Spectators’ aesthetic experiences of sound and movement in dance performance

In this paper we present a study of spectators’ aesthetic experiences of sound and movement in live dance performance. A multidisciplinary team comprising a choreographer, neuroscientists and qualitative researchers investigated the effects of different sound scores on dance spectators. What would be the impact of auditory stimulation on kinesthetic experience and/or aesthetic appreciation of the dance? What would be the effect of removing music altogether, so that spectators watched dance while hearing only the performers’ breathing and footfalls? We investigated audience experience through qualitative research, using post-performance focus groups, while a separately conducted functional brain imaging (fMRI) study measured the synchrony in brain activity across spectators when they watched dance with sound or breathing only. When audiences watched dance accompanied by music the fMRI data revealed evidence of greater intersubject synchronisation in a brain region consistent with complex auditory processing. The audience research found that some spectators derived pleasure from finding convergences between two complex stimuli (dance and music). The removal of music and the resulting audibility of the performers’ breathing had a significant impact on spectators’ aesthetic experience. The fMRI analysis showed increased synchronisation among observers, suggesting greater influence of the body when interpreting the dance stimuli. The audience research found evidence of similar corporeally focused experience. The paper discusses possible connections between the findings of our different approaches, and considers the implications of this study for interdisciplinary research collaborations between arts and sciences

Technological Encounters in the Interculturality of Istanbul’s Recording Studios

Este artículo se pregunta qué es cultural en un estudio de grabación y en qué medida la interculturalidad resulta útil para examinar los encuentros en un estudio y, por extensión, en otras formas de trabajo artístico-tecnológico. Voy a demonstrar que cuando el concepto de interculturalidad se usa, raramente está acompañado por un concepto de “cultura” suficientemente matizado, y que, generalmente, depende de la suposición de que el prefijo “inter” describe el encuentro entre individuos que representan unidades culturales discretas, típicamente definidas en términos demográficos reduccionistas. La interculturalidad podría ser recuperada parcialmente, con una conceptualización más flexible y realista de la cultura que responda a las especificidades de las prácticas y los discursos locales y mediante un involucramiento sostenido con la materialidad de mundo vivido. En este estudio de caso voy a reflexionar sobre estudios de grabación profesional asentados en Estambul que estuvieron activos entre 2004 y 2011. Más allá de la compleja y poli-étnica identidad de muchos de los individuos participantes, las diferencias culturales estaban típicamente enmarcadas por arreglistas, ingenieros de audio y músicos de estudio en relación con sus profesiones específicas, particularmente en consideración con las formas en las que las personas habitan el espacio del estudio, con los sistemas de entrenamiento y conocimiento y con las distintas maneras en que los participantes se relacionan con los objetos tecnológicos.Este artigo questiona o que é cultural dentro de um estúdio de gravação, e até que ponto a interculturalidade poderia ser uma lente útil para examinar encontros em estúdio e, por extensão, outras formas de trabalho artístico-tecnológico. Como mostrarei, quando o conceito de interculturalidade emerge, este raramente é acompanhado por um conceito suficientemente matizado de “cultura”, e, adicionalmente, baseia-se na suposição de que o “inter-” está mapeando um encontro entre indivíduos representando unidades culturais discretas, tipicamente definidas. em termos demográficos reducionistas. A interculturalidade pode ser parcialmente recuperada, no entanto, através de uma conceitualização mais flexível e realista de cultura que seja mais sensível às práticas e discursos locais específicos, e por meio de um envolvimento mais sustentado com a materialidade do mundo vivido. Como estudo de caso, explorarei estúdios profissionais de gravação em Istambul ativos entre 2004 e 2011. Além da identidade complexa e poliétnica de muitos dos indivíduos participantes, as diferenças culturais foram tipicamente categorizadas em arranjadores, engenheiros e músicos de estúdio em relação às profissões específicas, particularmente no que diz respeito às maneiras pelas quais as pessoas habitavam o espaço do estúdio, treinamento e sistemas de conhecimento; e distintos modos dos participantes se engajarem com objetos tecnológicos.This essay questions what is cultural within a recording studio, and the extent to which could be a useful lens for examining studio encounters and by extension other forms of artistic technological labor. As I will show, when the concept of interculturality surfaces it rarely is accompanied by a sufficiently nuanced concept of “culture,” and additionally relies upon an assumption that the “inter” is mapping an encounter between individuals representing discrete cultural units, typically defined in reductive demographic terms. Interculturality may be able to be partly recuperated, however, through a more flexible and realistic conceptualization of culture that is more responsive to specific local practices and discourses, and through a more sustained engagement with the materiality of the lived world. For a case study, I will explore professional Istanbul recording studios active between 2004-2011. Beyond the complex and polyethnic identity of many of the individual participants, cultural differences were typically framed by arrangers, engineers, and studio musicians in relation to specific professions, particularly in regard to ways that people inhabited the space of the studio, training and knowledge systems, and participants’ distinctive modes of engaging with technological objects

The epistemic rationality of emotions: a new defence

Emotions and epistemic rationality have been traditionally considered to be in opposition. In the last twenty years, the role of emotions in epistemology has been increasingly acknowledged, but there is no systematic argument for the rational assessability of emotions that is compatible with both cognitivist and non-cognitivist theories of emotions and fits with the epistemic rational assessability of mental states in general. This thesis aims to fill this gap. Using empirically informed philosophical methodology, I offer a novel account of the rational assessability of emotions that fits with the rational assessability of other mental states and that could in principle be accepted by cognitivist and some prominent non-cognitivist theories of emotions. The possibility to epistemically rationally assess emotions opens up a fresh set of questions that regards the nature of the evaluations involved in the emotions, the epistemic norms that apply to them and the extent to which we are epistemically responsible for our emotions. This thesis aims to address these questions, ultimately showing that emotions and epistemic rationality are more intertwined than we previously thought

CoMIC : an exploration into computer-mediated intercultural communication

This thesis explores how cultural differences manifest themselves in computermediated intercultural communication (CoMIC). This study particularly looks at the role and use of digital nonverbals (DNVs) and their regulatory functions. The data analyzed is from a global virtual team working together for a period of three months. The grounded theory method has been employed to code the electronic transcript of the team\u27s communication. Furthermore, the participants were surveyed regarding their personal backgrounds, their work, and their perception of the communication processes that took place. The study shows that in an intercultural communication process DNVs are used to avoid intercultural misunderstandings and to underline the various communication styles. The different styles, hand in hand with the DNVs used, vary depending on the team\u27s overall situation. However, the absence of DNVs can be an indicator for a state of crisis

Contributions of Biological Resident Fathers to Early Language Development in Two-parent Families from Low-income Rural Communities

This dissertation developed and empirically tested a multidimensional model of biological resident fathers’ distal and proximal contributions during infancy to children’s later language development using the Family Life Project dataset. The Family Life Project dataset included a large sample of 521 two-parent middle-income and low-income African-American and non-African-American families. The results of this study suggest fathers made contributions to children’s communication and language development via characteristics of family SES, father work experience, the mother-father relationship, and father-child proximal processes. Specifically, higher family SES, positive father reasoning skills in the mother-father relationship, and highly engaging and stimulating father-child interactions when children are 6 months were significantly associated with more advance child communication at 15 months and expressive language development at 24 months. Father job insecurity when children were 6 months was negatively associated with child language development at 24 months

What working memory is for

Glenberg focuses on conceptualizations that change from moment to moment, yet he dismisses the concept of working memory (sect. 4.3), which offers an account of temporary storage and on-line cognition. This commentary questions whether Glenberg's account adequately caters for observations of consistent data patterns in temporary storage of verbal and visuospatial information in healthy adults and in brain-damaged patients with deficits in temporary retention.</jats:p

Active Symbols

Visual representations of religious symbols continue to puzzle judges. Lacking empirical data on how images communicate, courts routinely dismiss visual religious symbols as “passive.” This Article challenges the notion that symbols are passive, introducing insights from cognitive neuroscience research to Establishment Clause theory and doctrine. It argues that visual symbolic messages can be at least as active as textual messages. Therefore, religious messages should be assessed in a medium-neutral manner in terms of their communicative impact, that is, irrespective of their textual or visual form. Providing a new conceptual framework for assessing religious symbolic messages, this Article reconceptualizes coercion and endorsement—the dominant competing approaches to symbolic messages in Establishment Clause theory—as matters of degree on a spectrum of communicative impact. This focus on communicative impact reconciles the approaches to symbolic speech in the Free Speech and Establishment Clause contexts and allows Establishment Clause theory to more accurately account for underlying normative concerns