Technologies and Sound Studies

This seminar introduces participants to the interdisciplinary field of sound studies. Broadly, sound studies scholars investigate how sound functions as an historical, material, and cultural object. We will read authors whose disciplinary homes are in musicology, ethnomusicology, music theory, sociology (of music), science and technology studies, history of science, eco-criticism, and cultural studies. The course begins with historical modes of listening, moves to consider the shaping power of technologies, investigates the role of sound in defining cultural, natural, and public spaces and finally queries the role of sound with/in the body, via noise, deafness, and voice. 
 
Over the course of the quarter, we will work hard at developing the tools of research and scholarship. We will read a lot with the goal of understanding the contours, themes, and major scholars in a new field. We will place as much value on being able to assess the state of the field and position our arguments within it, as we will on being able to perform critical close readings of other scholars’ works. Participants will work throughout the quarter on an independent research project on a topic of their choosing and present in a class conference in the final weeks of the quarter. The text and slides you prepare for the conference will serve as the final paper in the course.