My research to date addresses questions about ethnomusicology's role and impact in the academy. In my novel, interdisciplinary studies of ethnomusicology in the Western academy, I am to explain the transmission of ethnomusicology in higher education, and its impact upon students' transformation in attitude and perspective towards themselves and other people. One significant emergent hypothesis is on the link between ethnomusicology and the enhancing of more democratic attitudes among students, who often bring ethnocentric preconceptions--led by ideas surrounding authenticity, otherness and exoticism--towards other people's cultures. This has become a central question guiding much of my research since my PhD--to try to understand the disciplining, transmission and impact of ethnomusicology in the academy, and focusing on issues surrounding music education, social justice and democracy. Using field- and participatory approaches, and captitalising on
studies in ethnomusicology, music education, anthropology and cultural studies, my significant achivements today include a monograph, a special journal issue, a number of original journal articles and book reviews, forthcoming books, editorial and committee duties, and conference organisation.
My research into the transmission of cultural understanding, musics and musical instruments to Western audiences is framed and contextualised in the age of globalisation, and I am currently expanding upon this focus in two main directions: I have committed to producing a number of student-friendly texts, including a practical student guide to ethnographic research (PALATINE), and a textbook that provides an inclusive, eclectic insight into musics from around the world (Polity); I am currently completing a co-edited book on interdisciplinary perspectives on contemporary musical processes surrounding travel, migration and tourism (Routledge). In order to complement this book with original case study material, I am currently initiating a new line of work on the role of music in the construction of Paraguayan identity in the global age, for which a first round of ethnographic fieldwork in Paraguay is conducted in summer 2011.
In future, I will further expand upon research on more recently emergent research themes in ethnomusicology, specifically education, migration, transition and diaspora with specific focus on the music of Paraguay within the context of modern globalisation. The reason for this are twofold: First, there is a critical place for research into modern topics within ethnomusicology that only emerged within the past two decades; second, I hope to make an important scholarly contribution to a critically neglected research area in ethnomusicology--the music of Paraguay.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
ethnomusicology pedagogy; educational anthropology; democratic pedagogy
musics in global context; ethnomusicology and popular music studies
music of Paraguay
RESEARCH PROJECTS - CURRENT
I am currently completing a monograph on Popular Music in World Perspective (Polity), which brings together ethnomusicology and popular music studies with chapters on identity, trans/nationalism, canon, race, ethnicity, self, other, orientalism, gender, space, place and human rights, to name but a few.
A jointly edited book entitled The Globalization of Musics in Transit: Musical Migration and Tourism with contributions by international scholars and foci on musical migration, diasporic experience, travel and tourism is contracted by Routledge and will be published in 2013.
In summer 2011, I embark on my first fieldwork trip to Paraguay, while focusing on the role of the guitar in the construction and performance of identity in Paraguay’s new democracy (see my webpage "Guitar Music of Paraguay"). Adopting an ethnographic approach, it is the first study of its kind, making it a significant scholarly contribution to ethnomusicological knowledge about musical activity in a country that until today remains relatively closed and unknown to the wider world. This work will provide the basis for new scholarly interest in this topic, and contribute new, unexplored insights into the social and cultural uses, meanings and significance of the guitar in contemporary Paraguayan music.
RESEARCH PROJECTS - COMPLETED
2008 - 2010, Liverpool '08 and Beyond: Music, Mediation and Place This ethnographic study sought to shed light into the interrelatedness between music, mediation and place during and after Liverpool’s status as European Capital of Culture. It examined the array of musical events and activities that have been (and still are being) mobilised as heritage myths and tourist packages, and the impact of this experience on the city and its people. [This project was funded by a Research Grant from the UoA66, Liverpool John Moores University.]
2008 - 2009, Enhancing Employability in Music: An Ethnographic Study into Students' Work-Based Learning Experiences (with Dr Siân Lincoln, LJMU)
This joined project focused on the experiences of students during a WBL-placement as 2009 Conference Assistant, and the impact of WBL on students’ employability. This project was funded by PALATINE (£7,400). (lead applicant).
2008 - 2009, "A Liver Bird Sang!" - Production of DVD
This project involved the production of a DVD of the musical show "A Liver Bird Sang!", accompanied by a documentary of the making of the show. Written specially for Liverpool 08, this is an outstanding example of how the European Capital of Culture concept has inspired Liverpudlians and drawn out local creative talents. "A Liver Bird Sang!" is a story about modern life and love set in Liverpool's clubland.
2007 - 2008, Ethnography in the Performing Arts: A Student Guide This project was a cross-institutional undertaking with Professor Jonathan Stock (University of Sheffield), which studied the experiences of students, who conducted an ethnographic fieldwork project as part of their music studies at both institutions. It culminated in a student textbook with the aforementioned title. This project was funded by PALATINE (£4,500). (lead applicant).
2002 - 2007, Experiencing Ethnomusicology: Student Experiences of the Transmission of Ethnomusicology at Universities in the UK and Germany
"Experiencing Ethnomusicology" studies the transmission of ethnomusicology, while exploring the ways in which students experience and make sense of their (world) musical encounters. The research was funded by the AHRC and the University of Sheffield.
RESEARCH GRANTS AND PRIZES
Research Grant of £3500 for project "Guitar Music Cultures in Paraguay: An Ethnographic Study" (LJMU, 2011)
Conference Grant of £2,410 for BFE Annual Conference 2009 (UoA66 LJMU, 2008)
Research-Informed Teaching Grant of £1,000 for research into students' use of ethnography in music studies in 08/09. (RIT Grant Scheme, LJMU, 2008)
Development Grant of £7,420 for research project entitled 'Enhancing Employability in Music: An Ethnographic Study into Students' Work-Based Learning Experiences' (PALATINE, The Higher Education Subject Centre for Dance, Drama and Music, 2008)
Learning and Teaching Grant of £565 for attendance of the Intercultural Cities Conference in Liverpool, 2008 (LJMU, 2008)
Research Grant of £950 for attendance of the BFE Annual Conference in Cardiff, 2008 (LJMU, 2008)
Research Grant of £2500 for research project 'Liverpool 2008: Music, Mediation and Place' (UoA66, Liverpool John Moores University, 2008)
Development Grant of £4,500 for project 'A Student Guide for Performance Ethnography in Dance, Drama and Music' (PALATINE, The Higher Education Subject Centre for Dance, Drama and Music, 2007 - 2008)
International Conference Grant of £1,500 for paper presentation at International Council for Traditional Music conference in Vienna, Austria, 2007 (Edge Hill University, 2007)
Conference Grant of £550 for paper present paper at Research In Music Education conference, Exeter, 2007 (Edge Hill University, 2007)
PhD stipend/ bursary (AHRC, 2004)
Research grant of £235 (University of Sheffield, 2004)
Travel grant of £200 (University of Sheffield, 2003)
Research stipend of £8,000 (University of Sheffield, 2002)
Walker Prize (University of Liverpool, 2002)