Interdisciplinary interactions between humanities and sciences

in music research

Richard ParncuttCentre for Systematic Musicology

University of Graz, Austria

Audio Communication Day27 June 2014, TU Berlin

SysMus Graz

Centre for Systematic MusicologyUniversity of Graz, Austria

Professor and Head

SecretaryLecturer(current)

Lecturer(previous)

Student assistant

Student assistant

RichardParncutt

HandeSağlam

MarliesBodinger

FlorianEckl

Erica Bisesi

MichaelaSchwarz

AnnemarieSeither-Preisler

BerndBrabecde Mori

SabrinaSattmann

AndreasFuchs

Student assistant

FWF Postdoc

MartinWinter

StefanReichmann

Student assistant

Projectassistant

Sessional

lecturer

Projectassistant

Do we need disciplinary categories?Schwarz oder weiß Text & Musik: Oliver Gies (2009?)

Hörst du Beatles oder die Stones?Guckst Du Tagesschau oder Indiana Jones?Warst du Zivi oder beim Bund?Bist du schüchtern oder drängst dich in den Vordergrund?Bist du träge oder agil?Depressiv oder mental eher stabil?Trinkst du Wein oder lieber Bier?Hast Du’n Reihenhaus m. Garten od. lebst du v. Hartz IV?

Hähnchendöner oder lieber Lamm?Trennst Du Müll oder schmeißt du alles zusamm’n?Fährst du Taxi oder mit dem Bus?Sagst du Super-Dickmann oder sagst du Negerkuss?Guckst du Arte oder Sat1?Nennst du deinen Sohn Jean-Luc oder Karl-Heinz?Gibst du nach oder bist du stur?Liest Du regelmäßig “Bild” oder hast du das Abitur?

Schwarz oder weißJa oder neinGrautöne sind mir viel zu allgemein Bitte kein “Äh”Bitte kein “Jein”In eine meiner Schubladen, da krieg ich dich schon rein

Disciplinary categories are necessary!Experts and specialization are the basis of academic quality

Epistemology•What is knowledge?•Which knowledge exists?•How is knowledge acquired?

Each discipline has its own epistemologies•Ways of thinking•Ways of doing research•Ways of training future scholars•Ways of evaluating quality

Interdisciplinary (ID) is necessary!due to expansion and specialisation in all disciplines

• The research literature is expanding– total amount doubles every 20 years!

• The time/effort to become an expert is about constant– about 10 years or 10 000 hours total (Ericsson, “expertise

research”)

Consequences of expansion:Specialization: subdisciplines sub-sub-disciplinesVenia: Researchers can no longer represent “whole disciplines”Collaboration: Subdisciplines must work together

ID is temporaryDisciplinary boundaries are fuzzy and fluid

ID research areas become new disciplines/paradigms, e.g.:

music history + computing computing in musicologymusic analysis + cultural studies semioticsmusicology + psychology music psychology

ID is unusualIt costs extra time and energy

1. Communication problemsDifferent ways of talking, researching misunderstandings

2. Structural problems Clear hierarchies: easy to organise, but impede ID

3. Quality control problemsDifferent quality mechanisms “Own” discipline superior?

The rest of this talk…

Humanities and Sciences (H&S)(a) in general(b) in musicology

Combining H&S in music research(a) in general(b) in my research and teaching

Separation of H & S

Relationships between disciplines in Austrian research projects funded by FWF1992-2006

FAS.research (2008). Netzwerke der Wissensproduktion. Wien.

S: The study of the natural world

Objectivity: Researcher is separate from research object.

Basic S applications• Physics e.g. engineering• Chemistry e.g. manufacturing• Biology e.g. medicine

All three also contribute to war, climate change…

H: The study of human cultureSubjectivity: Scholar is part of research object.

Ancient• philosophy• arts• institutionsEnlightenment• history• languages (linguistics)• cultures (anthropology, ethnology)

Modern • diversity, power relations

Mostly benign - but can also be evil!

Science ≠ Wissenschaft!

The facts:• Latin scientia = (all) knowledge (pre-H-S concept!)• German Wissenschaft = (all) research/teaching• English science = objective, positivistic research

Evidence for skeptics:Look up any faculty or school of science!• generally includes physics, chemistry, biology…• never includes history, arts, language, literature…

How could academics make this mistake?Thesis: Epistemologically naïve scientists dominate academia. They think: Even H should use ‘scientific method’!

Translating WissenschaftWissenschaftacademia or academe (=the academic world)S: research (or “research and teaching”)H: study (e.g. Literaturwissenschaft = literary studies)H: scholarship (but can also mean Stipendium)

Wissenschaftler/inacademic (e.g. “I am an academic”)

wissenschaftlichacademic (e.g. “academic qualification”, “academic career”)

akademischacademic (e.g. “academic question”, “academic ceremony”)

Geisteswissenschaftler/in ≠ humanist!

Humanism = Humanismus• secular• religious• Christian• etc.

Geisteswissenschaftler/in = humanities scholar “Scholar” suggests humanities

The differenceA humanities scholar is a trained academicA humanist is a morally enlightened person

Berlin Audio Communication Groupexamples of mixing Humanities, Sciences, Practice

New music instruments (Egermann)S (instrument technology), H (reception), P (performance)

Music media use (Lepa)S (empirical sociology, statistical analysis), H (social context)

Acoustic environments (Weinzierl)S (acoustics, signal processing, psychology), P (performance)

H&S are 18th-century inventions!

S (Naturwissenschaften)– Product of “scientific revolution”

• 16th-18th C.; Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Descartes, Newton…

– Term “scientist” was invented c. 1831= member of British Association for the Advancement of Science

H (Geisteswissenschaften)– Product of “Age of Enlightenment”

• 17th-18th C.; Spinoza, Voltaire, Rousseau…

– Reinforced by (German) romantic movement (18th-19th)– 20th C.: increasing opposition to positivism

Academia = WissenschaftS H

Musicology = Musikwissenschaft

S H

Epistemological tensions20th - 21st C.

Imbalances due to history and politics -- not content!

“The two cultures”The separation of H and S

(Charles Percy Snow, 1959)

Symptoms• different knowledge, skills, thinking• intellectual specialisation narrow mindedness• no common culture, feeling of belonging

Consequences• hostility, conflict – a kind of cold war• affects quality of research and teaching• less responsibility for global world problems

Differences between H&SKind of difference Humanities Sciences

1. Relationship between researcher and object

close (subjective) distant (objective)

2. Size of thesis domain small (specific) large (general)

3. Kind of discourse narrative (qualitative)

numerical (quantitative)

4. Concept of truth depends on context(relativist)

independent of context (positivist)

Points 2, 3, 4 follow from 1 1 is the main difference!But 1 is also taboo (general public thinks subjective=bad)

Lack of open discussion of these differences

H&S: Claims for superiorityS changed our lives!

Enormous impact of technological innovations on everyday life:– communications, transport, media, household appliances…– weapons, pollution, overpopulation, biodiversity, climate

H address fundamental issues!– Culture defines “human-ness”– Social identity is a strong force in everyday human affairs:

family, economics, politics, conflict…

Implications: Equal treatment of H&S by universities, politics & funding Balance H&S in music research

Alterity (Otherness) in academia (Wissenschaft)

out-group: H• literature• history• art and music

intermediate• social sciences• legal studies• economics

in-group: S• physical sciences• life sciences

H-S-ID: Examples

S: Chemistry •Why is the research question important?•What are the implications of the finding?•Consider history, society, culture, politics…•Refer to H-literature

H: Art history•Clear structure: Introduction, main part, conclusions•Clear statement of question and thesis•Clear statement of evidence for and against thesis•Refer to S-literature

Implications for all researchersCombine & balance H & S!

1. Balance subjective and objectiveS: Expose and take responsibility for own subjectivity H: Partially objectify the object of research

2. Balance specific and generalS: Treat specific examples as “ground truth” H: Risk generalisation to facilitate application

3. Balance narrative and numericalS: Incorporate qualitative methods H. Incorporate quantitative measures

4. Balance relativism and positivismS: Consider contexts (historical, social, cultural, political…)H: What is your main thesis? Evidence for and against?

H&S in music research

• Definitions of music• Epistemologies• Sources of evidence• Alterity• Size of subdisciplines

Any attempt to define music, e.g.: • an acoustic signal that• evokes recognizable patterns of sound,• implies physical movement, • is meaningful,• is intentional wrt (b), (c) or (d), • is accepted by a cultural group and• is not lexical (i.e. is not “language”)

…implies that musicology mixes H&S

Epistemologies of H-musicology

Historical musicol. Ethnomusicology

“music” score part of culture

research topics

composers, works– dead, lost– formal unity of works– musical autonomy– idiosyncracies

history; development

performances– threatened, disappearing– cultural uniqueness– social function– typicalitiestradition; change

target readers “musicologists” ID

authority scholar informants

inspired by: Jonathan Stock, Current Musicology, 1998

Epistemologies of “scientific musicology”

physics physiology psychology computing

“Music” concept

instruments, rooms, air

bodies, brains

experience, behavior

instructions, codes, samples

Topics (examples) modeling processes emotion analysis

Combining sources of evidence in musicology

(Sub-) Disciplines Sources of evidencePhilosophy Logical argument

Cultural studies Personal experience and (inter-) subjectivity

Ethnomusicology, sociology InformantsHistory Historical documentsMusic theory and analysis Score analysisPsychology, sociology, acoustics, physiology

Empirical data

Information sciences Computational simulation

out-group (Others)• acoustics• psychology• physiology • computing

intermediate• ethnomusicology• pop/jazz research• sociology• philosophy• performance research

in-group (“musicology”)• history (Western, elitist)• theory/analysis• cultural studies

Alterity in musicology

Maintaining power with ambiguityHow scientists try to control all academia

How music historians try to control all musicology

sciences= natural,

social, formal

humanities= lettres,

Geisteswiss. science = all academic research and scholarship

Which “science” are you talking

about?

musicology

ethnomusicology

systematic musicology

musicology systematic musicology

musicology = all research about all music

What do you mean by

“musicology”?

green = good ☺red = bad

Size of musicological subdisciplines

H ≈ S?– amount of research– number of students– social relevance

Ethnomusicology ≈ Historical ≈ Systematic– IMS (“musicology”): 900 participants, mainly historical– ICMPC (music psychology): 400 – only part of SysMus– many ethnomusicological societies and confs

Projects to promote IDin musicology

Research• Specific projects• New infrastructures

Teaching• Undergraduate• Graduate

Current research projectsPerception of musical structurewith Annemarie Seither-Preisler, Sabrina Sattmann, Andreas FuchsS: Psychology, acoustics, computingH: music theory, music history

Computer modelling of expressive performance (with Erica Bisesi, Anders Friberg)S: Psychology, acoustics and computingH: music theory, music historyP: music expression

Music and migrationwith Gerd Grupe, Martin Winter, Hande SağlamS: Empirical sociology H: Ethnomusicology, theoretical sociology, cultural studies

CIM promotes ID collaborationEach abstract has two authors representing H&S

CIM focuses on quality rather than quantity• anonymous peer review of abstracts by H&S

CIM promotes musicology's unity in diversity• all ID music research• all musically relevant disciplines

Year Theme City Host Director

2004 - Graz University of Graz Parncutt

2005 timbre MontréalObservatoire

internationale de la création musicale

Traube

2007 singing TallinnEstonian Academy of

Music and Theatre Ross

2008 structureThessa-

lonikiAristotle University of

ThessalonikiCambou-ropoulos

2009 instruments FranceUniversité Pierre et Marie

Curie Castellengo

2010nature / culture Sheffield University of Sheffield Dibben

2011 performance GlasgowCentre for Music and

Technology Hair

2012

historyGöttinge

n, Germany

Musikwissenschaftliches Seminar, U Göttingen

Grant

Past CIMs

Future CIMs

2014 Technology Berlin, GermanyNational Institute for

Music Research

2015 Imagination Shanghai, China Shanghai Conservatoire

2017Emotion and expression Belgrade, Serbia

Faculty of Music, University of Arts

Integrated H-S cooperation

1. All contributors have at least two authorsIf 1st author is H, 2nd must be S (and vice-versa)

2. All submissions are reviewed by H & S

ESF EXPLORATORY WORKSHOP“Cognition of Early Polyphony”

Graz, Austria, 12-14 April 2012

9 humanities scholars meet 9 scientists

• Research projects• Discussion across H-S boundary• Future projects/grants

LECTURE SERIES “Introduction to Systematic Musicology”

In 1st semester of Graz Bachelors Program in Musicology

Parent disciplines (subdisciplines) • S: acoustics, neurosciences, psychology, computing• H: theoretical sociology, philosophy/aesthetics

How to work with them• Contrasting epistemologies• Multidisciplinary and ID approaches

GUIDELINE FOR ADVANCED UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS

Structuring the argument of a theoretical paper in the social sciences

S: Consider context!– Historical, social, cultural, political…– Background; implications

H: Test theses!– Clear question; list of possible answers– Clear formulation; evidence

Political strategiesto promote H-S-ID

H: Negotiate from a strong position• Lectures, workshops, projects on H-S collaboration• Conflict resolution techniques • More H reviewers in S journals• More research evaluation in H

S: Listen and support• More consideration of context• More subjectivity, specificity, relativity • More H epistemologies

Who is your Epistemological Other?Definitions• Are you H or S?Is your training and publications mainly in H or S?

• Who is your Epistemological Other “EO”?Which Other academic is interested in your research?

Questions• How often do you work with an EO?• How important are EO’s ideas to you ?• How might your work benefit from EO?• Would you like to have lunch with EO?

Conclusions

Criteria for “truth” and “knowledge” should be• consistent with info sources • consistent with researcher’s epistemologies

“Truth” is often a combination of H&S!

The conflict between H and S • Still strong in musicology & generally• A solution would be mutually beneficial

Universities should bring together H&S!