IMS Study Group “Auditory History”

Sound and Space: A Multidisciplinary Roundtable
2025-06-17 17:00 - 19:00 (Europe/Paris) | Online
Athanasius Kircher, Phonurgia nova, 1673.
Focusing on the variety of interactions of sound and space — how sound inhabits space, shapes space, and how it creates space — we will discuss this broad topic with a multidisciplinary group of scholars. Iva Grlić Radman (Basel) is an architect interested in contemporary spaces and sound, Eduardo Carrero Santamaria (Barcelona) is an art historian focused on medieval sacred architecture and sound, Ilaria Grippaudo (Palermo) is an early modern historical musicologist investigating the interaction of politics, sound, and space, Zorana Đorđević (Barcelona) is an architect and archaeoacoustics scholar specialised in long-distance sonic communication, and Salomé Voegelin (London) is a philosopher of sound and a sound artist focusing on sonic communication.
Following the 10-minute presentations, the floor will be open for questions and an open discussion.
Registration is necessary: click here to access the form.

Reading Group: Sounds of War
2025-05-15 16:00 - 18:00
Reading Sounds of War
The reading group session will focus on the sounds of war, liminality, and transcultural communities formed during periods of conflict. Drawing on a curated selection of recent contributions by multiple authors, we will explore the many facets of listening, hearing, and the multisensorial perception of war sounds, including music and sonic communication.
Chair: Alexandros Maria Hatzikiriakos (St Andrews)
Discussants: Linda Pearse (Mount Allison University), Deanna Pelleranno (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz)
Key reading:

Basdurak, Nil. “The Soundscape of Islamic Populism: Auditory Publics, Silences and the Myth of Democracy.” SoundEffects – An Interdisciplinary Journal of Sound and Sound Experience 9, no. 1 (January 22, 2020): 132–48. https://doi.org/10.7146/se.v9i1.112804.
Daughtry, J. Martin. Listening to War: Sound, Music, Trauma and Survival in Wartime Iraq. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015 Introduction and (optional) Chapter 3 ‘Auditory Regimes’ https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199361496.001.0001,
Linden, David van der. “The Sound of Memory: Acoustic Conflict and the Legacy of the French Wars of Religion in Seventeenth-Century Montpellier.” Early Modern French Studies 41, no. 1 (July 2019): 7–20.

Registration required: register here.

Colloquium: Karl Kügle (Oxford) and Marc Lewon (Basel)
2025-04-10 16:00 - 17:00
VALSOUNDS. Reflections on the Digital Reconstruction of Early Valois Soundscapes
Following a successful end of the transdisciplinary ERC-funded project at KU Leuven (2023-25), Karl Kügle (PI) and Marc Lewon will showcase the various stages of the research proecess and the auralisations created by the project. They will feature potential impact of archaeoacoustic research for the arts- and history-related humanities disciplines, for the future of historically informed performance practices, and for our approach to cultural heritage in the digital age.

Colloquium: Laudan Nooshin (London)
2025-03-10 16:00 - 17:00
Listening to Tehran: Sonic Palimpsests and Affective Historical Imaginaries
Through the more-than-sounds of sirens, bombs and other sonic experiences during the missile strikes on Tehran in the later stages of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88) in Azar Nafisi’s 2003 book, Laudan Nooshin will investigate a profound entanglement of sound, affect, and memory, and the intense somatic materiality of sound experienced through the entire body. Nooshin will draw on current research on the sound of Tehran to explore the entanglement and in particular the palimpsestic nature of historical soundspaces with their layered sonic archaeology.

Auditory History Meets Deaf Studies: Sensory Disabilities Workshop
2025-02-28 15:00 - 20:00
This afternoon workshop investigates historical auditory experiences of those with varied degrees of hearing loss in the wide context of hearing as a multisensorial experience. The event will feature a keynote lecture by Rosamund Oates (Manchester) and five presentations by registered active participants, followed by a lengthy discussion. The participation at the event is mandatory: for details and recommended reading, consult the Call for Participants.
