Jonathan Pieslak


Academic Researcher

about

Jonathan Pieslak is Professor at The City College of New York and Graduate Center, CUNY where he specializes in research on the cultural dimensions of extremism.

​ He published his second book, Radicalism & Music: An Introduction to the Music Cultures of al-Qa'ida, Racist Skinheads, Christian-Affiliated Radicals, and Eco-Animal Right Militancywith Wesleyan University Press, involving research that was supported by a Guggenheim Fellowship.


He is also the author of the 2009 book, Sound Targets: American Soldiers and Music in the Iraq War, which has been featured in a variety of national and international newspaper, radio, and television media, including: The New Yorker, BBC, NPR, Fox News, among many others.


Jonathan has been invited for lectures at Harvard University, Princeton University, The Norwegian FFI (Ministry of Defense), Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and many others. From 2015-21, he was part of a team grant funded by the Minerva Initiative of the U.S. Department of Defense to analyze the mobilizing impact of media in the contexts of extremism.


Jonathan is a fellowship winner from the American Academy of Arts & Letters for music composition, having worked with members of the New York Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Kiev Philharmonic, and other prominent ensembles.