缅北禁地

As a multilingual ethnomusicologist and cultural anthropologist (Chinese, German, English, and Spanish), Dr Ren received his PhD degree in Music (2019) from the University of Pittsburgh where he studied with Akin Euba (African music), Adriana Helbig (East European music), Deane L. Root (American popular music), Andrew Weintraub (Southeast Asian music) and Bell Yung (East Asian music). He also holds a master’s degree in international higher education from New York University.

Meng read German and Music for his BA Arts degree and studied musicology for his MA degree at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth (Maynooth University). He also obtained a Professional Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education while teaching at the University Language Centre.

Meng joined the School of Arts and Cultures as an Early Career Fellow in September 2023, having previously worked as a part-time lecturer and an academic advisor/student mentor at the University of Pittsburgh, New York University, Long Island University, and the University of Glasgow.

Selected Fellowships:

Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship

Andrew Mellon Predoctoral Fellowship

Chancellor’s Fellowships in China and Chinese Studies

Qualifications:

BA Arts (Double Honours) in German and Music, National University of Ireland, Maynooth

MA Arts in Musicology, National University of Ireland, Maynooth

Professional Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, National University of Ireland, Maynooth

MA Arts in Ethnomusicology, University of Pittsburgh

Graduate Certificate in Advanced Asian Studies, University of Pittsburgh

Graduate Certificate in Advanced Global Studies, University of Pittsburgh

Graduate Certificate in Advanced West European Studies, University of Pittsburgh

PhD Certificate in Cultural Studies, University of Pittsburgh

PhD in Music (Ethnomusicology), University of Pittsburgh

MA in International Education (Higher Education), New York University

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

I am currently working on a project about the Chinese political culture during the early days of the People’s Republic of China, outlining how the performing arts supported nation-building and societal reform in the early 1950s. I have conducted research fieldwork in China, Taiwan, the United States, and Colombia. I also worked as a research assistant for Art History and Archeology projects on Eurasian metal culture. My other research interests include orientalism, intangible cultural heritage (ICH), cosmopolitanism, sound and human emotion, music education, music and memory, as well as performance and conflict.

I supervise research in areas related to my research interests and I welcome expressions of interest from potential PGR students.

Selected Publications:

Ren, Meng. “Report: Henan Operatic Sound Museum,” ACMR Newsletter 26, no. 1 (2021): 5-9.

Ren, Meng. “Uniting Chinese Ethnic Minorities with Folk-songs: Hua’er as a National Heritage in China,” Irish Journal of Asian Studies 6 (2020): 75-93.

Ren, Meng. “Conference Report: CHINOPERL Annual Meeting and AAS Annual Conference,” ACMR Newsletter 22, no. 1 (2016): 9-10.

Ren, Meng. “Mahler’s Concept of Chinese Art in His Das Lied von der Erde,” Maynooth Musicology Postgraduate Journal 1 (2008): 154-178.

I am contributing to:

UG: MUS1011: Introduction to Ethnomusicology

UG/PGT: MUS2055/MUS8016: Translation for Singing

PGT: MCH8612: Heritage Lives: Media Messages and Form

I have been recognised as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

I welcome enquiries from potential PGR students working on topics relating to intangible cultural heritage (ICH), popular performing arts in East Asia and Americas, music and emotion, music education in the global context, and music and conflict.

• Articles

  • Ren M. Chang Xiangyu: A Female Opera Star Made in Early Communist China. CHIME Journal 2026, 22. In Press.
  • Ren, M. . Irish Journal of Asian Studies 2020, 6, 75-93.

• Book Chapters

  • Ren M. "Defeat the Ambitious Wolf of American Imperialism": Chinese Revolutionary Songs and War Memory. In: Ian Biddle and Nanette De Jong, ed. In the Shadow of the Phonograph: Ritual, Recorded Sound, and Remembrance. University of Texas Press, 2026. In Preparation.
  • Ren M. . In: Andreas Steen and Frank Kouwenhoven, ed. Sound, Noise and the Everyday: Soundscapes in China. Bern and Oxford: Peter Lang Publishing, 2024. In Press.