First Name:
Dr. Susan
Last Name:
Mills
Main Title:
Professor of Music Education
Office Location:
211, Broyhill Music Center
Phone Number:
828-262-6441
Email:
Type:
Area(s):
Dr. Susan W. Mills is a full professor of music education in the Hayes School of Music at Appalachian State University, where she focuses on creating relevant, balanced, and inclusive music education that integrates both classical and folk traditions. A distinguished educator, she was an American Council on Education Fellow in 2014-15 at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. In 2010, Dr. Mills received a Fulbright Fellowship for her work on Freedom and Folk Song traditions in South Africa, collaborating with the University of Zululand and the University of the Free State. She received the Digital Sound Archives/Appalachian Music Fellowship from Berea College in 2007.
A K-12 general and choral music specialist since 1989, Dr. Mills integrates multicultural music education, service learning, and teacher education research into her teaching. She engages with master musicians from diverse world cultures, including Azerbaijan, The British Isles, Canada, Cuba, Haiti, Hungary, Japan, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Russia, South Africa, Southern Appalachia, and the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Her 30-year performance career includes American Folk, Bluegrass, Country, Reggae, Rock, and Cajun music. As an active clinician and guest conductor, she works with multicultural music in classrooms, choirs, and school district festivals. Dr. Mills has published extensively in journals such as The International Journal of Community Music, General Music Today, and The International Journal of Music Education, and contributed numerous book chapters for Routledge Publications and Salem Press.
She holds a Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction and a Master of Arts in Music Education from the University of Central Florida.