Lauren Poluha

Lauren Poluha serves as the Music Department Chair at Sierra College. An ethnomusicologist and classical pianist, she teaches Applied Piano, Music History, Music Theory, World Music and Music Appreciation.

Dr. Poluha holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Theory from the University of Michigan (2006) and earned her Master of Arts and Doctorate in Ethnomusicology from UCLA (2010, 2015). Since 2002, she has studied music and dance traditions from Indonesia, Ghana, India, and Belize. During her doctoral studies, she spent a year living in a seaside village in Belize, Central America, where she learned and performed Garifuna drumming with Belize’s most celebrated musicians.

Her interdisciplinary research focuses on the intersections between musical performance, religious and ethnic identity, and cultural tourism among Garifuna communities in Belize and throughout the Garifuna diaspora.

Dr. Poluha joined Sierra College in 2020. Her professional affiliations include the Society for Ethnomusicology, the Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora, the College Music Society, and the Music Association of California Community Colleges.