Assistant Professor of Music Eldad Tsabary will deliver a keynote address at the fourth International Conference on Arts and Humanities (ICOAH) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 21-22 September, on the topic of “the arts as a testing ground for democratic education”.
"I will discuss the benefits and challenges of democratic art-based education as they manifested in several projects at Concordia University, including the Concordia Laptop Orchestra, the Jerusalem Fine Arts Field School, the Feminist University initiative, and others," says Tsabary.
The Concordia electroacoustics professor will also lead a workshop entitled “A sound walk: reclaiming our ears.”
"Hearing and listening are related but distinct practices. Hearing is involuntary, while listening is a voluntary act," he explains.
"Training the mind to listen in new ways provides us with insights about the (external) environment and the (internal) workings of our perception, attention, intent. It enriches our understanding of our place in the world and society. It gives us tools for strengthening a connection with our surroundings and with other beings—animal and human."
With the assistance of Concordia International, this is Concordia’s second year as an official partner of ICOAH with Tsabary co-chairing the conference.
“It's been a great benefit to me to connect with researchers in Asia, and primarily Southeast Asia, where there are large fine arts and humanities research communities that we can learn a lot from. The conference's broad interdisciplinarity and multiculturality provide an opportunity for researchers to discuss the complexity of human knowledge and relationships beyond disciplinary conventions and cultural boundaries.”