New Music and Conflict Transformation PhD

A new PhD programme has been started up at Queens University, Belfast. The details are below. Olivier Urbain of the Toda Institute will be guest lecturing there this autumn. Who knows, maybe I'll get to do something there sometime soon!

"Musical Crossings: Music Mediation in Conflict Transformation"

Supervisors:

Professor Fiona Magowan (School of History and Anthropology and ISCTSJ Research Fellow); Professor Pedro Rebelo (Creative Arts, Music)

This project considers the ways in which music mediation has developed as a means of supporting and engaging the experiences of those who have lost relatives or who have been the victims of traumatic events in post-conflict regions. This doctoral research invites applicants to explore how musical practices facilitate new kinds of exchange, dialogue and relationships between communities and individuals who may not otherwise meet. Through analyses of music mediation processes with non-governmental and community-based organisations in Europe or South America, the project considers how music facilitates physical, emotional and psychological change among those who have experienced political conflict and violence.

Extending recent scholarship around the effects of music in conflict resolution, applicants are asked to consider the following questions:

• How do community-facilitated music mediation programmes empower individuals and communities to support and effect interpersonal change?
• How do different musical repertoires shape participants’ memories, narratives and experiences of conflict?
• To what extent do communally-organised musical experiences mediate attitudes and behaviours in everyday socio-political decision-making?
• In what ways is music mediation creating a legacy of conflict transformation in post-conflict regions?

Research on music and peacebuilding has considered how the interpersonal aesthetics of musical practice can enhance dialogue and strengthen relationships by increasing empathy, mutuality and creativity in participation. Further research is needed to understand how post-conflict musical mediation can change victims’ attitudes towards conflict and the specificities of local politics, as musical facilitators seek to empower communities and create sustainable peacebuilding activities among the next generation.

Closing Date for Applications: 27 February 2015

For further information on the PhD project, please contact: Prof. Fiona Magowan (f.magowan@qub.ac.uk). For advice on the application process and eligibity for funding, please contact Susan Templeton (s.templeton@qub.ac.uk). Additional information is available at:

http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofHistoryandAnthropology/ProspectiveStudents/PostgraduateFeesandFunding/SchoolPostgraduateFunding/

Trust me, I'm a doctor...

Yes, I can now call myself Dr. Robertson! I passed my viva on August 16, with Nick Prior from Edinburgh University as my external examiner and David Inglis as my internal. It is pending minor revisions, but that is to be expected. Here is a picture of me with my lovely doctor-cake, made in the Norwegian-style by the amazing Tia DeNora:

So now begins the long slog to find gainful employment that is at least somewhat related to music and conflict transformation. I think I came close a couple of times, but the market in the UK is pretty dire for 'soft' subjects like music and sociology, let alone new fields such as mine. All is not lost, however. I have made some great connections with the University of Leeds and I have put a bid in for a post-doctoral fellowship with the British Council to be hosted by both the Music Department and the Institute of Communications Studies at Leeds. I have also just applied for a research fellowship there as well. Meanwhile, I am still editing the upcoming book Music, Power and Liberty with Dr. Olivier Urbain from the Toda Institute, who have also kindly invited me to participate in the Asia Pacific Peace Research Association (APPRA) conference in Bangkok in November. I shall be presenting and co-hosting a special panel on the arts and non-violent conflict reduction along with Dr. Urbain and Daisuke Akimoto. I am also writing a chapter for a book to be published next year entitled Protests as Events: Events as Protests. Finally, an article that I wrote last year about the potential for music and conflict transformation has finally been accepted by Poetics, although I need to make some changes which will not be published until next year as well.

More updates from around the world soon.