School of History and Anthropology

CDEN Project

15/09/09: Internal publication of the first Annual Report of the Cultural Dynamics and Emotions Network (CDEN).

CDEN Annual Report, 2007-2009

CDEN was established in March 2007 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Dr. Kala Shreen (MOP Vaishnav College for Women, Chennai) and Dr. Maruška Svašek (School of History and Anthropology, Queens University Belfast) with the aim of stimulating international and interdisciplinary research and teaching on cultural dynamics and emotions. The creation of the CDEN Website was funded from the Internationalisation Funds, School of History and Anthropology, Queens University Belfast.

For more information: http://www.qub.ac.uk/cden/ or contact m.svasek@qub.acuk

Selection of written comments on CDEN received in 2008-2009 and quoted in the report:

‘The work of CDEN has a lot of relevance for the British  Council, especially in terms of its agenda to promote Indo – UK relations and Inter-cultural dialogue.’ – Chris Gibson, British Council, Chennai.

‘The CDEN appears to be an excellent innovation, creating stimulating international teaching links between anthropology departments, in particular between students in those departments. It is also innovative in creating links between academia and the community beyond, with its association with a Dublin youth project: a real example of getting the anthropological message across in a pragmatic way, beyond academia. Its focus on the anthropology of the emotions is very timely, given that this appears to be a recently developing sub-field of study within the discipline. Personally, I look forward to co-operating with it when my prospective Eurovision project develops further. I will be discussing this website with colleagues in my department at our next lengthy meeting.’ – Prof. Jeremy MacClancy, internal examiner for Anthropology at QUB, and Head of Anthropology Department, Brooks University Oxford.

‘I found your site through a simple google search.  I think the website is a great resource….. This is exactly the way we should be circulating anthropological knowledge’. – Prof Daromir Rudnyckyj, University of Victoria, Canada.

‘Considering the early days of the Cultural Dynamics and Emotions Network, the positive feedback and reports from the students showed that a majority found it both useful and inspiring.’ – Emilie Weiderud, former international QUB student and author of one of the two CSAP-funded reports on student assessment of CDEN.

‘CDEN is a valuable and growing international network of scholars and students promoting research into emotion analysis. In two years it has gone from strength to strength in facilitating broad virtual and visiting connections between artists, researchers, academics and cultural practitioners. The site has encouraged and supported the discussion and analysis of critical issues around emotion; interdisiciplinary and intercultural projects have been developed for teaching; and research results have been disseminated on a regular basis. CDEN therefore, provides a significant external face for emotion research within the disciplines of anthropology and ethnomusicology in Queen’s and anthropology in Chennai, and it should be recognised as a central forum for collaborative global research interests on emotions. In addition, it offers visible social, cultural and welfare impacts through partnership projects with external organisations, such as the stereotyping project that brought Indian and QUB anthropology students together with young people from Dublin Youth Services. These kinds of initiatives feed into Queen’s University strategies more widely, for knowledge transfer, developing working partnerships with different kinds of user groups and for the exploitation of research potential. The network is continuing to increase its numbers and types of scholars involved as well as expand the diversity of frameworks for emotion analysis. Consequently, the network has been well worth the investment given by the School’s Internationalisation fund for its establishment and it should continue to be supported as a critical research nexus.’ Prof. Fiona Magowan, Queens University of Belfast,  member of CDEN Advisory Board. 

‘The CDEN is an important, innovative and highly successful global network focussing on cultural dynamics and emotions. Set up in 2007, the CDEN is attracting attention from across the world, and its reputation keeps growing. Initially, the CDEN connected students, lecturers and artists in Belfast, Northern Ireland with Chennai, India, now it includes Canada, the United States, the UK and Scandinavia. There is an upsurge in the anthropology of emotions which makes the CDEN not only timely, but also most useful. In my own teaching, in the undergraduate course Studies in Cultural Form, I refer students to the CDEN web site for the Bibliography as well as the Virtual Visual Library. I also refer PhD students who have an interest in emotions and culture to the CDEN web site. The Stockholm students enjoy visiting the CDEN web site, and find it most useful. In my research and writings on the emotions, I also make use of the CDEN web site. I appreciate how quickly it has developed into a user-friendly as well as aesthetically appealing web site, with regard to form as well as contents, text as well as images. With the expansion of the sections on Research and Teaching, a list of references has been added as Resources with four themes on Grief, Death and Mourning; Memory and Trauma; Tourism and Emotions; and Music and Emotions. These themes are significant not least as they reach beyond research and teaching on the emotions and into other areas of anthropology and neighbouring disciplines such as sociology, European ethnology, and musicology. Dance and Emotions is another possible theme, which would be in line with my research interests. Together with Dr Jonathan Skinner, Queen´s University Belfast, I intend to organize a CDEN teaching project on dance and emotions. The peer-reviewed Working Papers Series is also important and certainly in line with the aims of CDEN to bring together students and scholars from across the globe. The idea to engage Artists in Virtual Residence on the CDEN website is impressive, and it has been most fruitfully implemented. This is an opportunity for artists such as the Ghanaian painter/poet/ performer George Hughes who lives in the United States, and Kate Hollett from Canada, to make use of Internet technology as artistic tools when they work on emotions, and also to present their work, and interact with students and scholars. For students, it is an inspiring section in their studies of art and emotions.  The CDEN directors Maruška Svašek and Kala Shreen should be applauded for this remarkable initiative. In only a few years, they have built a vibrant global network of research, teaching, outreach and events. It is clear that the Cultural Dynamics and Emotions Network should be given every possible opportunity to expand – Prof. Helena Wulff, University of Stockholm, member of CDEN Advisory Board