Gift Chutikan Chaikittiwatana, PhD Student

Chutikan is an MA/PhD student in Critical Music Studies. With the current focus on audience studies, Chutikan’s research interests broadly encompass the relationship between modes of communication in popular culture, media technologies, digital spaces, and sociopolitical conditions in East and Southeast Asia. Additionally, Chutikan recognizes the crucial role of public intellectuals and is enthusiastic about exploring possibilities for making intellectual work more accessible to the general public. Apart from her academic pursuits, Chutikan is a classical pianist. Acknowledged by the New York Concert Review for her “demonstrative pianism” and “straightforward but genuine musicality,” Chutikan has performed in Thailand, Singapore, China, France, Italy, Austria, and the US. Chutikan holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in music performance from Michigan State University, where she taught secondary class-piano and private lessons.