Day 1. Tuesday, May 25: “Words and Music”: Two-person conversational lecture/demonstration with Westney and Grund. (Presentation for 80 minutes; discussion for 40 minutes)
How do the fields of music and philosophy deal with the “ineffable?” Does music continue where words leave off, as Hans Christian Andersen said? How does pragmatist philosophy relate to the phenomena of musical practice and performance? Ideas of Susanne Langer, John Dewey, Martin Buber and others will be integrated into the lecture and discussion.
Day 2. Wednesday, May 26: Recital with expanded lecture portions, William Westney (120 minutes).
Classical piano repertoire by Haydn, Fauré and Liszt, as well as jazz-flavored music by Gershwin and Arlen, will be performed by prizewinning concert artist William Westney. Interspersed with the performances will be commentary and discussion about the aesthetics and background of the pieces and the possible ways that meaning can be negotiated between musician and audience in the act of performance.
Day 3. Thursday, May 27: “Gesture, Music and Meaning”: Two-person conversational lecture/workshop with Westney and Grund. (Presentation for 80 minutes; discussion for 40 minutes):
A philosophical analysis and exploration of expressive gesture will be pursued through multi-modality in this session. Lecture portions will be presented along with demonstrations of state-of-the-art motion-capture computer technology and videos of gesture being used as a means of musical pedagogy. Additionally, features of gesture will be experienced hands-on by course attendees through participatory games and activities.
Day 4. Friday, May 28: Virtual Reality, Second Life and George Berkeley with Cynthia M. Grund (120 minutes)
3D-design and the worlds which may be created by means of it challenge and extend our intuitions about physicality, presence and the role of gesture in interpersonal communication. This module will address these issues by examining a pilot project for e-learning in the form of virtual museum-teaching that was conceived and by Grund and designed by Second Life Developer Jesper Pilegaard. Percipitopia is a virtual counterpart to Whitehall, the Rhode Island home from 1729-1731 of Irish clergyman-philosopher George Berkeley (1685-1753), and its surroundings. The name Percipitopia harks back to Berkeley’s motto: Esse est percipere aut percipere: to be is to be perceived or to perceive. Our visit to Percipitopia will also give us opportunities to discuss some of the philosophical consequences of this view. Our hosts in Perciptopia will be Grund’s and Pilegaard’s avatars, with Grund physically present in Bifröst, while Pilegaard is physically present in Odense.
