Wilfredo J. Burgos Matos

Wilfredo J. Burgos Matos is a doctoral student in the Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Literatures and Languages Department at the CUNY Graduate Center. He holds a BA in Hispanic Studies from the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez and an MA in Communications-Journalism from the University of Puerto Rico- Rio Piedras. At CUNY, he has been studying Caribbean music, and his current project will be one of the first studies in the department to approach music as its main object of research rather than as a means of entry onto literature, film, and other forms of media. In addition to his work as an ethnomusicologist, Wilfredo is also a journalist and a musician, and began singing and playing guitar while growing up in Puerto Rico. Burgos Matos says that he has always been struck by the powerful role music plays in reshaping the political and social imaginary of what it means to be from the Caribbean.