Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Sound System Epistemologies (DFG)

Sound System Epistemologies (DFG)
Special Vybz International Sound System Hellshire Beach Jamaica 2019

Sound System Epistemologies (DFG)

"Sound System Epistemologies: Knowledge engendered through Practice" (SSE) is a 6 year DFG funded interdisciplinary research group that studies the intersections of sonic performance, knowledge production and masculinities, led by Stefanie Alisch.

Emmy Noether Research Group: Sound System Epistemologies (DFG)

"Sound System Epistemologies: Knowledge engendered through Practice" (SSE) is an interdisciplinary research group that studies the intersections of sonic performance, knowledge production and masculinity. SSE theorises the sound system as a form of musical performance and thus develops a new musicological model. SSE explores types of popular music, in which speaker towers, DJs and dancing audiences play an important role. SSE focusses on Kuduro and Afrohouse from Lisbon, Acid House, FreeTek as well as FLINTA run sound systems from London and female German rap. During the final year, the research group and Mercator Fellow Prof. em. Dr. Carolyn Cooper from Jamaica develop a sound system exhibition for the Musikinstrumenten-Museum Berlin. SSE is the first project in the field of sound system studies to be based in Germany. "SSE aims to transcend the false dichotomy of live music and recorded music. The project breaks new ground in masculinity research and enriches music research by documenting little-studied repertoires," says musicologist and head of the research group Dr. Stefanie Alisch.


NEWS

10/2024 - 2 researcher positions (pre-doc) advertised until 8 Nov 2024, English job ad below

07/2024 - HU Press Release

 

Sound Systems boom and shake, sound systems produce noise and silence, echo and bass. They can make people sway and stand still, focus and zone out, they can lead to mayhem or harmony, to sweet joy and paranoid dread. They bring amplification, hype and dance. The sound system is an international music performance configuration, much like the concert, the dance circle or the procession. Highly pronounced and developed forms of this configuration are Jamaican sound systems. “Sound systems are one of the black diaspora’s most enduring and frequently unacknowledged cultural institutions” asserts Louis Chude-Sokei.

 

 

Special Vybz International Sound System Hellshire Beach Jamaica 2019



Duration: 2024-2030

Research Group: 3 funded sub-projects, 3 associated sub-projects, research assistants, Advisory Board

Principal Investigator: Dr. Stefanie Alisch

Mercator Fellow: Prof. Dr. em. Carolyn Cooper

Partner Institutions: Music Instrument Museum (Berlin), HKW (Berlin)

 

SSE's Research Objectives:

1.) Document and investigate understudied scenes of Lisbon batida (SP1), London based queer/female/non-binary sound systems (SP2) and freetek (SP3).

2.) Theorise the sound system as music performance configuration.

3.) Develop methodology to mobilise and externalise tacit sound system knowledges.

4.) Illuminate how masculinities and knowledge production co-constitute each other.

5.) Engage sound system communities through pracitioner-led research methods.

6.) Investigate the collective nature of knowledge production through sound system practice.

7.) Share findings through on-line, personal and academic dissemination and sound system exhibit.

 

Job opening (apply until 8 November 2024)

Research Associate (m/f/d) in the Emmy Noether Group: Sound System Epistemologies (DFG) with 65% of regular working hours - E 13 TV-L HU (third-party funding limited until 31 May 2027; can be extended by 1 year subject to funding approval)

 

Code number:

DR/124/24

 

Category(ies):

Academic staff

 

Number of posts:

2

 

Place of employment:

Faculty of Cultural, Social and Educational Studies - Institute of Musicology and Media Studies, HU Berlin

 

Activities:

- Research for the DFG-funded Emmy Noether Group ‘Sound System Epistemologies: Knowledge engendered through Practice’

- Presentations and publications in a sub-project of the research group, e.g. on Freetek in Europe or FLINTA Sound Systems in London

- Tasks for own academic qualification (doctorate)

 

Required:

- Completed academic degree (M.A.) in Musicology, Popular Music Studies, Cultural Anthropology, Sound Studies, Media Anthropology, Science and Technology Studies or a related field

- Established relationship to the project topic

- Excellent knowledge of English

- Experience with qualitative research methods

- Willingness to conduct field research

- Self-organised work and ability to work in a team

 

Desired: Practical experience with the project topic, desire to develop new research methods, experience with the presentation and publication of scholarly work at international conferences and in academic journals, ability to actively network in sound system scenes and research circles.


Application open until 08.11.24

 

Please send your application (including cover letter, short proposal of your doctoral project, CV and relevant diplomas) to Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftliche Fakultät, Institut für Musikwissenschaft und Medienwissenschaft, Dr Stefanie Alisch, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin or preferably by e-mail as a PDF file to stefanie.alisch @ hu-berlin.de.


To ensure equal opportunities, applications from qualified women are particularly welcome. Severely disabled persons with equal qualifications will be given preference. Applications from people with a history of migration are expressly welcome. As we do not return your documents, we ask you to enclose only copies with your application.


You can find data protection information on the processing of your personal data as part of the application and selection process on the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin homepage: https://hu.berlin/DSGVO.

Legally binding is the German language job ad linked above.