Whatever the future of CDs, tapes, vinyl, and the like, I’m quite sure advisories are here to say.

But let us move away from speculation and into the immediate past and future. First, thank you for a great class today. The conversations went in a number of productive directions and opened up a slew of exciting inquiries, all of which are worthy of unpacking in the next few weeks.

And welcome, Aitza and Ryan!

Now, what’s in store for Thursday’s class in OUGL 101, and then a re-cap of today, with emphasis on why sonic culture studies matters in the first place:

For Thursday:

• Please read the introduction to Sarah Kozloff’s Invisible Storytellers (it’s the last one on the e-reserves list), as well as her article, “A Defense–and History–of Voice-Over Narration.”
• Respond to Blog Prompt #3 and comment on two entries by your peers.
• Come prepared to discuss your blog entries and Kozloff in class.

Regarding today, as I gather, here are some reasons — thanks to you — why sonic culture studies matters. It:

• Encourages the study of individual perceptions and how context influences people’s perceptions.
• Engages questions about art’s relation to technology. How might art and technology intersect and not be mutually exclusive terms?
• Explores sound as a mode of communication and even activism.
• Examines how we affectively respond to media. That is, how does media affect our bodies and our senses?
• Entertains how sound suggests the physical presence of another.
• Extrapolates the ways in which sound and sound technologies make us vulnerable.
• Enlivens multi-modal education by appealing to different learning styles.
• Enriches political conversations about sound’s intersections with gender, race, ethnicity, and sexuality.
• Enables critical approaches to the consumption of popular culture and media.

Yes! Words that — without any reason — all begin with “e”!

Other than providing these compelling reasons, we also:

• Practiced the three-step analysis by attending to sounds from last quarter.
• Considered how writing — like music and other sound recordings — might be a “layered” practice of sustaining multiple “tracks,” rather a linear, cause-and-effect mode of reasoning.
• Collaborated to answer a single question about Davis and Nordstrom.
• Learned a bit more about each other.
• Began a quarter-long inquiry into sonic culture and media activism.
• Addressed and mobilized the importance of stakes (or the “so what?”) of any inquiry (e.g., why does sonic culture studies matter in the first place).

If you have more to add — including questions, concerns, or polemics, then feel free to do so in your own blog entry or through a comment on this entry. Cool?

See you on Thursday in OUGL 101.

Best,

Jentery