Nathan B. Kruse is Associate Professor of Music Education at Case Western Reserve University. Kruse joined the CWRU faculty in 2013 and teaches courses in research methods, the sociology of music education, vernacular music, and classroom guitar. Prior to his appointment at CWRU, he served as Assistant Professor of Music Education and Coordinator of the Master’s Program in Music Education at the University of North Texas. He earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Butler University, a Master of Music degree in Music Education from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in Music Education from Michigan State University.
Kruse’s research interests include adult music education and lifespan learning, ethnographic traditions of community music, and school-university partnerships. He has presented research at national and international conferences in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, China, Thailand, Greece, and Canada, and his publications have appeared in books and peer-reviewed research journals, including the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Arts Education Policy Review, the International Journal of Community Music, the Journal of Music Teacher Education, Research Studies in Music Education, the Journal of Music, Technology, and Education, Contributions to Music Education, and Visions of Research in Music Education. He is currently an editorial board member for TOPICS for Music Education Praxis and Visions of Research in Music Education.
Kruse taught middle school and high school instrumental music in New Mexico and Michigan, and remains an active public school colleague as a conductor, clinician, and performer. He also conducts the Adult Orchestra at The Music Settlement, one of Cleveland’s oldest community music schools. He is a member of the College Music Society, the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the Ohio Music Education Association, Pi Kappa Lambda, Mu Phi Epsilon, and Kappa Kappa Psi. In addition, Kruse was a graduate fellow in the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (2006-2007), and was a recipient of the Excellence-in-Teaching Citation at Michigan State University (2007), the Outstanding Dissertation Award from the Adult and Community Music Education Special Research Interest Group (2008), and was nominated for the J. H. Shelton Excellence in Teaching Award at the University of North Texas (2010) and the John S. Diekhoff Award for Graduate Mentorship at Case Western Reserve University (2015, 2018).