Social Scientist, Author, and Musician Pete Kurie 02S Releases New Album
The multidisciplinary alum, who by day, works as a researcher in media and tech, is a musician by night and has a new record.
Like most Hampshire people, Pete Kurie 02S has never been confined to one discipline. He earned a doctorate in anthropology from Princeton, published a book about his storied hometown, Hershey, In Chocolate We Trust, and worked in user-experience research at Intel. He recently released a new album, the self-titled Pete Kurie.
What drew you to Hampshire? And what did you study?
I was drawn to Hampshire because of its legacy of experimentation going back to 1965. Other colleges offered a more conventional approach, but I felt like taking the road less traveled. I’m glad I followed my intuition.
I always admired Ken Burns 71F and wanted to learn about documentary filmmaking. But I didn’t have a plan for what to study. My advisors helped me forge a path between the arts and the social sciences.
For my Div III, I researched and wrote about “interdisciplinarity.” It was sort of a meta-reflection on my liberal arts experience — a synthesis of what I’d learned at Hampshire. That eventually led me to Princeton University, where I did a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology.
Tell us about making music and releasing this record.
I’ve been writing and recording songs since I was a kid. It’s how I make sense of the world. When I got to Hampshire, my songwriting went into overdrive. I took inspiration from Elliot Smith 87F and artists who performed on campus, such as Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore. Since then, I’ve regularly put out indie albums. My last release was Streets of Bakersfield (2020).
The ten new songs on Pete Kurie were recorded in my bedroom studio in Los Angeles. The link to the album includes a music video and liner notes about coming of age at a 1990s Bob Dylan concert. It’s both a tribute to pop music of the past and a reflection on pop culture today.
What’s next for you?
By day, I work as a researcher in media and tech. Recently I spent time in product development at Intel Corporation, helping engineers understand artists and media creators. That experience made me both curious and skeptical about AI, and what it means for musicians in particular. For my next project, I’m playing around with AI music tools.
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