Workshop on Listening to the City at the Livable Cities Symposium April 13th 2017
I will be leading a workshop on listening to the city at the intersection of indigenous histories, industrialization, and gentrification at this year’s Livable Cities Symposium, April 13th, 2017, at the Anvil Centre in New Westminster, BC.
Workshop Title:
Sound / Media / History: Listening at the Intersection of Contested Space on the Fraser River
Abstract:
What can sound tell us about the histories, uses and politics of the spaces we inhabit everyday? In this workshop I will discuss the relationships between listening, technology, and space with specific reference to how the complexities of land use have been represented in the soundtracks of Vancouver-based films and media over the last century. We will then take a group soundwalk in the area around the Anvil Centre, following the rail lines by the Fraser River as we listen for evidence of the intersections between the traditional territory of the Qayqayt First Nation, 20th Century industrial development, and 21st Century gentrification. The walk will be followed by an open discussion in which the audience will be invited to share their experiences of the area with one another, with a particular ear for understanding the relationship between listening, the politics of urban space, and the role of media technologies in fostering engagement with place.
About Me
I teach full time in the Humanities department at Champlain College in Montreal. My research, pedagogy, and creative practice reside at the intersections of soundscape research, media studies, and critical geography. I have previously taught in the cinema departments at Concordia University and Toronto Metropolitan University, and in the Humanities departments at Lasalle College and Dawson College. I have presented and published extensively on film sound, media geography, and acoustic ecology. My sound compositions, photographs and films have been exhibited internationally. See bio for more details.