
Dr Mark Higgins
Current positions
Honorary Research Associate
Department of Anthropology and Archaeology
Contact
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Biography
General Editor of the current issue of Question Journal. Co-organiser of the Low End Theories conference (May 2023). Project Lead at Clifton Suspension Bridge Trust, designing sound-based education workshops for KS2 students. President and workshop organiser for the University of Bristol Poetry and Creative Writing Society (2023-2024). Research disseminated at the IASPM UK and Ireland conference (2020) and the ACM Web Science conference (2021) and BFE-RMA annual conferences (2020, 2021, 2022). Co-authored publications in Question Journal and the Journal for Education in Museums and a forthcoming edited collection.
Research interests
I am a musicologist specialising in musical texture and timbre, electronic dance music in particular. My academic expertise and interests include genre in popular music, music histories, music technology, intermediality and intertextuality, ecocriticism, cultural dynamics, and creative agency. My methodological experience encompasses music analysis, historiography, ethnography, qualitative data analysis, ecosemiotic hermenutics, actor-network theory, media archaeology, as well as a novel applications of spectrographic and AI tools for music information retrieval (MIR).
Served as General Editor of issue 9 of Question Journal. Co-organiser of the Low End Theories conference (May 2023). Project Lead at Clifton Suspension Bridge Trust, designing sound-based education workshops for KS2 students. President and workshop organiser for the University of Bristol Poetry and Creative Writing Society (2023-2024). Research disseminated at the IASPM UK and Ireland conference (2020) and the ACM Web Science conference (2021) and BFE-RMA annual conferences (2020, 2021, 2022), Hype Studies conference (2025) and Culture of Attractions conference (2025). Co-authored publications in Question Journal and the Journal for Education in Museums, and a solo authored chapter in a forthcoming edited collection.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Challenging the Harmful Logics of Digital Engagement Algorithms by Fostering Empathetic Connections through Music and Sound
Role
Co-Principal Investigator
Description
The initial phase of this project looks at the kinds of empathetic bonds people form through sharing music with each other.Managing organisational unit
Department of Anthropology and ArchaeologyDates
01/04/2026 to 31/07/2026
If the Bridge Had Ears
Principal Investigator
Description
Sound-based education workshop designManaging organisational unit
Bristol Doctoral CollegeDates
01/08/2023 to 31/12/2023
Publications
Selected publications
01/05/2025If The Bridge Had Ears
Journal of Education in Museums
Mail Coaches, Telegraphs and the Internet
Question
Recent publications
01/05/2025If The Bridge Had Ears
Journal of Education in Museums
Mail Coaches, Telegraphs and the Internet
Question
Thesis
The Evolution of Dubstep
Supervisors
Award date
20/01/2026