Embodied Research Methods in Music & Sound
Study Day — Call for Participation
Date & Time: Wednesday 11 June 2025, 9.30am-5.30pm
Location: SPARC, City St. Georges, University of London
Submission deadline: Friday 2 May 2025 by 5pm
REGISTER HERE - https://www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/news-and-events/events/2025/june/embodied-research-methods-in-music-and-sound-study-day/_nocache
Context:
SPARC (Sound Practice and Research @ City StGeorge’s) and the RMA Practice Research Study Group are pleased to announce this study day on embodied research methods in music and sound. We invite contributions from practitioners in music and sound, for whom embodiment forms a significant methodology in their research process. The goal for this study day is to take the temperature of this recently enlivened discourse—how are music and sound practitioners conducting research through embodiment? This question is purposefully broad to make space for the ‘methodological pluralism’ (Borgdorff, 2012) that is often seen as a key strength in practice research work—however, our primary focus will consider embodiment in two functions:
· where the insights of the research process are themselves embodied—e.g., new techniques, relational methods, training paradigms, etc.
· where embodied work serves as a substantial organising principle in a research process, leading to various modes of insight—eg., new compositional or technological approaches, frameworks of access & inclusivity, etc.
Embodiment is an umbrella term that acknowledges the various ways of knowing that are inherent––lived, experienced, enacted, practiced––in human bodies. Embodied work is positioned at the intersection of creative and critical methodologies, emerging from the ‘practice turn’ (Schatzki et al., 2001), building on foundational work in Performance Studies (Rink, 2004; Cook, 2013), and aligning with post-textual (Small, 1998) and practice research (Bulley & Şahin, 2021) discourses in music and sound. ‘Embodied research’ (Spatz: 2017) thus proposes a wide range of activities––from performance and sonic arts to listening and 'cyborg’ musicking (Dyer & Kanga, 2023)—as spaces of being-doing-knowing (Nelson, 2022).
‘Embodiment’ and ‘embodied practice’ have become thematic hot-spots in recent musical discourse, affording researchers the means to recognise and articulate technical, sensory, affective, perceptual and tacit knowledge forms as investigative territories. While these developments have paved the way for an exciting and varied wave of research projects, musicians continue to draw substantially on conceptual frameworks from theatre, dance and physical performance, as well as social epistemology and philosophy of science, in order to articulate insights. Musicians and sound practitioners are clearly asking questions, making a richness of work, and generating insights. The aim of this study day is to encounter the embodied methods at work in these practices and begin to establish the keystones that are distinct to embodied research in music and sound.
Call for Participation
We invite abstracts (250 words or up to 3-minute video) proposals for the following:
· 10-minute position statements (in live or audiovisual format)
· 10-minute creative practice ‘think-pieces’ (engaging with creative practice in broad aesthetic, technological or social contexts, or research interventions that involve sharing creative processes).
· 10-minute research-framed performances
· work-in-process demonstrations or documentation
· participatory activities / workshops
· other formats not listed here
We encourage submission of work that is in-process, including rough edits and current projects. PhD and early-career researchers are encouraged to attend and submit work.
The structure of our study day will be responsive and participant-centred, with the following rough schedule:
9.30am coffee
10:00 Opening remarks from convenors (SPARC/RMA) and provocation from Ben Spatz (Chief Editor, Journal of Embodied Research)
11:00 Participant sessions
13:00 Lunch
14:00 Participant sessions
16:00 World Cafe — those who prefer to participate through dialogue are invited to share work in this informal session to end the day
17:00 Closing remarks and pub
If you are interested in presenting at the study day, please submit an abstract (250 words or up to 3-minute video) along with a 100-word bio, to Mira Benjamin: Mira.Benjamin@citystgeorges.ac.uk by Friday 2 May 2025, 5pm. Notification of acceptance will be sent shortly after, by Friday 9 May.
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Attendance & Expected Outcomes
The anticipated attendance for this conference is estimated to be 25 people. The event is expected to lead to a follow-up symposium, in which themes identified at this study day can be collaboratively developed.
Abstract Submission & Contact
Any questions - please contact the main event organiser at Mira.Benjamin@citystgeorges.ac.uk.