Does a tree falling in a forest make any sound if there is no one there to hear it?

In this seminar, we’ll attempt to put together a number of different ways of thinking about sound, from the biopolitical (sound as what binds and disrupts the community) to the phenomenological (sound as a “vibrational practice” that unites the subject with the surrounding space) to environmental humanities (sound as a marker of the health of environment — as well as what disrupts it), all trying to understanding sound as one of the principal ways we understand our environment — also as a political space. Readings include Esposito, Agamben, Waltham-Smith, Eidsheim, Cavarero, Merleau-Ponty, Sterne, Lacoue-Labarthe, Calvino, Proust, and more; equally importantly, we will listen to a wide variety of speech, music (particularly Chris Cerrone’s award-winning opera of Invisible Cities) and noise.

Thursdays 2:00-5:00