Dr Gillian Howell

Gillian Howell's award-winning research and community-engaged creative practice advance our understanding of the cultural, social, and educational contributions of music-making in places impacted by war and colonial violence. Focused on music in peacebuilding, dialogue, and the restoration of cultural practices, her research is distinctively interdisciplinary and cross-sector in nature and makes highly original contributions to the scholarly fields of community music, applied ethnomusicology, peace and conflict studies, and development studies. As Melbourne Postdoctoral Fellow in the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, her current portfolio of research investigates: the role(s) of music and musicians in community dialogue processes; the varieties of peace that music-making fosters; First Nations songwriting in language revitalisation and community healing; collaborative art-making as a methodology for understanding experiences of voice and power; and the practices of musician-peacebuilders around the world.

Internationally, Gillian has conducted research in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, Kosovo and North Macedonia, Afghanistan, and the Middle East, and has led international research consultancies for Save the Children Middle East and Musicians Without Borders. In Australia she has undertaken participatory arts-based research with First Nations communities in the Kimberley using co-design processes, and with young people with lived experience of forced displacement and migration.

Gillian brings a unique combination of academic and professional expertise to her field, with over two decades of professional appointments as a music facilitator, creative director, and community engagement consultant with Australia's leading orchestras, contemporary art music organisations, and social music programs. She directs the Sound FX community music residency for Tura, working with First Nations language educators in the central Kimberley to create and record songs and other resources in four Aboriginal languages. Her awards and recognitions include the Australian Art Music Award for Excellence in a Regional Area in 2020, the Callaway Doctoral Award in 2019, and Griffith University’s Award for Academic Excellence. She has been the Co-Chair and Commissioner of the International Society for Music Education's Community Music Activity Commission and holds honorary appointments with the University of Agder (Norway), Wilfrid Laurier University (Canada), and the Creative Arts Research Institute, Griffith University.

Gillian will lead the Initiative for Peacebuilding on Arts and Peacebuilding.

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