Heather Augustyn

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Heather Augustyn
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BornHeather Ransford
(1972-06-29) June 29, 1972 (age 53)
Valparaiso, Indiana, U.S.
Occupation
  • Professor
  • Writer
CitizenshipU.S.
EducationBradley University (BA)
DePaul University (MA)
GenreMusic History, Creative Nonfiction, Music Journalism
Spouse
Ronald Augustyn (m. 1996)
Website
skabook.com

Heather Augustyn..[1][2][3] is an American author, journalist, and academic known for her extensive research and publications on ska and Jamaican music history. She currently holds the position of Assistant Professor of Practice in Writing at Purdue University Northwest, where she teaches courses in composition, creative writing, and cultural studies. Augustyn’s scholarship focuses on the cultural and historical significance of ska, reggae, and related musical genres of the African diaspora.

Early Life and Education

Born Heather Ransford in 1972,[4] Augustyn was raised in Northwest Indiana. She received a Bachelor of Arts in English and Philosophy from Bradley University and later earned a Master of Arts in Writing from DePaul University.

Career

Journalism and Writing

Prior to her academic appointment, Augustyn worked as a correspondent for The Times of Northwest Indiana for 12 years. Her bylines have appeared in prominent publications such as SPIN Magazine, Wax Poetics, DownBeat, The Village Voice, In These Times, The Humanist, Lake Magazine, and Shore Magazine.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Her journalistic work often explores music, culture, and social issues.

Academic Work

At Purdue University Northwest, Augustyn integrates creative nonfiction with ethnomusicological approaches, particularly emphasizing Caribbean music traditions. Her academic contributions include peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Jamaica Journal [13] and Caribbean Quarterly [14], as well as conference presentations at institutions including the University of the West Indies, Ton Duc Thang University (Vietnam), and the University of Cambridge.

Recognition and Legacy

Augustyn’s first book, Ska: An Oral History (2010)[15][16], was nominated for the Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research [17]. She has been a featured presenter at international conferences such as the Global Reggae Conference [18][19] (Kingston, Jamaica), the International Conference on Innovations in the Social Sciences and Humanities (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) [20] , and the British Forum for Ethnomusicology (Cambridge, UK) [21][22]

In 2020, Augustyn donated her extensive archive of ska-related interviews, recordings, and ephemera to Indiana University Bloomington’s Archives of African American Music and Culture (AAAMC). The Heather Augustyn Collection, covering materials from 1944 to 2018, documents the history of ska, rocksteady, and reggae music and serves as a valuable resource for scholars of Caribbean music.

Published Works

Augustyn is the author of several books that chronicle the evolution of Jamaican music, with particular attention to underrepresented voices in the genre:

  • Ska: An Oral History, McFarland, 2010.[15][16]
  • Ska: The Rhythm of Liberation, Rowman & Littlefield, 2013.[23]
  • Don Drummond: The Genius and Tragedy of the World's Greatest Trombonist, McFarland, 2013.[24][25]
  • Songbirds: Pioneering Women in Jamaican Music, Half Pint Press, 2014.[26] [27]
  • Alpha Boys School: Cradle of Jamaican Music, Half Pint Press, 2017.[28] [29]
  • Operation Jump Up: Jamaica's Campaign for a National Sound, Half Pint Press, 2018.[30]
  • Rude Girls: Women in 2 Tone and One Step Beyond, Sally Brown Publishing, 2023.[2][31]

Her publications contribute significantly to the historiography of ska and Jamaican music, with a recurring focus on gender, diaspora, and cultural identity.

Archives

The Heather Augustyn Collection at the AAAMC [32] , Indiana University, contains a wide range of primary materials related to ska, reggae, and rocksteady, including oral histories, photographs, audio recordings, and printed ephemera. The collection enhances public and scholarly access to resources documenting the global spread and cultural context of Jamaican music traditions.

Media and Public Engagement

In 2015, Augustyn delivered a TEDx talk,[33] advocating for the importance of preserving oral histories. She emphasized the accessibility of storytelling through digital tools and encouraged communities to record personal narratives for posterity.

Filmography

  • "Pick It Up!: Ska in the '90s" (2019).[34] – Documentary writer

Articles

  • "The Man Who Wrote the Music Down: Jamaican legend Carlos Malcolm sets the record straight"[35] Spin Magazine January 21, 2025.
  • "The Selecter Headlines 10th Annual Supernova Ska Fest: Virgina's annual celebration of the Jamaican sound has grown from a backyard party to an institution"[36] Spin Magazine October 29, 2024.
  • "Something Wicked This Way Comes: Pussy Riot: Denounced by Putin as witches, these punk warriors' warnings position them more as seers"[37] Spin Magazine November 29, 2023.
  • "World Ska's Stupendous Supernova: A Rude Dispatch From Virginia: The biggest ska festival on the planet is a multicultural fusion reaction of positivity"[38] Spin Magazine October 10, 2023.
  • "Kurt Vonnegut's Last Interview: The late, great author on family, freethinkers and the entertainment in Indiana"[39] In These Times May 9, 2007.
  • "Did Rap Really Come From Jamaica?"[40] Spin Magazine August 9, 2023.
  • "Prolific Indie Darling Repeats Himself Splendidly"[41] The Village Voice.
  • "Jazz on the Upbeat"[42] DownBeat Magazine February 2019, p. 66.

References

  1. ↑ "Heather Augustyn, M.A." Purdue University Northwest.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Post-Tribune (2023-04-23). "Chesterton resident, historian of Jamaican music pens first book on women in ska". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  3. ↑ "A Northwest Indiana Life in the Spotlight: Heather Augustyn". NWI.Life. 2014-03-19. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  4. ↑ "Collection Detail | AAAMC". aaamc.indiana.edu.
  5. ↑ "Release Party, Book Signing for Chesterton Native". Valpo.Life. 2013-09-05. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  6. ↑ Augustyn, Heather (2025-01-21). "SPIN". SPIN. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  7. ↑ "Heather Augustyn". In These Times. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  8. ↑ Fielding, Heather (2019-02-28). "How We'll Remember Pat Colander". LitPop. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  9. ↑ "Caribbean Queens". wax-poetics. 2021-07-27. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  10. ↑ Augustyn, Heather (February 20, 2019). "Getting Ahead of the Beat" (PDF). Downbeat. p. 66.
  11. ↑ Augustyn, Heather (2006-07-04). "Prolific Indie Darling Repeats Himself Splendidly". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  12. ↑ Newsp; Voices; Commentary; Features; Magazine, The; Entertainment, Arts &; Multimedia; Us, About; Us, Contact. "Heather Augustyn". TheHumanist.com. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  13. ↑ "Digital Library of the Caribbean". www.dloc.com. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  14. ↑ Augustyn, Heather (2015-03-01). "Spinning Wheels: The Circular Evolution of Jive, Toasting, and Rap". Caribbean Quarterly. 61 (1): 60–74. doi:10.1080/00086495.2015.11672548. ISSN 0008-6495.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Telling the story of ska". jamaica-gleaner.com. 2010-11-07. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Ska: An Oral History author Heather Augustyn". AV Club. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  17. ↑ "Awards for Excellence Finalists". arsc-audio.org. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  18. ↑ Dopolavoro. "Global Reggae Conference Programme". sonic-street-technologies.com. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  19. ↑ "Global Reggae". University of the West Indies Press. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  20. ↑ Staff, Times (October 23, 2019). "Purdue Northwest partners with university in Vietnam". nwitimes.com.
  21. ↑ "British Forum for Ethnomusicology". bfe.org.uk.
  22. ↑ "'Audible Pasts: Ethnomusicology and Global Music History in Dialogue' (2 April 2025)". British Forum for Ethnomusicology Annual Conference 2025. 2024-12-03. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  23. ↑ Rambarran, Shara (October 2016). "Ska: The Rhythm of Liberation. By Heather Augustyn . Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2013. 180 pp. ISBN 9780810884496". Popular Music. 35 (3): 474–476. doi:10.1017/S0261143016000490. ISSN 0261-1430.
  24. ↑ "Book Review: Heather Augustyn, "Don Drummond: The Genius and Tragedy of the World's Greatest Trombonist"". Popdose. 2013-11-20. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  25. ↑ "Don Drummond's life, art find the page". jamaica-gleaner.com. 2013-12-24. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  26. ↑ "Book Review: Heather Augustyn, "Songbirds: Pioneering Women in Jamaican Music"". Popdose. 2015-01-05. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  27. ↑ "Female musicians brought into focus". jamaica-gleaner.com. 2014-11-23. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
  28. ↑ "New book about Kingston's Alpha Boys' School has been published - The Wire". The Wire Magazine - Adventures In Modern Music. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  29. ↑ "Authors collab on Alpha music book". Jamaica-Star. November 24, 2017.
  30. ↑ Operation jump up : Jamaica's campagin for a national sound | WorldCat.org. OCLC 1102319109.
  31. ↑ Sacher, Andrew. "New ska book 'Rude Girls: Women in 2 Tone and One Step Beyond' out now". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  32. ↑ "Collection Detail | AAAMC". aaamc.indiana.edu.
  33. ↑ "2015 Video Playlist".
  34. ↑ Gallaway, Lauren (2019-11-22). "Pick It Up! — Ska in the '90s Review". Medium. Retrieved 2025-06-23.
  35. ↑ Augustyn, Heather (January 21, 2025). "The Man Who Wrote the Music Down". SPIN.
  36. ↑ Augustyn, Heather (October 29, 2024). "The Selecter Headlines 10th Annual Supernova Ska Fest". SPIN.
  37. ↑ Augustyn, Heather (November 29, 2023). "Something Wicked This Way Comes: Pussy Riot". SPIN.
  38. ↑ Augustyn, Heather (October 10, 2023). "World Ska's Stupendous Supernova: A Rude Dispatch From Virginia". SPIN.
  39. ↑ "Kurt Vonnegut's Last Interview". In These Times. May 9, 2007.
  40. ↑ Augustyn, Heather (2023-08-09). "DID RAP REALLY COME FROM JAMAICA?". SPIN. Retrieved 2025-05-08.
  41. ↑ Augustyn, Heather (2006-07-04). "Prolific Indie Darling Repeats Himself Splendidly". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2025-05-08.
  42. ↑ "DownBeat | Digital Edition | February 2019". www.downbeat.com. Retrieved 2025-05-08.

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