SoundDecisions – Musical Listening, Decision Making, And Equitable Development in The Mekong Delta

Music is the mediator par excellence of effective decision-making. Using the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam as a case study, the ERC-selected and UKRI-funded project SoundDecisions applies an interdisciplinary approach and mixed methodologies to prove the bold claim that music performance enables farmers and other workers to listen to their surroundings and think through innovative solutions to immediate environmental and economic challenges. Both Khmer Krom and Vietnamese peoples who inhabit the Mekong Delta face climate change catastrophe from increased salinisation, reduced freshwater runoff, and intrusive sand mining. Together, they use improvised music to shape how they think about farming, trade, and other economic activities. Furthermore, by connecting with diasporic musicians via global telecommunication systems, they co-curate dynamic forms of musical listening and thinking to build trust, experiment with new solutions to environmental issues, and cultivate choice. These musicians reshape development of the region; and yet, since development emerges from a cultural basis rather than an economic one, their work has not yet been recognised. How do cultural changes forged by musicians at the intersection of the region’s rich natural and cultural resources enable new socio-economic development? What new forms of sustainability might arise from their grassroots attempts to establish new methods of co-existence given climate change realities? Led by the Principal Investigator Prof Alexander M. Cannon, SoundDecisions undertakes a major programme of archival, ethnographic, and econometric research across three continents to answer these questions.

The SoundDecisions team seeks to hire its first PhD student, who will be an aspiring music scholar with an interest in grassroots archivisation, historical ethnomusicology, digital humanities, and online ethnography. Working closely with the PI, the PhD student will establish some of the historical foundations of the project by evaluating Vietnamese- and Khmer-language musical materials archived online and in European archives. The student will undertake a review of archival methodologies and current debates concerning archival ethics, and then create an offline catalogue of these materials. Concurrently, the student will attend live events on social media platforms. Finally, the student will travel to archives in Berlin and Paris to collect, digitise, and ultimately find ways to disseminate early recordings of traditional music via the SoundDecisions website. The student will use these materials to engage in online conversation and knowledge exchange with musicians in the Mekong Delta and diaspora. The ultimate conclusions from this study will emerge from the materials themselves and the PhD student’s research interests. It is hoped that this work will contribute to debates in repatriation and decolonising sound archives.

It is expected that the student will start this PhD in early 2025.

Eligibility criteria/entry requirements:

• Master’s degree in music, anthropology, sociology, or a related discipline

• Language proficiencies in French, Vietnamese and/or Khmer

• Experience in engaging with archival materials

How to apply?

• Prospective applicants are required to apply by sending in:
• A cover letter (this should set out your reasons for applying for the scholarship and why you are suited to the research proposed)
• A CV (include the names and contact details of two referees at the end of the CV)
• Research proposal that indicates ways of contributing to the SoundDecisions project within the parameters outlined above. Please include a review of relevant literature, suggest specific research questions, and offer potential contributions to music studies and other relevant disciplines.
• Transcript of grades

These documents should be sent to: calscholarshipprizes@contacts.bham.ac.uk by 23 October 2024.

Following shortlisting, interviews will be held. It is anticipated that these will be on 13 November 2024. At this stage we will ask for reference from the referees nominated by shortlisted candidates