Laudan Nooshin

Professor Laudan Nooshin is a leading ethnomusicologist at City, University of London, where she is affiliated with the Music Department in the School of Arts and Social Sciences. She has held significant leadership roles, including Head of Department (2017–2020) and programme directorships across undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. Her academic journey began with a BA from the University of Leeds, followed by an MMus and PhD in Ethnomusicology from Goldsmiths’ College, University of London.

Her research spans urban sound studies, film music, popular music, and contemporary music cultures, with a deep focus on Iran and the Middle East. She has been recognized with prestigious fellowships, including a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship and an AHRC Innovation Scholar role with Charcoalblue, reflecting her innovative interdisciplinary work. She is also a Vice-President and Trustee of the Royal Musical Association and co-founder of key academic networks such as the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Music Studies Network and the Middle East and Central Asia Music Forum.

The recent publications highlight a sustained engagement with Tehran’s sonic environments, Iranian cyberspace, music and trauma, and youth musical expressions. These works reflect interdisciplinary methodologies and thematic concerns including memory, identity, resistance, and digital culture. Her research often bridges academic inquiry with public engagement, particularly through educational outreach.

Notable scientific awards include the 2016 British Forum for Ethnomusicology Book Prize for her monograph Iranian Classical Music: The Discourses and Practice of Creativity and the 2019 Helen Roberts Prize from the Society for Ethnomusicology for her article on Iranian cyberspace. These accolades underscore her impact in both scholarly and public-facing domains.

Laudan Nooshin is committed to mentoring and academic service, having supervised research students and served on national evaluation panels such as REF2021. Her outreach initiatives, including the Shahnameh Project and The Phoenix of Persia, demonstrate a strong dedication to knowledge exchange and cultural education, particularly in introducing Iranian music and heritage to young audiences in the UK.

She has also led significant knowledge exchange projects such as the HEIF-funded ‘Re-sounding the Past: Decolonizing Sonic Heritage Spaces’, which involved creating a sonic installation at Ham House. Her editorial leadership includes co-editing the Cambridge Elements series Music and the City and serving on the editorial boards of major journals like Ethnomusicology Forum and the Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication.