Dr Thomas McKean

Dr Thomas McKean
Dr Thomas McKean
Dr Thomas McKean

PhD, University of Edinburgh (1993); AB, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH (1983)

Lecturer

About
Email Address
t.a.mckean@abdn.ac.uk
Telephone Number
+44 (0)1224 273882
Telephone Number
+44 (0)1224 272996
Office Address

The Elphinstone Institute MacRobert Building King's College Aberdeen AB24 5UA

School/Department
School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture

Biography

I am a folklorist specializing in Scots and Gaelic song, along with custom and belief, community craft traditions and their relevance in today's world, and fieldwork methodology. Of particular interest is the relationship of traditional practices to the individual, the role of creativity in tradition, and how traditional skills can help build individual and community resilience in challenging times.

As part of the James Madison Carpenter Project team, I have been working with cylinder and disc recordings of North-East singers made between 1929 and 1935, leading towards publication of a critical edition of the collection. The project has been funded by the British Academy and the National Endowment for the Humanities under the auspices of the American Folklore Society, and in association with the Library of Congress, Washington, DC (www.abdn.ac.uk/elphinstone/carpenter).

Ongoing research with boatbuilding traditions looks at the idea of 'knowing by doing': how people young and old learn embodied craft skills by imitation, proximity, and osmosis, and how these skills enhance people's cultural confidence and self esteem.

My postgraduate teaching includes Custom and Belief, Scots and Gaelic Song, along with Fieldwork and Archiving methodology. I have organized a number of conferences, including the 1999 and 2007 Kommission für Volksdichtung ballad conference.

In 1993, I established the North East Folklore Archive at Mintlaw, Aberdeenshire as part of my work as Traditional Music Resident for Banff and Buchan District Council (now Aberdeeenshire), 1993-1996. The archive has continued to develop under the direction of Gavin Sutherland and much of my fieldwork material is now available on the web at the Banff and Buchan Collection.

Research

Current Research

Current research includes:

  • Scotland's fire festivals, particularly the burning of the Clavie in Burghead, Moray;
  • Creativity within traditional forms
  • Craft traditions and knowing by doing
  • New England vernacular architecture;
  • The effects of field collection in the North-East;
  • Macaronic song traditions;
  • The relationship of memory and song in west coast Gaelic communities.
Publications

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  • Folklore is Not about Communication

    McKean, T.
    Contributions to Conferences: Oral Presentations
  • Singing Families of Aberdeenshire

    McKean, T.
    Contributions to Conferences: Oral Presentations
  • Digitizing and Editing the James Madison Carpenter Collection

    McKean, T.
    Contributions to Conferences: Oral Presentations
  • Tradition and Modernity: Gaelic Bards in the Twentieth Century

    McKean, T.
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Entries for Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
  • Willie Mathieson and the Primary Audience for Traditional Song

    McKean, T.
    Contributions to Conferences: Oral Presentations
  • Triangulating Significance and Beauty in the James Madison Carpenter Collection

    McKean, T.
    Contributions to Conferences: Papers
  • Scotland

    McKean, T.
    Encyclopedia of World Folklore. Clements, W. (ed.). Greenwood Press
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
  • 'Specimens of Sly and Beautiful Allegory’, Review of Jacobite Relics

    McKean, T.
    Studies in Hogg and His World
    Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles
  • Scholarly notes to CD: Elizabeth Stewart, Binnorrie: Songs, Ballads, and Tunes

    McKean, T.
    University of Aberdeen: Elphinstone Institute (Print). 32 pages.
    Other Contributions: Other Contributions
  • The Stewarts of Fetterangus and Literate Oral Tradition

    McKean, T.
    The Singer and the Scribe: European Ballad Traditions and European Ballad Cultures, pp. 181-207, 26 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
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