Blair McLaughlin

Recent and Upcoming Courses

• Media and Technology: The Sound of Life: Observation, Art and Ecology

  A soundscape is an environment of sounds with emphasis on the way it is perceived, understood, and inhabited by individuals, groups, societies, or non-humans. This course invites participants from diverse disciplines to investigate their sonic environments as artist-as-scientist or scientist-as-artist, sensing, surveying and responding to a range of mediums. This course will explore bridges between sound, art, and ecology. Drawing from the fields of sound art, eco-musicology, acoustic and soundscape ecology, physics, and environmental art, students are encouraged to consistently experiment through small, prompt driven projects, and collectively directed rambles. How is the landscape organized and transformed by sound? How is noise pollution impacting ecosystems, organisms, and human health and communities? In what ways do observation, deep listening and critical listening enhance our understanding of the world? Students will be given a wide range of possibilities for course projects such as conservation, ecology and environmental studies, cultural perspectives, art-making, music-making and sound composition. This course requires walking in variable terrain and weather. (keywords: sound, art, ecology, science)

• Special Projects

• Advanced Ecology Practicum

  The Advanced Ecology Practicum provides an opportunity for students who are conducting (or interested in conducting) ecological or environmental research to learn from each others' work and pursue more advanced topics in ecology and conservation. We will explore issues of research question development, experimental design, data analysis, scientific writing and communication of results. The class will workshop student projects at various stages of progression, visit local field sites, and explore related topics in the ecological literature. Additionally, we will delve into some more advanced issues in ecology and conservation, based on student interests. The course format will be workshop/seminar style with field trips, and include outside in-person meetings as weather permits and online meetings. It will require substantial independent work on the part of students. Walking in variable weather/terrain may be required. Keywords: ecology, environmental conservation, environmental science

• Ecological Soundscapes

  This course will explore the bridge between music and ecology drawing from the fields of ecological sound art, eco-musicology, acoustic ecology and soundscape ecology. Using primary literature, mixed media and deep listening, we will address the ways that sound functions in the ecological environment, and the ways sound and music can be used to represent ecological and conservation issues. We will consider how the landscape is organized and transformed by sound, how noise pollution and changes in soundscapes are impacting ecosystems, organisms and human health, and how sound art and soundscape composition can enhance understanding of the natural environment and address environmental problems. Students will conduct their own field recordings and create their own compositions, engage in listening and discussion sessions and participate in field trips on local sound environments. For final projects students may choose to focus on creative or ecological science-based work. Prerequisites: a strong interest in music and ecology. Walking in variable terrain and weather may be required.

• Ecology

  How do living things exist together? Ecology is the study of the relationships of living things to each other and their environment. With an emphasis on plants, this course will introduce students to community and landscape ecology, as well as explore broader socio-ecological perspectives, including conservation/restoration ecology, the effects of global change and political ecology. We will use a combination of primary scientific literature, popular science media, environmental literature, and textbook resources. Students will also begin to explore basic ecological study design and analysis in R programming language. We will explore local field sites and conduct in depth observation of a campus ecological community. Walking in variable terrain and weather will be required. This course has no prerequisites.