Critical & Reflective Inquiry: Keywords in Sound
CRN
Course Number
Credits
Course Description
201A: Critical and Reflective Inquiry
Topic: Keywords in Sound
5 Credits
Scholars in sound studies use sound “to ask big questions about their cultural moments and the crises and problems of their times” (Jonathan Sterne, The Sound Studies Reader. Routledge, 2012: 3).
In this class we will use a keywords approach to investigate topics in sound: Silence, Technology, Noise, Environment, Space, Voice. We will examine these concepts as literal phenomena and as broader metaphorical concepts in culture. For example, silence means the absence of physical sound. But silence also means lacking a (political) voice. Or silence can be an action, as in to be silenced. (Or the inverse, as a form of resistance: an un-silencing.)
Sound studies is inherently interdisciplinary, drawing on elements of multiple topics and fields. Therefore, students of many interests should participate:
Sound activism, sound and technology, sound and race, sound in media, deafness studies, psychology of sound / sound perception, sound and gender, sound in post-colonial studies (“sound imperialism”), sound as an expressive art (sound in film, music, multi-media art, etc.)
Regardless of field or topic, sound studies asks that we examine our world through the framework of sound.
Prerequisites
Admission to Fairhaven College
Materials Fee
Required Texts
1) Novak, David and Matt Sakakeeny, editors. Keywords in Sound. Duke University Press, 2015.
2) Hopper, Jessica. The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic. Expanded edition, MCD XFSG Originals, 2021.
3) Graff, Gerald and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say / I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. 5th ed., W. W. Norton, 2021.
Credit/Evaluation
S/NX grading; narrative evaluation
Students will complete 2 papers and 1 creative sound project. Students will complete reading assignments for every class meeting. Students will be expected to actively engage with the topics and their peers at the seminar table.
Assignments:
1. Students will complete a research project in a topic of particular interest to them, which may draw from any of the above (or other) areas of study.
Assignments:
1. Students will complete a research project in a topic of particular interest to them, which may draw from any of the above (or other) areas of study.
2. Students will write a personal reflection paper addressing some element of sound in their lived experience (past or present).
3. Students will make a creative sound piece using sounds they create, found sounds, field recordings, etc. No technical experience is required in sound editing or music; Rather only a desire to engage with the world and express through sound.