Benjamin Court

Benjamin Court is a Lecturer in Music History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He grew up in Western New York and received his Ph.D. in Musicology, with certification in Experimental Critical Theory, from UCLA in 2017. His research explores the politics of musical “amateurism” – music by individuals who claimed not to know how to play music, but nevertheless become musicians. He has published articles about the semiotics of punk in the UK, racial formation in rap and punk in New York City during the 1970s, and the Scratch Orchestra’s politics of music education, among other topics, in numerous international journals including Music & Letters, Popular Music and Society, and Third Text. He previously taught at UCLA and Woodbury University and currently serves as the Grants Manager for Berkshire Pulse, a nonprofit center for dance and creative arts.

As a musician, Benjamin has performed and recorded as a guitarist and multi-instrumentalist in a number of punk, rock, and experimental groups. He continues to compose ambient music and music for contemporary dance as FKA Muddytooth. As an active DJ and producer of Chicago Footwork, he releases music as DJ Ben; he is also a Chicago Footwork dancer and member of the Creation Global footwork crew.