Seminar: Problems in Performance Studies (515-0-1)

Topic

Listening: Methods and Issues

Instructors

Shayna Silverstein
shayna.silverstein@northwestern.edu

Meeting Info

Wirtz 225 Instruct Black Box 2: Tues 10:00AM - 12:50PM

Overview of class

Acoustic experiences are integral to the (trans)formation of modern subjectivity. This course brings critical discourses on listening and sound studies into conversation with performance studies by engaging with critical and phenomenological perspectives on sound, embodiment, and society. We address how listening practices shape identity and subject formation by discussing historical and contemporary studies in sound arts, popular music, and aural traditions, among others. Course readings draw from the fields of sound studies, philosophy, musicology and ethnomusicology, performance studies, and media studies, including texts by Ihde, Nancy, Sterne, Eidsheim, Kheshti, Labelle, Daughtry, Hirschkind, and Kapchan. Listening materials range from soundmaps, podcasts, and other popular expressions to sound installations and performance events by artists such as Francisco Lopez and Lawrence Abu Hamdan that challenge issues of representation and power. Finally we will craft our own listening practices through weekly prompts as an effort to amplify our work as researchers, artists, and listeners.

Class Attributes

Graduate Students Only