Babak Kashfi Yeganeh is a rising third-year Ph.D. student in Musicology at the Eastman School of Music. He holds a bachelor’s degree in composition from Tehran University of Art, and M.A in musicology from University of Victoria in Canada. His master’s thesis, Dave Brubeck and White Middlebrow: A Case Study of Time Out, examined intersections of jazz and middlebrow culture in Brubeck’s post-war music. Babak’s research interests include middlebrow culture and music, jazz, and French and Iranian popular music, with theoretical focuses on the intersections of philosophy, music, and cultural studies. He is currently working on developing his dissertation project about the life and career of French post-war cabaret singer-songwriter Barbara. Outside of his academic work, Babak enjoys cooking, playing sports, and pursuing his long-time passion as a devoted soccer nerd.