Thursday, May 16, 2013
I’m in the Flinders Research Spotlight
Flinders Institute for Research in the Humanities have a monthly publication, in which they focus on research achievements. My recent U2 academic conference involvement is currently “top of the fold.”
The words ‘U2’ and ‘academic’ seldom occur in the same sentence. Rock music is often considered adolescent and entertainment. So how can it be academic?
Dr Jason Hanley (Ph.D. in Musicology) has helpfully observed that rock and roll is a cultural artifact. When researched, it becomes a way of learning about ourselves and our world.
It is this potential of music to help us to begin looking at ourselves in the mirror (to appropriate Michael Jackson), that led Dr Steve Taylor from the Flinders University Department of Theology to present a research paper at the second U2 Conference (April 25-28, 2013) in Cleveland, Ohio.
Dr Taylor’s paper utilised the work of sociologist, Paul Connerton, to analyse the live concert performances of the recent U2 360 tour.
For Dr Taylor, participation in the U2 Conference breaks down the perception of the university as “ivory tower.” It also brings a necessary inter-disciplinary perspective to the work of theology, helping it to reconceive its relationship with popular culture. … full article plus picture here
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