ARTH 386MSound, Space, and Politics

Catalog

What does sound reveal about the spaces we inhabit and the political forces that shape them? Sound is a powerful medium through which political ideologies, social movements, and cultural identities are created, contested, and circulated. This course explores how sound operates as a medium of power, resistance, memory, and identity across diverse historical and cultural contexts. From revolutionary anthems and urban noise to experimental sound art and protest chants, we will examine how sound has been used to assert authority, inspire resistance, mediate belonging, and reimagine political futures. Drawing on case studies from around the world-including, but not limited to, Egypt, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, French Guiana, Japan, Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and various diasporic communities-students will investigate the entangled relationships between sound, space, and politics. Topics include the sonic infrastructures of propaganda, the role of sound in sustaining Indigenous and diasporic practices, the spatial dynamics of listening, and the political aesthetics of silence and noise.