Cody Case

As the Director of Student Services in the College of Music and Media, Dr. Cody Case brings with him twenty years of academic and professional experience in higher education. Cody approaches his administrative work, academic research, ethnographic fieldwork, writing, musical performances, community service, and teaching with the same creative passion and collaborative mentality. He treats all academic and professional work with a similar innovative prowess to prove theoretical arguments and resolve complex problems for students, staff, and faculty. At Loyola, he is excited to join the Wolfpack and help students accomplish their academic and professional goals in the College of Music and Media. 

Cody completed a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology at the University of Florida in 2025. His fieldwork research in Brazil and studies in Brazilian Portuguese were funded by a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Award (2022), Foreign Language Area Studies grants (2019-2020), and a Boren Fellowship (2024). Cody’s dissertation, entitled “Drumming in the Breaks of Blocos Afro: Ancestrality and Black Resistance in Salvador, Brazil,” navigates the complexities of radical Black Studies literature between the US and Brazil through the lens of Carnival community percussion ensembles. He has published a short documentary in Rising Voices in Ethnomusicology online and has a forthcoming article in Portuguese Literary and Culture Studies based on this research. Cody has presented at over a dozen local, regional, national, and international conferences in the past few years including the Society for Ethnomusicology, International Council for Traditional Music, American Anthropological Association, and Brazilian Studies Association. 

Prior to doctoral studies, Cody worked at the University of Kansas for six years in various administrative roles for the Provost Office, CLAS Dean’s Office, and International Affairs. Earlier in his academic career, he earned a BA and MA in Ethnomusicology from the University of Washington where he focused on West African music–especially in Kumasi, Ghana. He has lived abroad cumulatively for about five years in West Africa, North Africa, Europe, and South America, and loves to learn about culture, history, and languages through studying music. 

In New Orleans, Cody plays percussion with the local samba bands called Bloco Sereia and TamoJunto. Outside work and research, he loves to play guitar and sing, read with his cat, do yoga, ride bikes, dance, and go out to see live music.