Music as a Social Science

This is the newest area to be added to the School’s research output.

Music Medicine

In this area Associate Professor Suzanne Wijsman has studied the biomechanics of cello bowing, and Winthrop Professor Jane Davidson has investigated topics as diverse as performance anxiety, the role of the contraceptive pill on the female operatic voice, and the role of obesity in the control of the singing voice.

Music and Health

Winthrop Professor Jane Davidson is currently investigating singing interventions for older people, especially those facing social isolation, including those with Dementia (a research interest shared with Assistant Professor Nicholas Bannan). Current funding for these projects includes sponsorship by the J.O. & J.R. Wicking Trust, Healthway and Musica Viva.

Assistant Professors Robert Faulkner and Jonathan McIntosh have been investigating the wellbeing impact of music on migrant communities.

Music and Evolution

In this rapidly expanding field, Assistant Professor Nicholas Bannan is currently completing the editing of Music, Language and Human Evolution for Oxford University Press, working on archival material relating to the role of music in the life and writing of Charles Darwin, developing a testable model of the development of the capacity for language out of an existing vocal 'song' system, and evaluating the perception of meaning in song and speech.

Ethnomusicology and Sociology of Music

Assistant Professor Jonathan McIntosh has conducted fieldwork on children’s practice and performance of dance, music, song and children’s dance competitions in Bali. He has also conducted applied research concerning the use of gamelan in community music settings. Assistant Professor Robert Faulkner has explored Icelandic Men’s Vocal Identities in his forthcoming book, Icelandic Men and Me: Sagas of Singing, Self and Everyday Life (Wesleyan University Press). He has also investigated the role of music in the construction of gender identity amongst teenage girls in Western Australia.

Winthrop Professor Jane Davidson and Associate Professor Victoria Rogers have also been working on an ARC-funded Discovery Project exploring the concept of Communicative Human Musicality as it relates to the works of the late and distinguished ethnomusicologist, Professor John Blacking.

Music Psychology

This area is primarily represented in the work of Winthrop Professor Jane Davidson who has made one of the world-leading contributions to the field. Her work on performance expression and body movement has been pioneering, along with her studies of musical development and social interaction in performance ensembles.

Funded projects have included a 13-year longitudinal, multi-methods investigation tracing musical journeys from initial instrumental tuition in primary school wind bands to young adulthood. Recent findings have been presented at international conferences in 2008 and 2009. The research project has been supported by the Australian Research Council in a Large Grant 1997-1999 and in a Discovery Project 2007-2009 (From Child Learner to Adult Musician). Assistant Professor Robert Faulkner has been the post-doctoral fellow on the project. Another distinguished chief investigator on the project has been Professor Gary McPherson (University of Melbourne). Both are co-authors with Davidson in a book titled Music in Our Lives: Redefining musical development, ability and identity which is forthcoming with Oxford University Press.