Presented by the Sound and Humanities Research Cluster, with support from the Public Humanities Hub.
Sound Silence Power
a thematic series hosted in collaboration with Green College
Professor Casey Mecija, York University
“Sounds That Mark Our Words: Sonic Agencies & Intimacies in the Filipinx Diaspora”
Thursday, January 25, 5:00-6:30PM | Green College Coach House
Please also join us for a listening & discussion group on Mecija’s original work (Jan 15). Details below.
In this presentation, Dr. Casey Mecija considers how sound offers a methodological framework that uniquely captures slippages between affect and the emotional conflicts of racism, homophobia and national belonging. In doing so, she offers a theory of “queer sound” that considers how sonicity might be used as a conceptual resource for making sense of the affective and psychic lives of diasporic communities, particularly Filipinx. She emphasizes how—in the queer valences of sound—we might take notice of empathies and capacities for Asian diasporic desires that are otherwise repressed or disregarded. In discussing how this works, her presentation includes examples of Filipinx aesthetic expression, such as music, viral new media such as a YouTube karaoke performance, and other sounds that may be characterized as coincidental or mundane. These sonic moments offer insight into the many ways that diasporic people practice care and enliven creativity and repair from colonial violence across multiple geographic spaces, such as Canada and the Philippines.
Talk to be followed by Q&A and catered charcuterie and wine reception in the Green College Piano Lounge.
Casey Mecija is Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and Media Studies at York University. Her current research examines sound as a mode of affective, psychic and social representation, specifically in relation to diasporic experience. Drawing on sound studies, queer diaspora studies, and Filipinx Studies, her research considers how sensorial encounters are enmeshed and disciplined by social and psychic conditions. In this work, she theorizes sounds made in and beyond Filipinx diaspora to make an argument about “queer sound” that permeates diasporic sensibilities. She is also a musician and filmmaker whose work has received several accolades and has been presented internationally. (Photo credit: May Truong.)
Pre-Lecture Listening Group
In anticipation of Prof. Mecija’s visit, you are invited to join us for a listening & discussion group on Monday, January 15, 1-2PM, Buchanan Tower 726. We invite you to listen to Mecija’s original sound work, “Sounds that Mark Our Words” (Psychic Materials, 2016), and check out the short text “Blank Space and ‘Asymmetries of Childhood Innocence’” (Sounding Out! Feb 2020). We’ll begin by listening to the track together, then we’ll share reactions and discuss Mecija’s creative and scholarly work. Join us for tasty snacks, good company, and pleasant listening!
Listening & Reading Group facilitated by Dr. Rosanne Sia (GRSJ) and Grad Affiliate Anna Navarro (English).