Overview
Background
I am an ethnomusicologist and anthropological linguist with a broad research interest in many aspects of music, language, culture and performance, with a particular interest in collaborative research with communities to support the continuity of vulnerable forms of performance.
I have carried out ethnographic research documentation on language and music with Portuguese Burghers in Sri Lanka, Irish speaking communities in the Aran Islands and Australia and Tamil speaking communities involved with Carnatic music in Australia. I have also worked on collaborative language and music projects with Aboriginal communities including Ngarigu as well as Mawng, Yolngu and Walrpiri communities as co-producer of the podcast Music!Dance!Culture!
My Postdoctoral Research Fellowship focuses on working with Aboriginal communities on supporting the continuity of their song language ecologies. This includes the Mudburra Songs project.
Availability
- Dr Mahesh White-Radhakrishnan is:
- Available for supervision
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy of Linguistics, Macquarie University
Research impacts
My research plays an important role in raising awareness about signficant creative expressions in a range of languages including vulnerable and endangered languages and traditions.
I have been recognised for my leadership in research communication though being awarded an ABC Top 5 (Arts) in 2022 (5 awarded nationally).
My expertise in creative research was recognised through the National Folk Fellowship 2022 (one awarded nationally).
My publications include the 2025 co-edited book 'Supporting Vulnerable Performance Traditions: Keeping it Going in Contexts of Continuity and Change' (Routledge), three book chapters, five journal articles and a range of non-traditional research outputs including research-based performances. My h-index on Scopus is 4.
I am also co-producer of Music!Dance!Culture! a scholarly podcast about across the world and the people who perform them.
Works
Search Professor Mahesh White-Radhakrishnan’s works on UQ eSpace
2026
Other Outputs
Yawulyu in Willowra - Learning to be who we are with Janet Nakamarra Long, Helen Napurrurla Morton and Megan Morais, Music!Dance!Culture! Episode 8.
Curran, Georgia, White-Radhakrishnan, Mahesh, Morais, Megan, Long, Janet Nakamarra and Morton, Helen Napurrurla (2026). Yawulyu in Willowra - Learning to be who we are with Janet Nakamarra Long, Helen Napurrurla Morton and Megan Morais, Music!Dance!Culture! Episode 8.. Australia: Georgia Curran and Mahesh White-Radhakrishnan.
2025
Book
Supporting vulnerable performance traditions: keeping it going in contexts of continuity and change
Georgia Curran and Mahesh White-Radhakrishnan eds. (2025). Supporting vulnerable performance traditions: keeping it going in contexts of continuity and change. New York, United States: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781032693965
2025
Book Chapter
Láánsas parmi napooy: squaring the circle on the "difficult" Portuguese Burgher lancers
White-Radhakrishnan, Mahesh (2025). Láánsas parmi napooy: squaring the circle on the "difficult" Portuguese Burgher lancers. Supporting vulnerable performance traditions: keeping it going in contexts of continuity and change. (pp. 63-84) edited by Georgia Curran and Mahesh White-Radhakrishnan. New York, United States: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781032693965-5
2025
Book Chapter
Contemporary issues of continuity and change for vulnerable performance traditions
Curran, Georgia, White-Radhakrishnan, Mahesh, Laoire, Lillis Ó., Ingram, Catherine, Ng, Nicholas and Napier, John (2025). Contemporary issues of continuity and change for vulnerable performance traditions. Supporting vulnerable performance traditions: keeping it going in contexts of continuity and change. (pp. 1-24) edited by Georgia Curran and Mahesh White-Radhakrishnan. New York, United States: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781032693965-1
2023
Book Chapter
Káfriinha, Kaffringha, and the Bailasphere—Sri Lanka and beyond
White-Radhakrishnan, Mahesh (2023). Káfriinha, Kaffringha, and the Bailasphere—Sri Lanka and beyond. Sounding the Indian Ocean: musical circulations in the Afro-Asiatic seascape. (pp. 274-293) edited by Jim Sykes and Julia Byl. Oakland, CA, United States: University of California Press. doi: 10.1525/luminos.160.n
2021
Journal Article
‘Shake it and dance': Portuguese Burgher identity and the performance of Káfriinha
Radhakrishnan, Mahesh (2021). ‘Shake it and dance': Portuguese Burgher identity and the performance of Káfriinha. Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 22 (2-3), 140-161. doi: 10.1080/14442213.2021.1922496
2021
Journal Article
The value of ethnographic research on music: an introduction
Curran, Georgia and Radhakrishnan, Mahesh (2021). The value of ethnographic research on music: an introduction. Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 22 (2-3), 101-118. doi: 10.1080/14442213.2021.1913511
2020
Journal Article
Documenting modern Sri Lanka Portuguese
Cardoso, Hugo C., Radhakrishnan, Mahesh, Costa, Patrícia and Pereira, Rui (2020). Documenting modern Sri Lanka Portuguese. Language Documentation and Conservation, 19.
2019
Journal Article
Musicolinguistic approaches to the study of song
Radhakrishnan, Mahesh (2019). Musicolinguistic approaches to the study of song. Performance Research, 24 (1), 53-57. doi: 10.1080/13528165.2019.1601943
2016
Journal Article
South Indian carnatic singing and Irish Sean-nós - an ethnographic, musical and linguistic comparison
Radhakrishnan, Mahesh (2016). South Indian carnatic singing and Irish Sean-nós - an ethnographic, musical and linguistic comparison. Folk Life, 54 (1), 32-48. doi: 10.1080/04308778.2016.1159791
2014
Other Outputs
Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) longitudinal study 2011-2014: final report
Yates, Lynda, Terraschke, Agnes, Zielinski, Beth, Pryor, Elizabeth, Wang, Jihong, Major, George, Radhakrishnan, Mahesh, Middleton, Heather, Chisari, Maria and Williams Tetteh, Vera (2014). Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) longitudinal study 2011-2014: final report. Sydney, NSW, Australia Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University.
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Mahesh White-Radhakrishnan is:
- Available for supervision
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Media
Enquiries
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