Name: Qinhan Chen
Research Area: World Music and Intercultural Communication
Department: Reid School of Music
Supervisors: Prof. Raymond MacDonald & Dr. Graeme Wilson
Email: Qinhan.Cate.Chen@ed.ac.uk
Website: www.chinesemusicians.co.uk
Biography
My area of interest is identity, intercultural communication, and learning in world music.
I believe one should have a passion for learning and developing oneself into a well-rounded person, and contributing one’s life and experience to help building a better society. This is the reason why after taking English Literature and Economics as my majors in undergraduate study, I pursued my interests in Translation and Interpretation as well in Beijing, and then came to the UK to study Intercultural Communication at the University of Warwick.
Doing a PhD in Music now, my objective is to explore the overlap between world music and intercultural communication studies interdisciplinarily, and find consilience between them.
Research Interests
In terms of research, I am particularly fascinated by the general learning process of individuals. Taking Wenger’s perspective that social learning is a crucial way in which individuals develop, I take a stance that we gain our very fundamental identities through participating and learning in communities, no matter in musical or intercultural context.
Now in this growingly connected and yet fragmented world, there are more urgent questions like how can we better develop ourselves with others harmoniously? How can we better develop our multicultural societies peacefully? What makes individuals more motivated to do so, to initiate intercultural dialogue and to learn interculturally? And what role (world) music plays in it?
In my research, I would like to find an answer to these general questions by looking at how musicians learn to make sense of this diverse world, making peace with others and exploring a way to be at peace with oneself at the same time.
Musical Interests
I was always a music enthusiast, but never thought of learning and playing music myself. However, during the year when I was studying Intercultural Communication at the University of Warwick, musicians at Warwick Fused concert gave me so much inspiration that in 2016 I picked up xun, a Chinese traditional globular flute made of clay. I am a student of Ronghua Zhang who is one of the few musicians who can play and make this ancient instrument, making efforts to xun’s revival in China.
Publications
Chen, Q. (2017). Intercultural Communication in a World Music Community of Practice: A case study of Warwick World Music Group and Warwick Fused from an identity construction perspective. Intercultural Communication Studies, 26(1), 42-61.
Chen, Q., & Liu, Y. (2015). Chapter 8: A Research on the Cultural Capital of China’s Time-Honoured Brands in Qianmen Commercial District of Beijing. In D. Xu, Beijing Cultural Capital Development Report. China Renmin University Press.
(This research was launched as a group project under the guidance of Dr. Dejin Xu, using a cultural capital framework of Bourdieu.)
Invited Lectures & Conference Presentations
Qinhan presented her Master’s project at 22nd IAICS International Conference in Shanghai, China in July 2016.
Other
Qinhan was awarded with Outstanding Paper Award for Young Scholars (Third Prize) by International Association for Intercultural Communication Studies (IAICS) in July 2016.