Abstract: 

In 1978, renown critical thinker and author Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a long essay on cancer and tuberculosis, on how both diseases became a metaphor and stigma in both personal and societal narratives. In 2022, amid various epidemics and Covid-19 pandemic, as well as globally challenging ecological, economic, social and political crises, we search for healing. We use the word, healing, as an adjective, as a noun, a verb, as well as a metaphor. In this conference, we will consider the role of music and sound in narratives of healing and health. Drawing on individual cases (including but not limited to trauma, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, anxiety, and depression) we will ask how various musical and sonic practices help us revisit what we understand from healing as well as how they offer different possibilities for resilience, empowerment, and sustainability.

Participants include Professor Nina Kraus (Northwestern University), Stephanie Loveless (Centre for Deep Listening at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), Dr Alex Khalil (University College Cork), Victoria Hume (Culture, Health, and Wellbeing Alliance), Dr Jessica Allison Holmes (University of Copenhagen), Lucinda Jarrett (Rosetta Life), Dr Jillian Rogers (Indiana University), Dr Erin M. Brooks (State University of New York, Potsdam), and Dr Michelle Meinhart (Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance). 

MAHE is initiated and led by Dr Zeynep Bulut, with the support of ESRC Impact Acceleration Account at QUB. 

The conference is convened by Dr Zeynep Bulut. 

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87099773104?pwd=WjNZNm1MOVF4UWNhbE0vcXl0M3Bldz09 

Passcode: 460718

Conference Program:

15:30 -15:40 Introduction, Zeynep Bulut (Queen’s University Belfast)

Panel: Music, Sound, and Trauma

15:40-15:50 “Sound Science? Sonic Technologies, Medicine, and Power in France’s Long Nineteenth Century” Jillian Rogers (Indiana University)

15:50-16:00 “Listening to Polio: Music, Sound, Trauma, and Healing,” Erin M. Brooks (State University of New York, Potsdam)

16:00-16:10 "Sounding Empathy, Sounding Silence: Narratives of Maternity, Motherhood, and Digital Community Building during COVID Lockdowns,” Michelle Meinhart (Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance)

16:10- 16:30 Discussion

16:30-17:00 “Environments of Care,” Victoria Hume (Culture, Health, and Wellbeing Alliance)

17:00-17:30 “Of Sound Mind,” Nina Kraus (Northwestern University)

17:30-18:00  “Whisper Singing, ASMR, and Mood Regulation: The Representation of Depression the Music and Reception of Billie Eilish,” Jessica Allison Holmes (University of Copenhagen)

18:00-18:30  “It Takes Two: relocating mental disorder affords insight into healing and music,” Alex Khalil (University College Cork)

18:30-19:00 “Prescriptions for Listening,” Stephanie Loveless (Centre for Deep Listening at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)

19:00-19:30 “Brain Odysseys: Participation and Co creation,” Lucinda Jarrett (Rosetta Life)

Concluding Remarks