معرفی
Dr. Christabel Stirling is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Royal College of Music (RCM), holding a Research Fellow position since January 2023. Previously, she conducted postdoctoral research on the ERC-funded SONCITIES project at the University of Oxford, where she earned her DPhil in Music (2019) through the Ertegun Graduate Scholarship Programme. Her work bridges musicology, urban studies, and sound studies, focusing on the sociocultural impacts of music and sound in live contexts.
Stirling’s research explores how sound shapes urban environments and social dynamics, particularly examining UK sound art’s entanglements with diasporic cultures, electronic dance music, and sound system traditions. She investigates affective dimensions of musical scenes and their role in reinforcing or contesting societal hierarchies. Her current projects trace the genealogy of UK sound art from 1980 to the present, emphasizing its intersections with Black popular musics and nightclub cultures.
She has lectured across disciplines at institutions including the Universities of Oxford, East London, and Westminster, and co-created the Listening In column for Flash Art. Stirling actively contributes to interdisciplinary collaborations, such as the British Academy Conference Award 2023-24 and her DJ work with the London-based sound system Tanum.
Her publications span topics like sonic methodologies in urban research, gender dynamics in electronic music scenes, and the politics of sound in public spaces. Key works include analyses of grime scene density, affective economies in sound art, and the transformative potential of sound installations in cities.
- Awards: British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship, Ertegun Graduate Scholarship
- Teaching: Courses in musicology, anthropology, and Caribbean studies at multiple universities
- Grants: Lead convenor for British Academy Conference Award (2023-24)
Stirling’s research lab focuses on interdisciplinary sound studies, collaborating with urban planners, artists, and sociologists to interrogate sound’s role in shaping cultural landscapes and social justice initiatives.
