Ron Dunn

About Me

Welcome to my campus website!

I hold a BA degree in Music from UC San Diego, (Magna Cum Laude), and an MM in Ethnomusicology from Florida State University. I'm primarily a classical guitarist, but play some popular styles as well. In the area of ethnomusicology, my interests include music of coastal and highland Peru, as well as southeast Asia. I performed on guitar, charango and siku for several years with Aconcagua, Florida State University's Andean ensemble, and my Master's thesis focused on the music of the marimba in Tijuana, Mexico, where I conducted fieldwork, documenting and analyzing the interfaces of tourism, technology and tradition in the practice of this important art. I'm also a contributing author in the Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Vol. 2: Locations,  published by Continuum International Publishing.

I have taught in the De Anza music department since 2001 as the department specialist in world music and guitar, and direct the guitar area of instruction. In addition to guitar, I teach Introduction to Music courses: Western Culture (Music 1A); World Music in America (Music 1C), and Rock-from Roots to Rap (Music 1D, online). In the past, I taught Guitar ensemble, Music of Latin America, and West African drumming classes. I've been a clinician at the South Bay Guitar Society's annual Guitarfest, and also teach a classical guitar Performance Workshop off campus.

I was a non-traditional student, and was the first generation in my family to attend college. I started my college education in my mid-twenties, after an unspectacular (to say the least) high school experience; I thus feel very fortunate to have fulfilled my dream of teaching full time at a community college. Because of my background, and the opportunities and nurturance I found through community college, which allowed me the space and time to grow as a musician, and to prepare for university-level academic work, I feel a powerful responsibility to my students to offer them a like experience: a student-centered, kind, and nurturing classroom environment, while maintaining high standards, and holding them accountable in their own coursework (expect a substantial time and effort commitment in my classes). I deeply desire for students to become the best version of themselves, and believe that college should be a catalyst for doing so, and a transformative experience, as is was for me. 

Classes I Teach

Fall 2021