Department of Music

Bodies as fieldsites—considering the senses in research and performance

Through fieldwork and performance, ethnomusicologists are immersed in another culture’s sensory framework, or world. There are opportunities to make sense of the world from a variety of cultural perspectives, a variety of sensual orientations. In this presentation Tomie considers the sensibilities of performance and fieldwork—the transmission of embodied cultural knowledge. More specifically, she examines the elusive qualities of multi-sensory and “extra-ordinary” experiences one might encounter during fieldwork. Might these encounters be moments of heightened sensory awareness and a remarkable peek into a sensory realm that we are normally unaware of? 

Tomie Hahn is an artist and ethnomusicologist. She is a performer of shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute), nihon buyo (Japanese traditional dance), and experimental performance. Tomie’s research spans a wide range of area studies and topics including: Japanese traditional performing arts, Monster Truck rallies, issues of display, the senses and transmission, gesture, and relationships of technology and culture. Her book, Sensational Knowledge: Embodying Culture through Japanese Dancewas awarded the Alan P. Merriam prize (Society for Ethnomusicology). She is an Associate Professor in the Arts Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she is also the Director of the Center for Deep Listening.