Ellen Dissanayake discusses "Homo Musicus: How Music Began." The universally observed interaction between mothers and infants, commonly and even dismissively called "baby talk," is composed of proto-aesthetic, temporally-organized elements that Dissayanake suggests are the origin of human music. Because infants are born ready to engage in these encounters and to prefer their visual, vocal and gestural components to any other sight or sound, one could claim that humans are innately prepared to be musical.
The Music and the Brain Series Lecture cycle of lectures and special presentations that highlight an explosion of new research in the rapidly expanding field of "neuromusic." Programming is sponsored by the Library's Music Division and its Science, Technology and Business Division, in cooperation with The Dana Foundation
Speaker Biography
Ellen Dissanayake is currently an affiliate professor at the University of Washington. Among her many published writings are chapters and articles in books or periodicals about music: "Chamber Music" (2006), "Music and Manipulation" (2006), "The Nordic Journal of Music Therapy" (2001) and "Origins of Music" (2000). Her three books, "What Is Art For?, Homo Aestheticus" and "Art and Intimacy", are all published by the University of Washington Press and in 2003, a Chinese translation of "Homo Aestheticus" was published in Beijing. Her work draws upon experiences from more than 15 years residence in non-Western countries, including Sri Lanka, India, Nigeria and Papua New Guinea.
