Sound and Experience

Code

CULT3030

School

Cultural, Media and Visual Studies

Level

3

Credits

20

Semesters

Autumn UK

Summary

Sound is everywhere in our lives, from the music we play to the way we speak, from the pings on our phones to the noises next door. This module takes a listening approach to media and cultural studies, asking: what do sounds tell us about the cultures that produce them? Media, communication, and culture take shape in sound. Loudspeakers and microphones, radio broadcasts and MP3 files, podcasts and sound effects, the tone of our voice and who gets to be heard; these are all questions of making, re-making, and hearing sound. How can we listen to these ‘soundscapes’ critically? The module will focus on the connection between ‘soundscapes’ – the sounds that surround us in our everyday lives – and ‘soundselves,’ the identities and selfhoods that are produced by hearing. How do sounds make us feel belonging or exclusion in our gendered identities, in our ethnic and national identities, in our towns, cities and regions, in our social media networks, and elsewhere? On this module we will listen across the usual divides of music, noise, voice, and ambiance to centre hearing and listening as cultural activities that shape place, identity, belonging and power. The module introduces students to the new field of sound studies, an interdisciplinary area that seeks to understand the connections between different forms of sound – music, radio, podcasts, soundtracks, sound effects, voice, noise, and more – and the role that these sounds play in the wider worlds of media, culture, and society.

Target Students

Only available to BA International Media and Communication Studies students, BA Film and Television Studies students, BA History of Art students and BA Liberal Arts students.

Classes

• One 3-hour workshop each week for 10 weeks

Assessment

• 40% Coursework 1: Listening Diary (750 words)
• 60% Coursework 2: Research Project (2750-word essay or 10-minute podcast plus 750-word critical commentary)

Assessed by end of autumn semester

Educational Aims

Learning Outcomes

​Knowledge and Understanding:   

Knowledge and robust critical understanding of the range of theories, approaches, concepts and principles that constitute the interdisciplinary field of sound studies and an appreciation of the development and trajectories of this field (A2) 

The ability to evaluate and discriminate between theories about and approaches to the study of sound, hearing and listening (A3) 

knowledge of sound’s cultural meanings historically and in the present day (A4) 

Intellectual Skills:  

Knowledge of how to locate and analyse primary sources in auditory culture, including paper, electronic and audio-visual media (B1)  

The ability to evaluate theories, arguments and assumptions about sound using appropriate approaches and vocabularies from the field of sound studies to form judgments and conclusions (B2) 

To have devised and sustained arguments and analyses, applying the methods, theories and techniques learned to specific auditory cultures (B3) 

To have discerned the costs and benefits of particular theoretical approaches and methodologies to solving problems in particular social and cultural contexts in relation to sound (B4) 

Listening critically to a variety of sounds (B6) 

Transferable/key skills:  

understanding of sound studies’ relevance to contemporary practice in a variety of professional spheres (D1) 

the ability to work with a range of non-textual sources, such as music, film, and sound recordings (D2) 

Reflexivity about their own position as a listener and the ethical and political implications of listening as research (D4) 

planning and organisation skills, in particular the ability to respond to deadlines, negotiate with others, and manage resources (D6) 

​confidence in exploring new and emerging issues drawing upon variety of academic and non-academic resources, and in acquiring new competencies and skills (D7)

Conveners

• Professor James Mansell