Danni Ingram

Anita Danielle Ingram is a PhD student in Ethnomusicology at Yale University. Her research explores the intersections of Black musical cultures, oral traditions, and embodied knowledge systems, with a focus on how gospel music and digital media sustain cultural memory and foster community connections. Building on her master’s thesis, TikTok and the Sanctuary: A Study of How Gospel Music on TikTok Evokes the Cultural Memory of the Black Church, Danni examines how musical practices converge in digital spaces, offering new modes of cultural engagement and continuity.

Danni’s broader research interests include Black spiritual and mystical epistemologies, regional musical practices in areas such as North Georgia, and ethnographic studies of Black musical life. She is especially drawn to documenting the interplay of sounds, community performance, and oral knowledge transmission in Black churches. Her work explores how Black musical traditions foster connection and continuity, offering spaces for meaning-making, cultural expression, and communal belonging.

Danni earned her Master of Music in Musicology from The Florida State University in 2023, where she served as a graduate assistant. She holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of North Georgia, where she was recognized as a Ronald E. McNair Scholar and Mattie Moon Scholar, and conducted early research on children’s gospel choirs and Southern gospel pedagogy. During her time at UNG, Danni received the Scholarly Writing Award from the music department for her work on music education and pedagogy.

Through her doctoral work, Danni aims to contribute to the growing body of scholarship on oral and embodied knowledge systems and the aesthetic dimensions of Black musical practices. She hopes to cultivate scholarship that bridges the academic and everyday performance practices sustaining Black cultural life, both in regional communities and across digital platforms.