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Study information

Sound and Society

Module titleSound and Society
Module codeANT3090
Academic year2024/5
Credits15
Module staff

Professor Tom Rice (Convenor)

Duration: Term123
Duration: Weeks

11

Number students taking module (anticipated)

30

Module description

This module explores the relationships between culture and the acoustic worlds in which people live. You will consider how the production and reception or interpretation of sound is shaped by human belief and practice. You will consider questions such as: What role does sound play in cultural and social life, past and present, close and distant? Why is a ‘sound’ in one community considered to be another's ‘noise’? How do these differences or distinctions change over time? This course draws on material from anthropology and sociology, but also from a wide range of other disciplines including history, social geography and cultural studies. You will be encouraged to think and respond creatively, using listening as a way of accessing social life, and sound recording as a way of documenting or representing it.

Module aims - intentions of the module

-To explore ways in which the production and consumption of sound are bound up in social relations and practices.

- To question cultural assumptions about the nature and possibilities of sound and listening.

- To examine how key concepts (for example, ideas of 'place' and 'space') may be re-configured through acoustic perspectives.

- To consider the implications of 'thinking acoustically' for anthropological methodology and analysis.

- To interrogate listening and sound recording as ways of engaging with and representing social life.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

  • 1. Give effective explanations of how a range of key texts give insight into the involvement of sound in social relations:
  • 2. Make strong critical assessments of a variety of theoretical perspectives in anthropological and sociological approaches to the study of sound
  • 3. Accurately identify and cogently discuss some methodological issues associated with the study of sound in anthropology and sociology

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

  • 4. Give clear and accurate explanations of how a range of key concepts in sociology and anthropology can be illustrated in relation to the analysis of empirical data
  • 5. Communicate effectively, both in writing and orally, an awareness of strategies for analytically linking micro and macro perspectives
  • 6. Demonstrate skill in critically assessing and developing theoretical ideas through reflection on experiences and observations of social life

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

  • 7. Show an ability to produce effective independent research and analysis
  • 8. Effectively build and defend an argument based on evidence
  • 9. Communicate effectively in written and verbal form.

Syllabus plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

1) Sound, Space and Place

2) Acoustemology

3) Audible Pasts

4) Noise

5) Sound and Surveillance

6) Sound and Control

7) Sound and Sensory Politics

8) Listening as a methodology

9) Professional listening practices

10) Anthropology in Sound

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
221280

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity2211 x 2 hour lectures/seminars
Guided Independent Study40Examination preparation
Guided Independent Study42Module reading
Guided Independent Study26Essay writing
Guided Independent Study20Seminar preparation

Formative assessment

Form of assessmentSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Presentation 5 minutes 1-9 Written

Summative assessment (% of credit)

CourseworkWritten examsPractical exams
10000

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment% of creditSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Essay501,500 words1-9Written feedback
Listening report501,500 words1-9Written feedback
0
0
0
0

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessmentForm of re-assessmentILOs re-assessedTimescale for re-assessment
EssayEssay (1,500 words)1-9August/September reassessment period
Listening ReportListening Report (1,500 words)1-9August/September reassessment period

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Bijsterveld, K. 2003.‘The Diabolical Symphony of the Mechanical Age. Technology  and Symbolism of Sound in European and    North American Noise Abatement Campaigns, 1900-1940’. In The Auditory Culture Reader (eds) M. Bull & L. Back, 165-189.  Oxford: Berg.

Corbin, A. 1998. Village bells: sound and meaning in the nineteenth-century French countryside. New York: Columbia University Press.

Feld, S. 1990. Sound and Sentiment: birds, weeping, poetics, and song in Kaluli expression. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press

Picker, J. M. 2003. Victorian Soundscapes. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Rice, T. 2013. Hearing and the Hospital. Canon Pyon: Sean Kingston Press.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

Anthropology and Sound - online resource produced through a collaboration between the Centre for Creative Research in Sound Arts Practice at the London College of Communication and the Anthropology Department at the University of St Andrews - http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/soundanth/index.php

Cusick, S. 2006. ‘Music as torture: Music as weapon’. Transcultural Music Review 10. http://www.sibetrans.com/trans/a152/music-as-torture-music-as-weapon.

Indicative learning resources - Other resources

Drever, J. 2005. Sounding Dartmoor. iDAT.

Feld, S. 1991. Voices of the Rainforest. Rykodisc.

Rice, T. 2015. Govindpuri Sound. BBC World Service Documentary.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02hm1rx

Wynne, J. 2007. Hearts, Lungs and Minds. BBC Radio 4 documentary.

Key words search

sound, sound studies, music, society, sociology, anthropology,

Credit value15
Module ECTS

7.5

Module pre-requisites

None

Module co-requisites

None

NQF level (module)

6

Available as distance learning?

No

Origin date

21/01/2013

Last revision date

13/01/2022