Focal Press Situated Listening: Attending to the Unheard (Sound Design)

Grounded in a conviction that how we listen matters deeply in the context of ongoing social, political, and ecological crises, Situated Listening: Attending to the Unheard sets forth a collection of methodologies and creative proposals for listening, advancing the framework of situated listening as both a theoretical concept and a methodological practice that investigates relationships between the listening body and the politics of place, space, and culture. Drawing from an array of scholarship that engages sound studies broadly, this 15-chapter book is written entirely collaboratively and from a multidisciplinary perspective. Each section includes scores for situated listening, which take the form of diagrams, instructions, exercises, images, and meditations. The scores offer alternate modes of sharing the central ideas of the associated chapters, inviting the reader to shift from theory into practice. This book contributes to decolonial, feminist, anti-racist, and anti-capitalist scholarship in the field of sound studies, by centering listening as a relational practice. This book brings together a roster of accomplished, international contributors, making it essential supplementary reading for advanced undergraduates and researchers in sound studies. It will be of interest to faculty and students in the fields of Sound Studies, Music, Feminist Science and Technology Studies, Urban Design, and Sound Art.