Two external advisors serve as a sounding board for the research group.
Prof. James Undercofler, Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA, for advise in relation to the music profession.
Prof. dr. dr. Peter Alheit, Georg August University, Göttingen, Germany, for scientific advice.
Professor James Undercofler
James Undercofler holds positions as Artistic Director of the National (US) Orchestral Institute at the University of Maryland, special consultant to Ithaca College for the creation of degree programmes in entrepreneurship in the arts, and that of professor, part-time in arts administration at Drexel University. He has held positions as President and CEO of The Philadelphia Orchestra, Dean and Professor of Music Education at the Eastman School of Music, Executive and Founding Director of the Perpich Center for Arts Education (formerly known as the Minnesota Center for Arts Education) and Director of the Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven, Connecticut.
Mr. Undercofler’s background includes activity as a French horn player, youth orchestra conductor, as well as that of an active teacher. His education includes degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Yale University and extensive post-masters study at the University of Connecticut. He serves on numerous not-for-profit boards, including the League of American Orchestras, the American Music Center, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Alarm Will Sound, Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra and (polyphonic.org). Over his long career he has been the recipient of numerous awards and citations, and has been a featured speaker at national and international conferences.
James Undercofler currently serves as Senior Advisor to The Philadelphia Orchestra and teaches arts leadership at the University of Pennsylvania. His work with the Philadelphia Orchestra was characterized by innovations in digital media delivery systems and connecting the orchestra within the Philadelphia community in deeply meaningful connections.
At the Eastman School of Music Undercofler created the Institute for Music Leadership, a multi-faceted and distinctive organization directed toward educating the music student of and for the future. The Institute offers programs, degree programs and professional development that range from those focused on entrepreneurship to those dealing with major policy issues in the arts. Undercofler’s work in Minnesota was to create a statewide arts education organization that included both a statewide residential high school for students talented in the performing and visual arts, and a statewide resource center for arts education at the K-12 level. During his first 3 years there he wrote, advocated for and effected passage of legislation that enabled the organization to exist and grow, and enabled funding for both programming and facilities. During the remainder of his time there he created innovative curricular programs at the high school, as well as within the resource center.
Also read James Undercofler's blog post on teaching arts entrepreneurs.
Professor Dr. Dr. Peter Alheit, (scientific advisor)
Peter Alheit can be considered a world expert on biographical research and lifelong learning. He studied Theology, Philosophy and Sociology and holds PhDs in the Philosophy of Religion and in Social Sciences. From 1978 to 1994 Peter Alheit was Professor of Non-institutional Adult Education at the University of Bremen. He became Director of the Institute for Applied Biographical and Lifeworld Research at the University of Bremen in 1993. Peter Alheit has been Professor of General Pedagogy at the Georg August University in Goettingen since 1998. He was one of the founders of the European Society for Research in the Education of Adults (ESREA) in 1991 and has held numerous guest professorships, including the Humboldt Professorship of the Danish Research Academy in1994-95.
Peter Alheit has been involved in a number of European research projects, lately in the project ‘Access and Retention: Experiences of Non-traditional Learners in Higher Education, which investigates the relationship between positive learning experiences of non-traditional groups (younger and adults) and widening access to higher education. The research aims at identifying strategies for change, including accessibility of knowledge through appropriate ‘adult friendly’ pedagogies.
Peter Alheit is a member of the editorial board of various international research journals. His publications include numerous articles, studies and monographies in several languages. A brief overview of recent publications can be found below.
Selected Monographies
2009, with Frank Schömer, Der Aufsteiger. Autobiographische Zeugnisse zu einem Prototypen der Moderne von 1800 bis heute, Frankfurt, New York: Campus
2007, with Bettina Dausien: En el curso dela vida. Educación, formación, biograficidad y género, Valencia: Denes Editorial
2006, with Morten Brandt, Autobiographie und ästhetische Erfahrung. Entstehung und Wandel des Selbst in der Moderne, Frankfurt, New York: Campus
2004, with Kerstin Bast-Haider und Petra Drauschke, Die zögernde Ankunft im Westen. Biographien und Mentalitäten in Ostdeutschland. Frankfurt, New York: Campus
2004, with Hanna Haack, Die vergessene „Autonomie" der Arbeiter. Eine Studie zum frühen Scheitern der DDR am Beispiel der Neptunwerft, Berlin: Karl Dietz Verlag
Articles
2009, with Bettina Dausien: ‘Biographie’ in den Sozialwissenschaften. Anmerkungen zu historischen und aktuellen Problemen einer Forschungsperspektive. In: Bernhard Fetz (Hg.( Die Biographie – Zur Grundlegung ihrer Theorie, Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter, 285-315
2009, „Diskurspolitik": Lebenslanges Lernen als postmodernes Machtspiel? In: Peter Alheit und Heide von Felden (Hg.), Lebenslanges Lernen und erziehungswissenschaftliche Biographieforschung. Konzepte und Forschung im europäischen Diskurs, Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 77-88
2009, Bildungsmentalitäten. Ein Vergleich der Entwicklung in drei postsozialistischen Gesellschaften. In: Wolfgang Melzer und Rudolf Tippelt (Hg.), Kulturen der Bildung. Beiträge zum 21. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Erziehungswissenschaft, Opladen & Farmington Hills: Verlag Barbara Budrich, 25-43
2009, Biographical Learning – Within the New Lifelong Learning Discourse. In: Knud Illeries (Ed.), Contemporary Learning Theories. Learning theorists in their own words, London: Routledge, 116-128
2008, Wechselnde Muster der Selbstpräsentation. Zum Wandel autobiographischer „Formate" in der Moderne. In: Heide von Felden (Hg.), Perspektiven erziehungswissenschaftlicher Biographieforschung, Wiesbaden: VS Verlag, 29-46
2008, Lebenslanges Lernen und soziales Kapital. In: Heidrun Herzberg (Hg.), Lebenslanges Lernen. Theoretische Perspektiven und empirische Befunde im Kontext der Erwachsenenbildung, Frankfurt am Main u.a.: Peter Lang, 13-30
2007, with Bettina Dausien, Lifelong Learning and Biography: A Competitive Dynamic Between the Macro- and the Micro-Levels of Education. In: Linden West, Peter Alheit, Anders Siig Andersen and Barbara Merrill (eds.), Using Biographical and Life History Approaches in the Study of Adult and Lifelong Learning: European Perspectives, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 57-70