About the Center for Jazz Studies

The mission of the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University is to draw upon jazz, a music without borders and ultimately without limits, as a model for the integration of forward-thinking models of scholarly inquiry with innovative teaching and community dialogue. The Center's focus sees the interdisciplinary expansion of the intellectual conversation surrounding jazz, and especially its lifeblood practice, improvisation, as tracing a path toward the development of new knowledge that illuminates the human condition. Our direction, which emphasizes the themes of internationalism, technology, and community, is realized by promoting research and writing by innovative scholars in the arts, humanities, and sciences; encouraging excellence in the teaching of jazz music and culture; and presenting public programs – concerts, symposia, lectures and exhibitions – that complement and extend the Center’s research and teaching missions.