The Harmonic Cage is a collective of six scholars of religion engaged in a multi-year study of the collector, ethnomusicologist, animator, filmmaker, artist, expert on games and folkways, chronicler of Native cultures, alchemist, practitioner of the esoteric, mystic, and all-around weirdo Harry Smith (1923-1991). While Smith’s influence on 20th- and 21st-century culture remains both undeniable and difficult to summarize, this group’s working hypothesis holds that the field of religious studies offers rich possibilities for doing better justice to Smith and his vision. Group activities thus far have included a preliminary workshop in Bloomington and a research trip to work through the Harry Smith Papers at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles.
Group members include, left to right: Matthew Harris (Chicago), Cooper Harriss (Indiana), John Modern (Franklin & Marshall), Chip Callahan (Gonzaga), Sonia Hazard (Florida State), and Sarah Dees (Iowa State).