Course Description
An advance level course focusing on sound theory, sound as media, and the relationship between sound and image. These topics will be examined through reading assignments, screenings and listening sessions, in-class presentations, writing and sound recording assignments. In this class, students will engage with the history of audio reproduction, the concepts of French theorist Michel Chion, the psychoanalytic theories on the female body and voice, the notion of the soundscape, and the relationship between ethnography, colonialism, and audio technology. Students have a choice of doing a sound-based media project or a research paper for their final project. Workshops on sound recording and sound editing may be held during the second half of the semester based on the technical requirements of student projects. This class encourages a critical, creative approach to the medium, non-traditional solutions, and awareness of the history of sound technology and media production. This course fulfills the media theory requirement for the media studies major. Prerequisite: Intro to Media Studies, or Language of Film, or an intro-level music theory course.
 

Course Organization
Class activities include discussion of reading assignments, screenings, audio presentations, critiques, technical demonstrations, as well as individual and group assignments. Both works by students and examples of independent media works will be presented in class. Depending on funding and availability, guest speakers (sound artists, film and videomakers, media artists, programmers, scholars, etc.) will be invited to class, or to the Media Studies cinematheque series - be prepared to attend out-of-class screenings and lectures.

Please turn off all cell phones and pagers during class. These and other diversions are not acceptable during class time, and will lower your grade. 

Class Participation
Your active, well-prepared participation in class discussions is essential to creating a dynamic (i.e. not boring!) learning environment. Although you will not receive a letter grade for class participation, it will figure into your final grade based on my observations.

We may study sexually explicit, political, and otherwise challenging material in this course. These are not included for shock value, but are legitimate investigations of controversial subject matters in media. You are certainly encouraged to explore difficult and complex subject matters in your work, and you should be prepared to consider these issues intellectually and emotionally. Our class is a safe space in which students can express their beliefs and opinions. You always have a voice, but please be respectful of others as well. Abusive language and behavior are not be tolerated. Open-mindedness is encouraged!

Unless an extension is approved by myself in advance of the due date, your grade are reduced by one letter grade (i.e. B to C) per class day your project is late. You are encouraged to meet with me individually during my office hours to discuss your assignments, your grades, and your overall performance in class. I am always open to suggestions and feedback!

Group project and class presentation criteria

Reading Assignments
Required readings are drawn from the textbooks below and articles I will post on our class web site. (go to schedule) If you want to purchase copies of the books, there are copies at Huntley Bookstore, or go to on-line booksellers such as amazon.com or half.com.

Required Readings
Rick Altman, editor, Sound Theory Sound Practice, Routledge, New York, 1992.
John Cage, Silence: Lectures and Writings, Wesleyan University Press, 1961.
Michel Chion, Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen, trans. Claudia Gorbman, Columbia University Press, New York, 1994.
Michel Chion, The Voice in Cinema, trans. Claudia Gorbman, Columbia University Press, New York, 1999.
R. Murray Schafer, The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World, Destiny Books, Rochester, VT, 1977.
Kaja Silverman, The Acoustic Mirror; The Female Voice in Psychoanalysis and Cinema, Indiana University Press, Indianapolis, 1988.
Jonathan Sterne, The Audible Past: Cultural Origins of Sound Reproduction, Duke University Press, Durham and London, 2003.
Michael Taussig, Mimesis and Alterity: A Particular History of the Senses, Routledge, New York, 1993.

Suggested Readings
Jacques Attali, Noise: The Political Economy of Music, Univ. of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 2002.
Michael Bull & Les Back, eds., The Auditory Culture Reader (Sensory Formations), Berg Publishers, 2004.
Christoph Cox & Daniel Warren, eds., Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music, Continuum, 2004.
Veit Erlmann, Hearing Cultures: Essays on Sound, Listening and Modernity, Berg Publishers, 2004
Simon Frith & Andrew Goodwin, eds. On Record: Rock, Pop, and the Written Word, Pantheon Books, New York, 1990.
Paul Hegarty, Noise/Music: A History, Continuum, 2007.
Charles Hirschkind, The Ethical Soundscape: Cassette Sermons and Islamic Counterpublics, Columbia Univ. Press, 2006.
Douglas Kahn, Noise, Water, Meat: A History of Sound in the Arts, MIT Press, 2001.
Friedrich A. Kittler, Gramophone, FIlm, Typewriter, trans. Geoffrey Winthrop-Young & Michael Wutz, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, 1999.
Brandon LaBelle, Background Noise: Perspectives on Sound Art, Continuum, 2006.
Henri Lefebvre, The Production of Space, trans. Donald Nicholson-Smith, Blackwell Publishers Inc., Cambridge, MA, 1991.
Alan Licht, Sound Art: Beyond Music, Between Categories, Rizzoli, 2007.
David Schwarz, Listening Subjects: Music, Psychoanalysis, Culture, Duke University Press, Durham, NC, 1997.
Mark M. Smith, Hearing History: A Reader, Georgia Univ. Press, 2004
Emily Thompson, The Soundscape of Modernity: Architectural Acoustics and the Culture of Listening in America (1900-1933), MIT Press, 2004.

* Your general performance in class including participation, attendance, and punctuality, except in the special cases listed above, such as if you have more than 3 un-excused absences.

Generally, outstanding ('A') students in this class have good attendance and completed all their assignments on time. They are consistently well prepared for class, and actively participate in and advance our discussions with pertinent information, questions, and observations. Their work demonstrate their awareness of the issues at hand, the historical context for the film and videos they are discussing, as well as their ability to articulate their observations and analyses in a clear and concise manner. Only letter grades are given out in this class.

Academic honesty - all work done for this course must be the original work of the student submitting it, and should have been undertaken exclusively for this course. No work done prior to this class maybe used to fulfill the class assignments.

Extra credit - Students are encouraged to attend screenings, conferences, lectures, exhibitions and web events related to this course. Write a two-page (typed and double-spaced) report of the event or activity. Incorporate the event's relevance to the class as well as your personal responses to it. Proof of attendance is required (keep your ticket stubs, programs, etc.) Students are allowed two extra credit papers. Announcements for events of interest to this class are done in the first 5 mins. of each class.

* I try my best to make my grading criteria as clear as possible, and you are welcome to come and discuss your grades and your class performance with me. However, I only consider legitimate concerns, and be aware that your grade is as likely to go down as it is to go up after I reassess your assignment. I do not tolerate haggling, bribing, threats, and any other pointless arguments. I consider all aspects of your performance before I assign a grade, please respect my assessment as I respect your efforts.
 

Equipment Check-out
Equipment can now be reserved on-line at the Media Studies web site

Equipment is checked-out/in on Mondays and Thursdays between 9am—10pm at Scott Hall basement. Equipment that is checked-out must be returned by 12 noon the day it is due back.

Videotapes and audiotapes for class projects can be purchased at the bookstore, on-line, or at any good A/V supply store (Ametron, Studio Film & Tape, etc.) If you go to a supply store or buy on-line, it is usually cheaper to buy in bulk, so a group of you may want to organize and purchase tapes together.

* A note on general respect and care: we are all depending on each other to keep our equipment in good working order. If the equipment breaks down, no one can complete his or her work! You are responsible for reading and following rules for equipment usage. Stephanie Hutin, Eddie Gonzalez or myself may revoke access privileges at any time if the rules are not followed. Use common sense and please be considerate of each other: return the equipment on time.

Course Schedule:

Week 1: Introduction + The Audible Past
Wesnesday 1/21
__•Introduction
__•Syllabus

Friday 1/23
__•General discussion of sound - what is sound? And what is the study of sound?
__•Ear diagram 1, 2
Reading
Jonathan Sterne, The Audible Past, Introduction; pp. 1-29
 

Reading
Jonathan Sterne, The Audible Past, Ch. 5 pp. 215-286 (skim)

Additional Reading
Roland Barthes, "The Grain of the Voice", in On Record, pp. 293-300
Friedrich Kittler, Gramophone, Film, Typewriter, pp. 21-114

Reading
Michel Chion, Audio-Vision, pp. 3-34
Film
Excerpts from PERSONA (1966) Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Excerpts from PSYCHO (1960) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Excerpts from HERO (2002) Directed by Zhang Yimou
Excerpts from KISS ME DEADLY (1955) Directed by Robert Aldrich
Additional Reading
Michel Chion, Audio-Vision, pp. 35-94

Reading
Michel Chion, Audio-Vision, pp. 198-213
Film
Excerpts from BLADE RUNNER (1982) Directed by Ridley Scott
Excerpts from PERSONA (1966) Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Additional Reading
Michel Chion, Audio-Vision, pp. 95-137

Week 6: The Voice in Cinema
Wednesday 2/25

Reading
Michel Chion, The Voice in Cinema, pp. 49-57, 125-151
Film
Excerpts from PSYCHO (1960) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Excerpts from SANS SOLEIL (1982) Directed by Chris Marker
Excerpts from NEWS FROM HOME (1976) Directed by Chantal Akerman

Screening (2/25, Wednesday, 7pm)
BLUE (1993) Directed by Derek Jarman

Reading
Kaja Silverman, The Acoustic Mirror, Ch. 1, pp. 1-41, (skim)
Michel Chion, The Voice in Cinema, pp. 75-79
Film
Excerpts from PSYCHO (1960) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Excerpts from SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1951) Directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen

Screening (3/4, Wednesday, 7pm)
SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1951) Directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen

Friday 3/6

Reading
Kaja Silverman, The Acoustic Mirror, 2, pp. 41-71, also read pp. 72-79
Film
Excerpts from PSYCHO (1960) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Excerpts from SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1951) Directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen
Excerpts from FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980) Directed by Sean Cunningham
Excerpts from SORRY, WRONG NUMBER (1948) Directed by Anatole Litvak
Recording
PLAGUE MASS (1991) by Diamanda Galas, tracks 4, 11, 13
Web Site
www.diamandagalas.com, with video clips of her performances
Additional Reading
David Schwarz, "Lamentation, Abjection, and the Music of Diamanda Galas," in Listening Subjects pp. 133-163

Reading
Kaja Silverman, The Acoustic Mirror, Ch. 3, pp. 72-100
Film
Excerpts from DIVA (1981) Directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix

Screening (3/11, Wednesday, 7pm)
RIDDLES OF THE SPHINX (1981) Directed by Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen, plus PLAGUE MASS recording by Diamanda Galas (optional)

Reading
Kaja Silverman, The Acoustic Mirror, Ch. 4, pp. 101-140
Film
Excerpts from RIDDLES OF THE SPHINX (1981) Directed by Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen

Week 9: Spring Break
No Class Meeting

Week 11: Assignment #3 Presentations
Wednesday 4/1 & Friday 4/3

No screening this week

Reading
Rick Altman, Sound Theory/Sound Practice, pp. 35-64
Additional Reading
Michel Chion, Audio-Vision, pp. 66-94
Henri Lefebvre, The Production of Space, Ch. 1-4, pp. 1-291

Listening (4/8, Wednesday, 7pm)
STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENTS (2000) BY Ultra Red

Friday 4/11

Reading
R. Murray Schafer, The Soundscape, Ch. 5-6, pp. 61-99
Audio
SECOND NATURE (1999) by Ultra Red, tracks 2, 3, 4

Screening (4/15, Wednesday, 7pm)
SONIC OUTLAWS (1995) Directed by Craig Baldwin

Reading
R. Murray Schafer, The Soundscape, Ch. 7, 14, 15 pp. 103-119, 205-225
Film
Excerpts from NANOOK OF THE NORTH (1922) Directed by Robert Flaherty

Friday 5/1

Reading
Michael Taussig, Mimesis and Alterity, Ch. 4-5, pp. 193-235
Film
Excerpts from FITZCARRALDO (1982) Directed by Werner Herzog
Additional Reading
R. Murray Schafer, The Soundscape, Ch. 16-18, pp. 226-259
Jonathan Sterne, The Audible Past, Ch. 6, pp. 287-333
John Cage, Silence, pp. 3-6, 109-127, 261-273

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