Research

Academic Profile

Nina Graeff holds Bachelors Degrees in Communication Sciences and Music, which she studied in her hometown and in France. Nina holds a Master Degree in “Transcultural Music Studies” from the Institute of Musicology Weimar-Jena, Germany, where she also worked as Research Fellow of the project “Global Music Database” until 2012.

From October 2013 till January 2017, Nina Graeff pursued her Ph.D. in “Anthropology of Education” with a fellowship of the international Research Program “Interart Studies” of the Free University of Berlin.

Her Ph.D. thesis received “summa cum laude” (highest distinction) in January 2017.  She worked as research fellow of the UNESCO Chair for Transcultural Music Studies in Weimar till receiving her current postdoctoral HONORS Fellowship from the Free Univerisity of Berlin in March 2018. In 2015 her first book was published: “The rhythms of the circle: Tradition and Transformation in Samba de Roda” (in Portuguese). Nina held seminars at the Institute of Musicology Weimar-Jena and the Humboldt University of Berlin.

Research Areas

Samba de Roda & Heritage
Samba de Roda & Heritage
Dancing the past
2009-2011
Master research on Samba de Roda from Recôncavo da Bahia, UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage
Global Music Database
Global Music Database
Capturing Rhythms
2011-2012
Interdisciplinary research project on automatic retrieval of musical rhythms
Candomblé, Transculturality & Embodiment
Candomblé, Transculturality & Embodiment
Transcending experience
2013-2017
Ph.D. research on the transcultural embodiment of Afro-Brazilian Candomblé religion in Brazil and Berlin
Cultural Diversity & Sustainability
Cultural Diversity & Sustainability
Sustaining culture
2018
Postdoctoral research on the potential of cultural activities for fostering diversity and social integration