Collaborate with Dr. Meng Qu
Serious research. Curious minds. A little fun along the way.
For Research Visits, Tours, and Collaboration
I welcome visiting fellows, research collaborators, and research tour proposals that align closely with my work on rural and island revitalization, art and creative tourism, and community development.
I am particularly interested in collaborations with the potential to produce internationally competitive research and publications in leading international journals. Research tour proposals should have a clear academic purpose and may involve field visits, knowledge exchange, institutional collaboration, or the development of joint research.
When contacting me, please briefly describe the proposed theme, participants, preferred dates, funding arrangements, expected outcomes, and its connection to my research. Given my current commitments, priority will be given to well-developed proposals with clear potential for sustained collaboration and high-quality research outputs.
Unfortunately, due to limited time and research capacity, I am unable to respond positively to every inquiry.
In most cases, I prefer prospective MA/PhD students to begin as Research Students/Kenkyusei (non-degree) before applying for a degree program. This serves as a period to assess academic fit, research ability, communication, reliability, and project feasibility.
Research Student status is not an easier route to MA/PhD admission and does not guarantee subsequent admission or continued supervision. Applicants are expected to meet the same basic academic standards described below.
See more info on:
https://www.researchgate.net/lab/Meng-Qu-Lab
For Applicants:
［Master's Course］Integrated Arts and Human Sciences Program, Hiroshima University
［Doctoral Programs］Integrated Arts and Human Sciences Program, Hiroshima University
For Prospective Master’s and PhD Students
IMPORTANT: OFFICIAL CONTACT PROCEDURE
If you currently reside outside Japan, please do not contact me directly regarding supervision before completing Hiroshima University’s official procedure through the International Admissions Assistant System (IAAS).
https://www.iao.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/
Under Hiroshima University’s procedure, the International Admissions Office (IAO) first confirms your eligibility. If you meet the relevant requirements, your application materials will then be formally forwarded to me through the university. I will review prospective students only after this process has been completed.
Please do not send me separate requests for proposal review, preliminary assessment, or online meetings before your case has been forwarded through the official procedure.
ACADEMIC SELF-CHECK
Before applying to work with me, please consider whether you meet the following expectations:
☐ I have a focused research question with a potential theoretical contribution, rather than simply a broad topic, interesting case, or geographical interest.
☐ I have critically read at least 2–3 of Professor Qu’s relevant publications and can identify what I would question, revise, or approach differently.
☐ I can explain how my research question emerged from the literature and justify my theoretical framework, case selection, methodology, and fieldwork design.
☐ I can independently explain and defend every substantive element of my proposal.
☐ I can explain specifically why Professor Qu is an appropriate supervisor and identify where my project may fall outside his expertise. General overlap in keywords such as tourism, islands, culture, rural, or sustainability is not sufficient.
☐ My project is feasible within the degree period, and I have checked the university’s academic, language, and application requirements.
☐ I have a realistic funding plan.
I do not consider:
-
Template, AI-generated, or mass-distributed applications.
-
Applications based on templates provided by study-abroad agencies, application consultants, or private preparatory schools.
-
Superficially personalized materials that reproduce or repackage information from my website or publications without demonstrating independent academic judgment.
-
Personalization is not evidence of academic fit. I am interested in your academic judgment, not in how accurately an application reproduces information about my research.
Meeting these criteria does not guarantee supervision or admission.
Meeting these criteria does not guarantee supervision or admission.
Fieldwork in the Seto Inland Sea
Island-Hopping acdemic conference in the Seto Inland Sea
Co-creating Research and Art Exhibitions with Islaners
Or… let’s make something very, very wrong.
Ongoing Research Grants & Projects
2025–2030, JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) 25K15694
Community Embedded Art and Rural Revitalization: Comparative Studies
from Australia, Italy, China and Japan
This study examines how art in rural areas contributes to community revitalization in Australia, Italy, China, and Japan, focusing on socially engaged and community-embedded art practices. By comparing eight case studies, it explores art’s role in fostering entrepreneurship, tourism, and social resilience. Key questions include how community-embedded art drives social change, how Creative Geography enhances outcomes, and what lessons can be applied across countries. The study combines qualitative methods to assess the success and failure of rural art projects.
2026-2027, FY2026 Hiroshima University Comprehensive Research Promotion Project, From ‘Tide-Readers’ to Creative Entrepreneurs: The Transformation of Embodied Maritime Knowledge and Cultural Creation in the Setouchi Islands
This project examines how creative entrepreneurs transform the Setouchi Islands’ maritime knowledge, cultural heritage, and local resources into contemporary social and economic value. Through comparative case studies, interviews, participant observation, and archival research, it explores how in-migrants and knowledge holders act as cultural translators, connecting local identities with creative tourism and community-based enterprise. The project develops a neo-endogenous, regenerative framework for resource-specific island revitalisation.
2024–2026, The British Academy’s Knowledge Frontiers: International Interdisciplinary Research Programme 2024 KF8\230027 (Co-PI)
INTANGIBLE: Understanding the Socio-cultural Dimensions of Island Population Change
in Scotland, England, Canada and Japan
Island depopulation is a global phenomenon, prompting revitalisation initiatives focused largely on attracting migrants through jobs, housing, and infrastructure. Less attention is given to social and cultural change, despite its importance for newcomer retention, integration, and cultural heritage. Addressing this gap, we study islands in Scotland, England, Canada, and Japan. Combining life-history interviews with ‘Photovoice+’ method, we use audiovisual media to document residents’ experiences of sociocultural change into a film.
Intangible | A film about island cultural change in Scotland, England, Canada and Japan
2023–2028, JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) 23K28334 (Co-Investigator)
Tourism Transformation in East Asian Islands: Toward New Spatial Creation in the Post-COVID Era
This study adopts a transformative approach to tourism that advances social and ecological justice. Drawing on cases from East Asian islands, it aims to develop practical recommendations by addressing three objectives:
-
To identify the problems and challenges of existing tourism systems on East Asian islands through case studies.
-
To examine the processes and mechanisms through which tourism’s “material spaces” are produced and governed, and explore ways to enhance social and ecological justice.
-
To examine how tourism’s “imagined spaces” are constructed and governed, and explore ways to strengthen local communities’ rights and creative capacities.
2023–2028, JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) 23K28329 (Co-Investigator)
Theoretical and Empirical Research on Intercultural Conflict and Creative Dialogue in Tourism
This study investigates the mechanisms through which intercultural conflicts—clashes and frictions—emerge in tourism. It focuses on polyphony, understood as the differences and boundaries formed or reinforced between individuals and groups through processes of intercultural dialogue.
Building on this analysis, the study examines the conditions under which creative dialogue can emerge—dialogue that accommodates polyphony and promotes mutual understanding among interpretive communities—through an empirical comparison of international cases. In this study, tourism is defined as a series of intercultural dialogues with others concerning differing interpretations of place-based content and its narrative worlds.
