Decolonisation of Academia

There will soon be a public event at University of Bergen called Decolonisation of Academia. I am one of the invited speakers for it, and look forward to the discussion. It is hosted by SAIH, the Norwegian Students' and Academics' International Assistance Fund. Below is an announcement about the event from SAIH-Bergen: 

Decolonization is an important topic within the field of academic freedom. Within academia decolonization can be discussed in relevance to curriculum, scientific methods and university culture. Questions such as : ‘’What is valuable knowledge?’’ or ‘’What is valid research?’’ can make us reflect upon old colonial influence and how it is constraining science and corrupting power relations within academia. Approaching this topic from both international and Norwegian perspectives will help in understanding the recent efforts and discoveries in achieving decolonization. At its core, decolonization within academia aims to restructure power systems which do not support adequate development of research and by extension, society. 

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In this panel discussion we have the following panelists:

- Anwesha Dutta, PI of an NFR (NORGLOBAL) project, "Prioritising the Displacement-Environment Nexus: Refugee and IDP Settlements as Social- Ecological Systems."

- Carmeliza Soares da Costa Rosário,  postdoctoral researcher at Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) and a Development and Social Anthropologist. 

- Lise Rakner, PI of Norhed:  epistemologies Decolonizing Epistemologies: Disciplines and the University in Relation to the Society and the World (NORHED II).

- Wesley Maraire, a guest researcher and affiliate at the Centre on Law & Social Transformation: CMI (University of Bergen).

- David Gabriel Hebert, who has contributed to the fields of comparative education and East Asian Studies.

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The panel will be moderated by Morgan Alangeh. 

Location: Ulriken Aula, Ulrikes Pihls Hus, Professor Keysers gate 1, 5007 Bergen

This event is part of Internasjonale Uke.

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Here are some recent publications that have aimed to decolonize approaches to philosophy of education as well as both teaching and research activity in music history, music education, and music performance studies in higher education:

• Theory and Method in Historical Ethnomusicology (2014, Rowman & Littlefield)
• Music Glocalization: Heritage and Innovation in a Digital Age (2018, Cambridge Scholars)
• World Music Pedagogy VII: Teaching World Music in Higher Education (Routledge, 2021) 
• Ethnomusicology and Cultural Diplomacy (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022)
• Comparative and Decolonial Studies in Philosophy of Education (Springer, 2023)
• Shared Listenings: Methods for Transcultural Musicianship and Research (Cambridge University Press, 2023).

Some of my recent projects have introduced principles of decolonization through international cooperation:

• https://www.hvl.no/en/research/prosjekt/global-competence-partnership/
• https://www.uib.no/en/cabute

 

Music in Action: Grieg Research School

For PhD candidates, post-docs, postgraduate students and senior researchers ... the GRS Autumn Course Music in Action will run from November 28-30, 2023. The event is organized by the Grieg Research School in Interdisciplinary Music Studies and is hosted by The University of Agder. 

Also, I am pleased to mention that as of a few weeks ago I am now serving on the GRS Board, which was part of what brought me to Norway over a decade ago. I am glad this promise has been kept, and I now have an opportunity to contribute to GRS as expected.

Link to event announcement: 

https://www.uib.no/en/rs/grieg/163696/music-action

 

INVITATION 

Music in Action

 

The theme of the course is 'Music in Action' and will explore the ways in which music acts in complex social, cultural, educational, and historical contexts. Music in Action invites presentations on how musical practices encounter and engage with society. The meeting points between artistic and scholarly approaches to research in music – such as applied or practice-based research – is of particular interest. An overarching question for the call is How can research in and with music can understand, analyse, and even initiate musical practices that act in complex social, cultural, educational, and historical contexts?

 

The course will feature presentations and discussions convened by researchers from key research groups/projects based in UiA's Faculty of fine arts, including researchers and topics from:

1. Arts and social relations
2. Art and Conflict
3. Art & Young People
4. Reconfiguring historical, Musical Crafts Education RHiMuCE
5. Music, Dance, Drama - cross-artistic practices and educational discourses
6. CreaTeMe centre of excellence at UiA

You may choose to engage in a dialogue with one or more of these groups and their areas of research in your presentations (please specify in your abstract if you wish to do so).

 

Specific questions to address include, but are not limited to:

• How can research in and with music create new approaches to questions of health, social justice, and sustainability?
• How can musical experiences and practices play a dynamic role in dealing with complex and potentially conflicting social conditions?
• What role can/does music play in children’s and young people’s lives?
• How can we educate musicians as socially engaged artists?
• How can we improve, develop and discover new interdisciplinary methodological approaches to how we study and present music?  
• How can we revitalize music pedagogy and arts education in the school of the future?

GRS courses are an interdisciplinary space that fosters critical and constructive dialogue. The format of presentations is flexible, and we invite performances, multimedia presentations, posters, panel discussions, and workshops, in addition to the usual oral presentations. Other formats that utilize our fields and ways of doing and disseminating research in music are also welcomed.

 

CALL FOR PAPERS

Abstracts are welcomed from any Ph.D. Candidates, Post-docs, Masters’ students, supervisors and researchers from any institution. The event is free for all registered participants.

Deadline for abstracts is 12th October. Follow this link to submit an abstract:

https://skjemaker.app.uib.no/view.php?id=15634751

 

ECTS CREDITS 

Ph.D. candidates can gain 3 or 5 ECTS credit points for active participation during this course and have the option of presenting on the main theme of the course OR on their own research project. These presentations will receive feedback from senior researchers and peers. 

 

REGISTRATION 

Registrations are now open. Follow this link:

https://forms.microsoft.com/e/mGEwGSTHCW

 

Kyambogo University Delegation in Bergen

We are excited to be hosting a delegation of special guests from Kyambogo University (Kampala, Uganda) for two weeks (16-26 October 2023). The Ugandan guests are coming through support of the CABUTE project. They will have the opportunity to receive research mentoring, use university libraries and offices, observe teaching, and visit rehearsals of several music ensembles in the Bergen area.

Click HERE to see the program for the 2023 CABUTE symposium at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. 

I greatly enjoyed visiting Kyambogo University last year, which is soon launching a PhD program in Music Education. The university especially plays an important role in the field of teacher education in Uganda. Shown here are the Kyambogo University logo and an image of the new university gate to be erected in the coming months.

Philosopher Kathleen Higgins in Bergen

I am very pleased to announce that we were able to invite philosopher Kathleen Higgins to visit Bergen in a few weeks. She is an extraordinary scholar. Below is the poster for this event and the covers of several books for which Prof. Higgins is an author, co-author, or editor. Her visit to Norway is co-sponsored by the Grieg Academy Music Education research group and the Bergen Network for Women in Philosophy.  

Click HERE to see the announcement of this event at University of Bergen. 

I am happy to report that a photo I took of three women philosophers at this event later became the cover for the University of Bergen philosophy department's brochure ... 

Below are some of the many books for which Kathleen Higgins is an author, co-author or editor ... 

Innovations in Higher Education

It is exciting to be developing a new international PhD course for the 2024 Bergen Summer Research School on the topic of Creative Innovations in Higher Education. Click HERE to access a description of the theme for the 2024 Bergen Summer Research School.

Our group of PhD students will meet in Bergen to examine specific ways that colleges and universities across the world are evolving to better meet the needs of a changing society, with particular attention to the new opportunities created through innovations in teaching, research, outreach, and governance.

More information is posted HERE and on the BSRS website.

Japanese Studies in Bergen

There will soon be a symposium that helps to more firmly establish Japanese Studies as an academic field in Bergen, Norway:

日本研究修士プログラム設立記念シンポジウム Symposium to Celebrate the Launch of the University of Bergen's MA in Japanese Studies

I look forward to participating and presenting a paper called “Myths and Realities of Music Learning in Japanese Schools.”

Below is a link with detailed schedule for this event, 14-15 September 2023:

https://www.uib.no/fag/japansk/164034/oppstartssymposium-nytt-ma-program-i-japansk

[Above is a photo I took this summer of the Japanese garden at the Seattle Arboretum]

Summer 2023

It was a pleasure to participate in various professional activities during part of this summer, and also to have an enjoyable vacation with family in the Seattle area.

I was happy to find that many PhD students developed excellent final papers as the third cohort of our course PhD911 Non-Western Educational Philosophy and Policy, which has already led to publication of the book Comparative and Decolonial Studies in Philosophy of Education (developed from the first and second cohorts) and will likely produce more publications in the coming years. Click HERE to access a review of our book in the journal Educational Philosophy and Theory.   

I enjoyed giving some guest lectures for various universities in China, including the Education University of Hong Kong (on AI and Artistic Creativity in Higher Education), Beijing Language and Culture University (on World Music Performance), and for law students at China University of Political Science and Law (on International Arts Policy). We also had quite productive meetings in Hong Kong for further planning and expansion of the Global Competence Partnership.

Later, I had a nice meeting with mentor and doctoral supervisor Patricia Shehan Campbell in Seattle, who has recently retired but remains quite active in teaching, research, and projects.

Publications have also been proceeding well. Our monograph on intercultural music collaboration is nearly published, Shared Listenings: Methods for Transcultural Musicianship and Research (Cambridge University Press). The complete manuscript of Volume IV of our series Deep Soundings: The Lexington Series in Historical Ethnomusicology (an ethnomusicological study of European composer Scharwenka) has been reviewed and is now in revision.

The Board meeting of the International Society for Music Education (ISME) in Helsinki was quite successful, with great collaboration as we prepared for the ISME 2024 World Conference in Finland. As Chair of ISME's History Standing Committee, my focus at this meeting was in three areas: ways of strengthening historical research in this field globally, supporting development of a more robust international history of the organization, and improving all publications associated with ISME. I gave two papers and chaired a session at the Asia-Pacific Symposium for Music Education Research (APSMER) in Seoul, Korea, where there were many impressive presentations.

Finally, I met a colleague in Singapore, Chee Hoo Lum, for further development of a publication project before returning to Europe. Unfortunately, I caught Covid at some point on my way back to Norway, and had to rest recently, causing missed deadlines for some promising new projects. Quite frustrating, but hopefully I can fully recover soon and it will work out next time!

A few photos from summer activities are posted here: