Christopher Waterman, dean of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture and professor of culture and performance, is an anthropologist with interests in the music, performing arts and cultures of sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas.

 

He has conducted fieldwork among the Yorùbá people of Nigeria and has published widely on the music of Africa and the history of American popular music. His books include "Juju: An Ethnography and Social History of an African Popular Music" (1990) and, with Larry Starr, "American Popular Music from Minstrelsy to MP3" (2007).

 

Prior to assuming the role of dean, Waterman served as chair of the UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures. He is also a professional bassist and has performed with I.K. Dairo, Buddy Emmons, Larry Coryell, Zoot Sims, the Glenn Miller and Jimmy Dorsey orchestras, and others.

 

Waterman received his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his B.Mus. in electric bass and composition from Berklee College of Music.