Michael C. Heller

“Just Beyond Listening” explores multisensory sonic encounters that register as more than simple collisions between sound waves and eardrums. Instead, it looks at how sound functions in dialogue with a range of sensory and affective modalities, including physical co-presence, cultural memory, and spectral haunting. A series of case studies examines instances where sound is experienced in other parts of the body; where sound is altered by cross-wirings across the senses; where sound has been weaponized by military powers; or where sound is mediated and changed by cultural practices, individual memories, or sensations of place. The work expands upon recent scholarship in sound studies, musicology, affect theory, and media studies by asking not only how sound functions acoustically, but how sonic presences temper our total experience of the world around us.