Future Perspectives of Music Research in Higher Education

Contemporary academic music research is characterised by a plethora of theoretical principles and methodological approaches, that are very rarely interconnected, and often lack inter- and/or transdisciplinary partnership and exchange. Hence, the profile of current music research appears as both highly fragmented, and as being shaped by a persistent silo mentality, that diffuses perilous effects, of which the most obvious are budget and staff cuts, whilst exacerbating public perception as a hopelessly elitist, exclusive, and-for the most part-socially irrelevant scientific enterprise.

Accelerated technological progress, and the dominance of the notion of cost-benefit analysis as it relates to much of society, and of public spending, lead to a rise in the scepticism toward the Humanities in general. Numerous parties do not see any particular benefit to the economy in all Humanities subjects, and then proceed to relate this to their being no value to society in general, particularly when related to such “luxury” or “exotic” subjects as music history, music psychology, sound studies, and so on.

The roundtable entitled «Current Challenges and Future Perspectives of Music Research in Higher Education» and generously sponsored by the Swiss National Science Foundation addresses these, and other, challenges to music scholarship. The round table format provides––for the first time ever––the platform for an intellectual and sustainable encounter of scholars from various sub-disciplines of music research, including traditional, postmodern, and empirical musicology, as well as ethnomusicology, music philosophy, music performance studies, music education studies, music iconography, sound studies, cultural studies, and action and artistic research.

The roundtable participants are invited to focus on a topic of their expertise, and not to feel obliged to give a comprehensive statement. The participants represent various cultural and academic traditions, and different branches of current music research, as broad and diverse as possible, in order to activate an in-depth and comprehensive examination, as well as to facilitate, an interdisciplinary and/or transdisciplinary response to questions that are essential to music research in higher education in general terms.