Listening at the End of (this) World

MA Seminar taught at the Sound Studies and Sonic Arts program at the Universität der Künste Berlin, Summer Semester 2023.

“There, in the parade, I left my black skin, my voice
My point of view, my discourse, my home, my solitude
Woman at the End of the World, I am
I go on, singing till the end”
– Elza Soares, “A Mulher do Fim do Mundo”

This Seminar is a collective, speculative exercise in thinking and listening with and beyond the end of the world as we know it. What forms of collective knowing are made possible by such an exercise, and more importantly, what is the role of artistic, poetic, and sonic thinking in dismantling the current world and creating new worlds and sense-makings? To find out possible points of entry and return, we will read and discuss texts and artworks from those for whom the world has already ended many times, i.e. queer, black, and indigenous thinkers, in particular (but not exclusively) from Latin America and the Caribbean.

Full Syllabus (PDF)