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Introduction to Sound Studies (500-0-20)

Instructors

Neil Verma

Meeting Info

Helmerich Auditorium: Thurs 11:00AM - 1:50PM

Overview of class

As techniques for sonic expression have grown more sophisticated - from installation art to narrative podcasts and video games - the questions that we bring to bear on sound and its place in our lives and histories have also begun to evolve. This course aims to give sound professionals a grounding in that conversation by immersing them in Sound Studies, a field that occupies an intersection between the arts, social sciences and humanities, and seeks to shed light on the histories, social conflicts and philosophical problems that arise from sound and listening in various cultures.



Sound Studies helps us to understand how music works through media forms, interprets and unpacks great soundtracks and albums, uncovers the history of the technologies that we use, asks how hearing changes over time and across cultures, looks at the politics and social conflicts behind forms of vocal expression and mixing, and calls attention to sonic dimensions of environments. Sound Studies also provides raw ideas for podcasts, films and other sound works - a great many sound artists today ground their work in the key texts of this academic field.



Each week in this course, we begin by considering key questions in Sound Studies today, then look at sonic works that help us to explore those questions. Though much of our emphasis will be on sound in popular forms of media, we will also consider various forms of sound technology, sound art, and performance. Students will be introduced to a range of sound-based industries and learn how they work together. Key works of sound art and design will demonstrate the aesthetics of sound, for example: the expressive ways in which sounds are combined with images in media culture; and how mediated sounds facilitate new encounters with the lived environment. Students will gain an understanding of how sound mediates identity and provides a medium for cultural expression.

Learning Objectives


  • To give sound producers a sense of the guiding questions, concepts and projects in sound studies today.


  • To acquaint students with the histories of the devices, techniques and industries shaping sound production across cultures, and particularly with how politics and social difference shape sound creation and reception.


  • To break down the walls between sound theory and sound practice by focusing on how key innovations have inspired both.


  • To inspire original thinking about sound that is rooted in its multi-model past and future.

Class Materials (Required)

None

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: REASON: Pre-registration is not allowed for this class. Please try again during regular registration.
Add Consent: Department Consent Required