Class Archeology and Sound Landscapes

This discipline intends to examine different ways of thinking about the world of sound and provoke a certain kind of deep listening focused on issues relevant to society and culture. Aiming to introduce students to the field of Sound Studies and familiarize them with current debates and issues in this area, the aim is to help them develop a broader understanding of the relationship between sensory experience - listening - and the environment, be it social, natural, political or historical. Students will explore a variety of listening practices while examining the creative, political, and social dimensions of sound. Topics covered include specific aspects of auditory culture such as: sound, silence and noise; sound art and its connection to ethical, political and ecological issues; archeology and acoustic ecology; environmental, prehistoric, architectural and urban sounds; sound recording and soundscape analysis, among others.

1. Introduction: Thinking with the Ears
2. Acoustic Archeology
3. Soundscape, Identity and Community
4. Creative Listening Methods and Processes
5. Voice and Orality
6. Poetics of Noise
7. Commodification of Silence
8. Aural architecture and the “voice” of buildings
9. Anthropology and Sonic Geography
10. The use of Sound in the Media
11. Sound Art as Public Art
12. Ecology and Environment in Contemporary Sound Art

By examining different perspectives on the world of sound and promoting deep listening, the methodologies of this course will provide students with opportunities to immerse themselves in the sound experience, stimulating a deeper understanding of the complex interactions between sound, society and culture. This requires an interdisciplinary approach that involves active listening practices, critical analysis of works of sound art, ethical and political debates, and exploration of the environmental and architectural dimensions of sound. The active participation of students will be encouraged, allowing them to explore the soundscape in a practical way and reflect on its social, political and historical meaning.

Augoyard, Jean-François and Torgue, Henry. 2005. Sonic Experience – A Guide to Everyday Sounds, McGill-Queen’s University Press, Québec

Blesser, B. & L.-R. Salter, 2007. Spaces Speak, Are You Listening? Experiencing aural architecture. Cambridge,MA: MIT Press.

LaBelle, B., 2010. Acoustic Territories / Sound Culture and Everyday Life. New York: Continuum International.

Schafer, R. Murray. 1994 (1977). The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World. Rochester: Destiny Books

Thompson, Emily, 2002, The Soundscape of Modernity: architectural acoustics and culture of listening in America, 1900-1933. Cambridge: MIT Press