Welcome to the Major Music Project Conference 2024.
The one-day, student-led MMP conference is part of the learning & teaching activities of the fourth-year MUS10105 Major Music Project undergraduate module offered at Edinburgh Napier University, School of Arts and Creative Industries. The purpose of this student-led event is to act as an opportunity for our 4th year BA Music students to present their final year dissertations and practice-led research projects work-in-progress, and to share their research processes and findings with their peers and the extended academic community.
“Reflexivity informs positionality. It requires an explicit self-consciousness and self-assessment by the researcher about their views and positions and how these might, may, or have, directly or indirectly influenced the design, execution, and interpretation of the research data findings” (Holmes, 2020)
The theme of the MMP Conference 2024 is ‘The Self in Research’, providing a valuable opportunity for presenters to delve into their research so far and to share their research aims, processes, and findings through the lens of positionality. This draws inspiration from Holmes (2020), who emphasises the importance of encouraging students to explore and deeply understand the concept of positionality and its impact on research.
Positionality encompasses the influence of inherent cultural, social, and political perspectives on a researcher’s position, shaped by their lived experiences and understanding of the world. It is key for researchers to comprehend the implications of their positionality, and ‘that through doing so, they should become a better researcher’ (ibid.). This involves moving beyond external factors, delving into the researcher’s self, reflexivity, subjectivity, and the performative aspects of research. By recognising the researcher as an active participant and examining factors like beliefs and biases, embracing reflexivity becomes essential (Walshaw, 2010).
We invite presenters to see positionality as a tool to further our understanding of our research and others through reflexive discussion of the journey taken in the MMP project so far. The 2024 MMP one-day conference provides a forum for presenters to further explore their own and others’ final-year Major Music Projects by presenting their ongoing work for peer and lecturer feedback.
Conference Date & Venues: Tuesday 12th March 2024 — Rooms F5, F6, G4, G9 Merchiston Campus, Edinburgh Napier University.
References
Holmes, A.G.D. 2020. Researcher Positionality – A Consideration of Its Influence and Place in Qualitative Research – A New Researcher Guide. Shanlax International Journal of Education, 8(4), pp.1-10. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1268044.pdf
Walshaw, M. 2010. The Researcher’s Self in Research: Confronting Issues about Knowing and Understanding Others. [Paper presentation]. Annual Meeting of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, 3–7 Jul, Freemantle, Western Australia. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED520979
