About this project
Funded 4-year PhD studentship to start in September 2024. This is an exciting opportunity for an ambitious, talented and enthusiastic researcher to conduct interdisciplinary research in order to advance thinking within the area of blue-green humanities.
Water features in myriad pieces of music, and has inspired numerous Western composers and creative artists. Works have featured seas (Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture; Björk’s Oceania), rivers (Smetana’s Vltava; Enya’s Oricono Flow), aquatic life (Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals), and floods (Led Zeppelin’s When the Levée Breaks), with recent composers and song writers warning about the impacts of climate change (John Luther Adams’ Become Ocean; Pharrell Williams’ 100 Years). Ecomusicologists and scientists have been studying the sounds of water-based ecosystems, and of water itself (e.g. melting glaciers). But what effect do these musics and sounds have on the listener? This project will examine how original or existing music focussed on water influences people’s environmental beliefs, attitudes and behaviours. Based in the Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships Centre for Water Cultures, the successful applicant will design and conduct empirical studies based on evidence from existing literature. They will compose or identify appropriate musical materials to use as stimuli, gather and analyse quantitative and qualitative data from participants using a range of psychological research methods, and generate findings suitable for publication in peer-reviewed journals. These findings will transform our understanding of music’s potential to help address an area of global concern, namely climate change.
If you have any queries about this project, please address them to watercultures@hull.ac.uk, rather than contacting the supervisor directly. This is to support our inclusive recruitment practices (please see ‘How to apply’ section below for more information). Our Water Cultures Professional Services Team will liaise with Supervisors and ensure you receive responses to your queries.
