In January 2022, Trinity College students enrolled in the class Soundfuturism: the Aesthetics and Politics of Urban Sounds used sound recording and editing techniques as a conduit to explore urban, intimate, and fictional landscapes.
Students were exposed to readings and films on soundscapes, sound and anthropology, Afrofuturism and Latinxfutirism, and urbanistic studies on sound with the aim to introduce them to a varied range of theoretical and practical approaches to sound. More specifically, the readings on futurism brought perspectives from Latinx and Black scholars to critically understand unequal trajectories of our current universes.
What was planned as an in-person three-week workshop with fieldwork in the Hartford area, became an online course due to the Covid Omicron variant. Thus the auditive gaze of students shifted towards cities and towns where they were located–including Hartford, CT, their faraway homelands, and intimate and fictional spaces.
Each sound essay lasts from 3 to 5 minutes and counts with a written essay that provides background and context.