College of Liberal Arts

University of Minnesota,

Twin Cities Campus

Mirjana Lausevic

Associate Professor: Ethnomusicology

Mirjana Lausevic both lived and studied her subject. Lausevic was born and raised in the multi-ethnic city of Sarajevo in the former Yugoslavia. She earned her bachelor's degree in Musicology-Ethnomusicology from Sarajevo University in 1988. Much of her research since that time examined how music has helped both unite and divide ethnic groups in her native Balkans.

Lausevic earned her master's degree (in 1993) and doctorate (in 1998) in ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University. She published numerous articles based on her fieldwork in the towns and countryside of Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia and the United States.

Lausevic enjoyed performing music as well as studying it. She once led a traditional Bosnian vocal group named Yu-Etno. In New England, she sang and played keyboard with her group Zabe i Babe, which recorded the compact disc Drumovi (Bison Publishing) and was featured on public television's Exploring Worlds of Music series. She used this performing experience at the School of Music by organizing world music concerts and by exploring how to integrate the University and the community through music.