The Audiovisualities Lab continues to explore diverse approaches to working with/in sound with our vibrant sound studies workshop series.

On November 13, 2014, the Lab gathered for workshop #2, Listening Across Media. In lieu of a writing workshop, this listening workshop sought to create a space for sound scholars and artists to share a sound-based project that has been formative to their own work. With brief presentations by Sinan Goknur (Duke, Art, Art History, & Visual Studies), Neo Muyanga (Composer & Wiser-Duke Writing Fellow), Eddie Davis (Duke, Music), we discussed listening as a key mode of engagement and analysis. In particular, questions explored included: rather than assume we know what listening is or does, what are some of the ways in which we can think more carefully about the ways in which we become attuned to sounds? And yet, writing remains an important form of inscribing sound – ​so what are some ways we might think about writing effectively about sound? And finally, how might we think with silence as well as sound?

On January 29, 2015 we gathered for workshop #3, Sonic Pedagogies.  This workshop involved a sharing diverse approaches to teaching sound in order to explore what sound achieves in the classroom for respective disciplines, featuring “Lightening Talks” from Mary Caton Lingold (Duke, English), Dr. Susan Peters (Duke, Biology, The Nowicki Lab), Dr. David Font, (Duke, Thompson Writing Program), and Dr. Josh Stohl (Duke, Pratt School of Engineering & MED-EL Corporation). Following these presentations, we discussed: How can scholars facilitate learning about and with the sonic? How can audio materials, technologies, and listening practices be incorporated into a largely reading- and writing-based learning environment? How can different disciplinary modes of analysis complement each other?

Future workshops: 

Workshop 4: Sound, situated : Thursday, Feb. 26, 5-7pm

Workshop 5: Bridging writing and production : Thursday, March 19, 5-7pm

To learn more about events at The Audiovisualities Lab, please visit our website.

For questions or inquiries regarding the workshop series, please contact:

Joella Bitter (joella.bitter@duke.edu), PhD Student of Cultural Anthropology, Duke University.