Global Network for Higher Music, Dance and Performing Arts Education

Former NCCU professor Lenora Helm Hammonds’ activities and initiatives afforded NCCU students access to global education and cultural arts partnerships and facilitated North Carolina Central University to be included as one of two U.S.-based universities in the GLOMUS global network of 23 international universities. GLOMUS is an international research conference consisting of numerous symposia, workshops and performances. 

Dr. Hammonds serves on the steering committee of the GLOMUS conferences. For each bi-annual event, the GLOMUS Camp, she convened an NCCU cohort. Past NCCU cohorts have included a faculty-led student study abroad trip for 10 days in Natal, Brazil, for the 2017 GLOMUS Camp ("Bridging Cultures through Collaboration and Co-Creation") and Batumi, Georgia, (Eastern Europe) for 10 days in September 2019 ("Global Dialogues, Sustainability and Artistic Interventions"). 

Professor Thomas Taylor serves on the planning committee of the GLOMUS conferences, is a small group co-leader, and has presented several "oficinas" (workshops) in past conferences.  He has attended all the conferences that NCCU has sent cohorts to (2017, 2019, 2022).  Professor Taylor was the lead NCCU faculty who sent three students to the 2022 conference in Aarhus, Denmark, and is lead faculty for the 2024 conference in Kathmandu, Nepal, around the theme “Uniting the World with Arts and Music."

Professor Taylor is a small group co-leader with a prominent musician from Mali for the 2024 Nepal conference and is collaborating with Royal Academy of Denmark orchestra conductor to have his original song "Mango" performed by the GLOMUS orchestra.

The 2022 GLOMUS Camp convened at Aarhus, Denmark, around the theme "Movement, Music and Migration." Student cohorts presented research at the annual NCCU Graduate and Undergraduate Research Symposium. Students participating in GLOMUS have won first and/or second place in adjudicated events as well as other awards. 

Each GLOMUS Camp takes place at a new international locale each year. NCCU has consistently sent a student-faculty cohort for the 10-day international conference. Students and faculty have called the GLOMUS Camp experience “life-changing” and a highly stimulating academic and professional development career experience.

At each GLOMUS camp, NCCU student scholars are invited to engage and learn with international peers. The conference is a great opportunity to expose our students to a unique collaborative research and study-abroad experience with peers and faculty from more than 23 international partner universities. Our students present research, perform and attend workshops and symposia, and participate in a culminating "world orchestra" of about 100 performing artists and humanities scholars. 

The students invited to the conference elected NCCU COIL courses taught by Dr. Hammonds, MUSL 1300 OL (the Composing in a Global Network class) or GLST 1000 OL (Global Structures, Inequality, Culture and Power). The GLOMUS Camp experience provides a culmination of the course content, online experiences with international peers and a real-world experience of cultural immersion. The theme and focus of the conferences incorporate a wide range of international music subjects, depending on the location of the conference. 

Attendance at the conferences by the NCCU cohorts has resulted in discussions for memorandum of understanding (MoU) cultural arts partnerships and visits by international student prospects and visiting faculty scholars. The GLOMUS relationship has resulted in a signed MoU between NCCU and Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus, Denmark, and student study abroad exchanges. Former associate professor Baron Tymas, assistant professor Thomas Taylor and former professor Lenora Hammonds have each become integral to the planning and ongoing virtual activities in the GLOMUS network.  

The GLOMUS network is a value-driven non-profit community where students' artistic and human development is at the center.  Core values for the GLOMUS network are intercultural dialogue and artistic interaction, with a focus on contributing to positive social development, both locally and globally. The United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals are therefore close to the DNA of the GLOMUS network. The network wants to contribute to reducing inequality, making quality education available throughout the world, supporting gender equality and increasing global health and well-being through art and culture.