James E. McNally teaches classes in the Departments of Music and Latin American and Latino Studies. He received his PhD and M.A. in Ethnomusicology from the University of Michigan and his B.A. in Music from Amherst College. Before his PhD, he worked for five years as a public school music teacher in New York City.
McNally’s research encompasses sound studies, critical improvisation studies, social network analysis, the digital humanities, and computational approaches including machine learning. His book, São Paulo Underground: Creativity and Musical Experimentalism in Brazil (Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2027), investigates collaborative creative communities and experimental music in the context of contemporary Brazilian cultural politics. He has published articles in journals such as Ethnomusicology, Popular Music and Society, Journal of the Society for American Music, Twentieth-Century Music, and Améfrica: Revista de Estudos das Diásporas Africanas.
McNally currently directs research projects that integrate qualitative methods with machine learning, examining patterns of student success in higher education, trends in the US popular music industry, and the dynamics of collaborative creative networks over time. He is also developing computational tools, including a recommender system trained on music criticism using natural language processing and an interactive public-facing platform for exploring Brazilian creative networks. These projects inform his leadership of departmental pedagogical initiatives to develop research-based guidance on the use (and avoidance) of generative AI in the university music classroom.
As STM Associate Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, McNally leads schoolwide initiatives related to faculty professional development and student success and belonging, serving over 350 students, faculty, and staff. In collaboration with administrative, faculty, and student colleagues, he has directed the design and analysis of an ongoing longitudinal climate assessment of student experiences, overseen the development of the school’s equity and inclusion commitment and action plan, established the school’s first bias response protocol, and led professional development initiatives on a range of issues.