2012, Princeton University Press published her first book, Banding Together: How Communities Create Genres in Popular Music (in paperback, 2014), which presents a sociological examination of musical genres, conceptualizing them not as collections of similar sounds, but as communities of shared practices. The book was named one of Choice Reviews Outstanding Academic Titles for 2012, and was reviewed in the American Journal of Sociology, Contemporary Sociology, Times Higher Education, and discussed at the Daily Beast, the Freakonomics Blog, and on WNYC’s Soundcheck.

Lena's research has been published in peer-reviewed journals including the American Sociological Review, Social Forces, Poetics, and American Behavioral Scientist; and has been reprinted in texts dedicated to highlighting excellence in social science methods, hip-hop scholarship, and the sociology of culture. Dr. Lena has helped to generate over $4.5 million in grants since 1999, including recent grants from the U.S. Department of State, the National Endowment for the Arts, Booth-Ferris Foundation, the Rauschenberg Foundation, and the Warhol Foundation. 

Selected Publications

2019. Entitled: Discriminating Tastes and the Expansion of the Arts. Princeton University Press.

2012 (2014). Banding Together: How Communities Create Genres in Popular Music. Princeton University Press.

2018. “The Process Model of Closure and Nonprofits: The Exit of Exit Art.” Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society. Vol. 48 (1): 17-31.

2015. “Genre: Relational Approaches to the Sociology of Music.” Handbook of the Sociology of Art and Culture. Ed. Laurie Hanquinet and Mike Savage (eds.). New York: Routledge. 

2015. “Culture, Production of: Prospects for the Twenty-First Century.” International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2nd Edition. Section Ed. Kees van Rees; Ed. in Chief, James Wright. Elsevier. Pp. 608-613.

with Erin Johnston. 2015. “U.S. Cultural Engagement with Global Muslim Communities: Contours and Connections in an Emerging Field.” Grantmakers in the Arts Reader. Vol. 26 (1): 9-13.

with Danielle Lindemann. 2014. “Who is an Artist? New Data for an Old Question.” Poetics. Special issue: Art at the Crossroads. Ed. Victoria Alexander and Anne Bower. Vol. 43: 70-85.

2014. “Authenticity and Independence in Rap Music and other Genre Communities.” Explorations in Music Sociology: Examining the Role of Music in Social Life. Pp. 232-240 in Sara Horsfall, Jan-Martijn Meij, and Meghan Probstfield (eds.). Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishing.

2014. “Making It Work: The Education and Employment of Recent Arts Graduates.” Annual Report on the 2013 Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP). With Sally Gaskill, Rebecca F. Houghton, Amber Lambert, Angie Miller, and Steven J. Tepper. Pp. 1-30.

Research cited in brief for amici curiae in Jamal Knox v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 18-949 Supreme Court of the United States. March 6, 2019.

Best Paper Award, 2017 Davis Conference on Qualitative Research, UC Davis Graduate School of Management.

Choice Magazine “Outstanding Academic Titles of 2012” for Banding Together.

Grammy Award nomination (co-commissioner). Best Small Ensemble Performance, “Hilos” (2011).

BOOKS


2020                Mohr, John, Christopher Bail, Maggie Frye, Jennifer C. Lena, Omar Lizardo, Terence McDonnell, Ann Mische, Iddo Tavory, and Frederick Wherry. Measuring Culture. Columbia University Press.

Reviewed: Administrative Science Quarterly (July 2022); Contemporary Sociology (January 2022); Cultural Trends (2021); American Sociological Association “Culture Newsletter” (July 2021); Tijdschrift Sociologie (Ned; May 2021); Organization Studies (April 2021); Canadian Journal of Sociology (CA; April 2021); Social Forces (January 2021).


2019                Lena, Jennifer C. Entitled: Discriminating Tastes and the Expansion of the

Arts. Princeton University Press.

2021    Paperback release.

Discussed: Author Meets Critics, American Society for Aesthetics (November 2020). Author Meets Critics, Social Science History Association (November 2021). Culture & Inequality Podcast (September 2020); New Books in the Arts and Sciences (Columbia University Heyman Center for the Humanities, ISERP, and the Divisional Deans of Arts and Sciences, with the Department of Sociology; canceled April 2020). Groove in the City Conference (Luneberg, Germany; February 2020). Columbia University Pulitzer School of Journalism (September 2019).

Reviewed: Journal of American Studies (October 2021); Contemporary Sociology (January 2021); Soziopolis (Germany, 2020); Times Literary Supplement (UK, March 27, 2020); Cultural Trends (2020); Social Forces (Vol. 1-3 2020); Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism (2020); Contexts Magazine (Summer 2020).

 

2012                Lena, Jennifer C. Banding Together: How Communities Create Genres in Popular Music. Princeton University Press.

2014    Paperback release.

Awards: Named one of Choice Reviews’ Outstanding Academic Titles for 2012

Reviewed: Lectures (France; January 2022); Music Educators Journal (March 2014); European Journal of Communication (March 2013); Sociologica (January 2014); Journal of Popular Music Studies (September 2013); American Journal of Sociology (January 2013, Vol. 118 (4): 1145-1147); Contemporary Sociology (March 2013, Vol. 42 (2): 254-5); Times Higher Education (UK, March 1, 2012), Choice Reviews (August, 2012)

Discussed: Author Meets Critics, Social Science History Association (November 2011).

 

ARTICLES IN REFEREED JOURNALS


  1. Soucek, Brian and Jennifer Lena. Forthcoming 2025 (March). “Tax Law as Muse.” Cornell Law Review.
  2. Shelby, Renee, Ramya Srinivasan, Katharina Burgdorf, Jennifer Lena, and Negar Rostamzadeh. 2024. “Creative ML Assemblages: The Interactive Politics of People, Processes, and Products.” Proceedings of the Association for Computing Machinery on Human-Computer Interaction. Vol. 8, No. CSCW1, Article 38: 1-30.
  3. Hénaut, Leonie, Jennifer C. Lena, and Fabian Accominotti. 2023. “Polyoccupationalism: Expertise Stretch and Status Stretch in the Postindustrial Era.” American Sociological Review. 88 (5): 872-900.
  4. Lena, Jennifer C. “The Process Model of Closure and Nonprofits: The Exit of Exit Art.” Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society. Vol. 48 (1): 17-31.
  5. Lena, Jennifer C. and Vaughn Schmutz. 2017. “Cultural Production and Circulation.” Oxford Bibliographies in Sociology.
  6. Lena, Jennifer C. “Culture, Production of: Prospects for the Twenty-First Century.” International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2nd Edition. Section Ed. Kees van Rees; Ed. in Chief, James Wright. Elsevier. Pp. 608-613.
  7. Lena, Jennifer C. and Erin Johnston. 2015. “U.S. Cultural Engagement with Global Muslim Communities: Contours and Connections in an Emerging Field.” Grantmakers in the Arts Reader. 26 (1): 9-13.
  8. Lena, Jennifer C. and Danielle Lindemann. 2014. “Who is an Artist? New Data for an Old Question.” Poetics. Special issue: Art at the Crossroads. Ed. Victoria Alexander and Anne Bower. Vol. 43: 70-85.
  9. Lena, Jennifer C. and Mark C. Pachucki. 2013. “The sincerest form of flattery: Innovation, repetition, and status in an art movement.” Poetics. Vol. 41 (3): 236-264.
  10. Lena, Jennifer C. and Richard A. Peterson. 2011. “Politically-Purposed Music Genres.” American Behavioral Scientist. Special issue: Globalization and Diversity in Cultural Fields: Comparative Perspectives on Music, Literature and Television. Vol. 55 (5): 574-588.
  11. Pachucki, Mark A., Jennifer C. Lena and Steven Tepper. 2010. “Creativity narratives among college students: Sociability and everyday creativity.” The Sociological Quarterly. Vol. 51: 122–149.
  12. Lena, Jennifer C. and Richard A. Peterson. 2008. “Classification as Culture: Types and Trajectories of Music Genres.” American Sociological Review. Vol. 73 (5): 697-718.

Reprinted in Wray, Matt. 2013. Cultural Sociology: An Introduction. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. Pp. 239-267.

  1. Lena, Jennifer C. “Voyeurism and Resistance in Rap Music Videos.” Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies. Vol. 5 (3): 264-279.

Reprinted in Neal, Mark Anthony and Murray Forman (eds.). 2011. That’s the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader. 2nd Edition. New York: Routledge.

  1. Lena, Jennifer C. “Measures of Diversity: Lessons from Rap Music, 1979-1995.” Studi Culturali. Vol. 1: 137-160.
  2. Lena, Jennifer C. “Social Context and Musical Content: Rap Music, 1979-1995.” Social Forces. Vol. 85 (1): 479-495.
  3. Reprinted in Lune, Howard, Enrique S. Pumar and Ross Koppel (eds.). 2009. Perspectives in Social Research Methods and Analysis: A Reader for Sociology. Sage.
  4. Lena, Jennifer C. “Meaning and Membership: Samples in Rap Music, 1979 to 1995.” Poetics. Vol. 32 (3-4): 297-310.
  5. Lena, Jennifer C. “Psyops, Propaganda, and Gangsta Rap: Why is Saddam Hussein Rapping for the CIA?” Radical Society. Vol. 30 (1): 25-30.
  6. Schindler, Amy and Jennifer C. Lena. 2000. “Promise Keepers in Perspective: Organizational Characteristics and Men’s Religious Movements.” Pp. 209-224 in Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion. Volume 11. Edited by Joanne Marie Greer and David O. Moberg. Stamford, Connecticut: JAI Press, Inc.

 

BOOK CHAPTERS

 

  1. Lena, Jennifer C. “Genre: Relational Approaches to the Sociology of Music.” Routledge International Handbook of the Sociology of Art and Culture. Pp. 149-160 in Laurie Hanquinet and Mike Savage (eds.). New York: Routledge.
  2. Lena, Jennifer C. “Authenticity and Independence in Rap Music and other Genre Communities.” Explorations in Music Sociology: Examining the Role of Music in Social Life. Pp. 232-240 in Sara Horsfall, Jan-Martijn Meij, and Meghan Probstfield (eds.). Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishing.
  3. Lena, Jennifer C. “Tradition and Transformation at the Fan Fair Festival.” Pp. 224-248 in Negotiating Values in the Creative Industries: Fairs, Festivals and Competitive Events, ed. Brian Moeran and Jesper Strandgaard Pedersen. Cambridge University Press.
  4. Lena, Jennifer C. and Daniel B. Cornfield. 2008. “Immigrant Arts Participation in Nashville.” Pp. 147-169 in Engaging Art: The Next Great Transformation of America’s Cultural Life, ed. By Steven Tepper and William Ivey. New York: Routledge.

 

ESSAYS


  1. Lena, Jennifer C. with Dustin Stoltz. Summer 2019. “Four questions for Jennifer C. Lena.” American Sociological Association, Culture Section Newsletter.
  2. Lena, Jennifer C. with Clayton Childress and Craig Rawlings. Summer 2019. “Memorial: A Conversation on John Mohr.” American Sociological Association, Culture Section Newsletter.
  3. Lena, Jennifer C. January/February 2013. “A Visit From The Credibility Squad.” Pacific Standard. Pgs. 32-35.
  4. Lena, Jennifer C. and Peter Levin. 2009. “Valuing Art.” Contexts. Vol. 8 (2): 60-62.


RESEARCH REPORTS


  1. Hénaut, Leonie, Jennifer C. Lena, and Fabian Accominotti. April 10, 2024. “Polyoccupationalism: ‘How many occupations do you identify with?’ may be the new opening survey question.” Work in Progress Research Finding. Public sociology blog of the American Sociological Association.
  2. Hénaut, Leonie, Jennifer C. Lena, and Fabian Accominotti. April 2024. “Polyoccupationalism: Multiple Occupational Identification in the Arts.” SNAAP Data Brief. Vol. 12, No. 1.
  3. Lena, Jennifer C. and Gemma Mangione. 2018. “Summative Assessment: Strengthening Cultural Enterprises and Community Institutions, Arts Management Program.” Jerusalem: Sabreen Organization for Artistic Development. Pp. 1-17.
  4. Lena, Jennifer C. and Gemma Mangione. 2018. “Strengthening Cultural Enterprises as Community Institutions: Arts Management Program Needs Assessment.” Jerusalem: Sabreen Organization for Artistic Development. Pp. 1-66.
  5. Lena, Jennifer C. 2014. “Making It Work: The Education and Employment of Recent Art Graduates.” Annual Report on the 2013 Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP). With Sally Gaskill, Rebecca F. Houghton, Amber Lambert, Angie Miller, and Steven J. Tepper. Pp. 1-30.
  6. Lena, Jennifer C. 2014. “An Organizational Autopsy of Exit Art: Non-Profit Closure as Successful Management.” Executive Report. NYU Fales Library, Exit Art Archives. Pp. 1-23.
  7. Lena, Jennifer C. and Erin Johnston. 2014. “U.S. Cultural Engagement with Global Muslim Communities: Contours and Connections in an Emerging Field.” Expanded report with index. NYU Brademas Center. Pp. 1-83.
  1. Lena, Jennifer C. “When Non-Profits Change Leaders: CEO Transitions, Strategic and Cultural Concerns.” Brooklyn Academy of Music, NEXT Transition Advisors. Pp. 1-8.
  2. Lena, Jennifer C. and Mitali Banerjee. 2014. “Annotated Bibliography for American Jewish World Service.” American Jewish World Service, NEXT Transition Advisors. Report on executive transitions in non-profit service organizations. Pp. 1-21.
  3. Lena, Jennifer C. “Every Entrance is an Exit: The Last Year of Exit Art.” Narrative Report. NYU Fales Library, Exit Art Archives. Pp. 1-45.
  4. Gaskill, Sally, Steven Tepper and George Kuh with Rebecca Houghton, Amber D. Lambert, Jennifer C. Lena, Danielle Lindeman, and Angie L. Miller. 2013. “An Uneven Canvas: Inequalities in Artistic Training and Careers.” Strategic National Arts Alumni Project Annual Report. Pp. 1-34.
  5. Lindemann, Danielle and Steven Tepper, with Sally Gaskill, Scott D. Jones, George D. Kuh, Amber D. Lambert, Jennifer C. Lena, Angie L. Miller, Kendall Park, Ellen B. Rudolph, and Leah Vanderwerp. 2012. “Painting with Broader Strokes: Arts Alumni, Artistic Contributions, and Achievement.” National Endowment for the Arts Report on the 2010 Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP). Pp. 1-38.
  6. Kuh, George and Steven Tepper with Sally Gaskill, Scott D. Jones, Amber D. Lambert, Jennifer C. Lena, Danielle Lindemann, Elizabeth Long-Lingo, Angie L. Miller, Rick Shoup, Kendall Park, Carly Rush and Leah Vanderwerp. 2012. “A Diverse Palette: What Arts Graduates Say About Their Education and Careers.” Strategic National Arts Alumni Project Annual Report. Pp. 1-36.
  7. Kuh, George and Steven Tepper with Sally Gaskill, Scott D. Jones, John Kennedy, Amber D. Lambert, Jennifer C. Lena, Elizabeth Long-Lingo, Angie L. Miller, and Carly Rush. 2011. “Forks in the Road: The Many Paths of Arts Alumni.” Strategic National Arts Alumni Project Annual Report. Pp. 1-22.
  8. National Endowment for the Arts. 2010. “Live from Your Neighborhood: A National Study of Outdoor Arts Festivals.” NEA Research Report #51.
  9. DiMaggio et. al. 2008. “Notes Toward an Agenda for Research on Orchestras.” New York: Mellon Foundation.


BOOK REVIEWS


  1. Lena, Jennifer C. Book review of The Living Legacy of W. McNeil Lowry: Vision and Voice. (Ed. by Frank Kessel, Fwd. by Darren Walker. 2020) Journal of Arts Management, Law and Society. Vol. 51 (3).
  2. Lena, Jennifer C. Book review of Inside the Critics’ Circle: Book Reviewing in Uncertain Times. (By Phillipa K. Chong. 2020) Social Forces.
  3. Lena, Jennifer C. Book review of Artifacts and Allegiances: How Museums Put the Nation and the World On Display (By Peggy Levitt. 2015) Contemporary Sociology. Vol. 46 (1): 98-9.
  4. Lena, Jennifer C. Book review of Music, Style, and Aging: Growing Old Disgracefully? (By Andy Bennett. 2013.) Contemporary Sociology. Vol. 43: 500-501.
  5. Lena, Jennifer C. Book review of Hollywood Highbrow: From Entertainment to Art. (By Shyon Baumann. 2008.) American Journal of Sociology. Vol. 114 (6): 1894-1896.
  6. Lena, Jennifer C. Book review of Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge. (By Keith Kahn-Harris. 2007.) American Journal of Sociology. Vol. 113 (3): 927-929.
  7. Lena, Jennifer C. Book review of Real Country: Music and Language in Working-Class Culture. (By Aaron A. Fox. Duke University Press. 2004.) American Journal of Sociology. Vol. 111 (2): 652-654.


ONLINE ESSAYS

 

  1. “Why do we need a book about measuring culture?” (With Terry McDonnell.) Scatterplot blog. September 3, 2020. https://scatter.wordpress.com/2020/09/03/why-do-we-need-a-book-about-measuring-culture/.
  2. “A Mix-Tape for Our President.” November 7, 2012. Princeton University Press Election 101 Blog. http://blog.press.princeton.edu/2012/11/07/a-mix-tape-for-our-president/.
  3. “The Ancient Problem of Unruly Music.” (A conversation with Jonathan A. Neufeld.) June 22, 2012. http://blog.press.princeton.edu/2012/06/22/the-ancient-problem-of-unruly-music-more-from-jenn-lena-on-music-and-the-election/.
  4. “Campaign Songs and Campaign Wrongs.” May 1, 2012. Princeton University Press Election 101 Blog. http://blog.press.princeton.edu/2012/05/01/campaign-songs-and-campaign-wrongs/.
  5. “Political (Dis)chord?” April 11, 2012. Princeton University Press Election 101 Blog. http://blog.press.princeton.edu/2012/04/11/political-dischord-jennifer-lena-talks-political-branding-through-song/
  6. “The Disintegration of Genres.” March 3, 2012. Culture Digitally. http://culturedigitally.org/2012/03/the-disintegration-of-genres/
  7. “Top of the pops.” February 16, 2012. Culture Digitally. http://culturedigitally.org/2012/02/top-of-the-pops/
  8. “Testing the limits of knowledge.” November 11, 2008. OrgTheory. https://orgtheory.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/testing-the-limits-of-knowledge/

Teachers College, Columbia University (all graduate-level)

Trash Art: Dirt, Junk, and the Environment in Art

Integrative Project Research and Writing Seminar in Arts Administration

History and Theory of Arts Administration

Cultural Data and Analysis

Capstone Seminar: Thesis

Integrative Project Proposal

Arts in Context

Diversity in the Arts

Art & Pop

Mapping Harlem’s Cultural Organizations

Masters Seminar in Arts Administration

Principles and Practices in Arts Administration

Principles and Practices in Arts Administration: Performing Arts

Cultural Policy

Barnard College (all undergraduate-level)

Institutional Analysis in Organizations

Senior Thesis Seminar

Culture in America

Sociology of Culture

The Culture Industry

Vanderbilt University (undergraduate & graduate level)

The Sociology of Culture

Sociology of Culture II: Production and Institutions

Introduction to Sociology 

The Sociology of Hip Hop and Rap Music

Popular Culture Dynamics

Columbia University (all undergraduate-level)

Mass Media and Popular Culture

Evaluation of Evidence 

2022                Professeur invitée, Sciences Po.

2022                Pedagogical Innovations Fellow, Digital Futures Institute, Teachers College, Columbia University.

2021-24           Member, Research Advisory Committee, Social Science Research Council, Arts Research on Communities of Color Post-Doc Fellowship Program.

2019-21           Thesis Advisor, Executive Master of Business Administration in Creative Leadership, Berlin School of Creative Leadership gUG.

2016                Consultant on Faculty Affairs, Columbia University School of Professional Studies.

2014-18           Senior Research Scholar, Strategic National Arts Alumni Project, Indiana University.

2008-14           Research Scholar, Strategic National Arts Alumni Project, Indiana University.

2007-08           Faculty Fellow, Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs.

2000                Inaugural Resident Scholar. “Hip Hop America: Roots, Rhythm and Rage,”Brooklyn Museum of Art.

Lena, Jennifer C. and Terence McDonnell. Junk Drawers. IRB approved; survey data collection completed in October 2021. Interview data collection currently being conducted. Goal to publish monograph in 2025.

Lena, Jennifer C. Ticket to Divide: Admissions Taxes and Artistic Diversity. Goal to publish monograph in 2026.

American Sociological Society

Eastern Sociological Society

Social Science History Association

International Committee of Museums, UNESCO

American Association of University Professors

Attachments

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