Dr. Renée L. Baptiste is Department Head of the David L. Walters Department of Music. Originally from Dothan, Baptiste earned her BM in Music Education from William Carey College and her MM in Music Education from Eastman School of Music before earning her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction – with a specialization in Music Education – from the University of Florida.

Baptiste, who has been working at JSU for nearly sixteen and a half years, is teaching MU295/495 Show Choir and MU545 Evaluation in Music this semester. Baptiste is able to appreciate all courses the department has to offer, as well as what she is currently teaching. “Before this year I loved seeing the students’ growth from when I taught Introduction to Music Education, Elementary Methods, Secondary Methods, Internship, and Capstone. Their development of teaching skills led to their confidence building as they assumed the role of a music educator!”

Baptiste is passionate about music education from the preschool to high school levels in all forms and is an advocate for improving the existing programs in the state of Alabama. This February, Baptiste visited Delta State University for the Southern region Conference of the College Music Society, where she serves on the Board as the music education representative. She also presented at the national SACS-COC conference on her MU 195 Explore Seminar focused on unconcious bias in the classroom. With JSU colleagues, Baptiste presented “Nurturing Resilience and Diversity in New Learning Spaces” in December 2021.

The 2021-2022 academic year is Baptiste’s first as Department Head, but she has already found joy in examining our music program and planning the next steps of program review. “Bring on the accreditation reports!” About the Music department itself, Baptiste loves the relationship and atmosphere between the students and faculty. “It’s all about making music together!”

In her spare time, Baptiste reads, watches movies, visits historical museums, and attends musical concerts. Her advice to students comes from the words of Dr. Martin Luther Kings, Jr: “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”