FYS528

"Noise" and "silence" are contested terms with a variety of aesthetic, social, and political implications. This course examines how these terms are culturally defined, socially situated, and aesthetically mobilized. Readings, drawn from sound studies, art criticism, acoustic ecology, and urban studies, and reflective listening and audio exercises enable students to explore the politics and poetics around these terms from a variety of perspectives, including their own. Relevant artworks drawn from music, poetry, and socially engaged art offer examples of how these concepts have been mobilized in creative expression.