Bringing together humanities,
sciences and practice within
musicology and psychology
Richard Parncutt
University of Graz, Austria
25th anniversary conference of the German Society for
Music Psychology, 12-14 September 2008
This file was revised and extended following the presentation.
Etymology
Musicology: the study of music
 any study of any music
Psychology: the study of soul, self or mind
(e.g. via behavior and experience)
 any study of any soul, self or mind
Which is more important?
Object of research
• person
• music
Context of object
• society
• history
• culture
Alterity and the Other
The subject (speaker/writer)
• tacitly assumes a superior position
• perceives Other relative to that position
Examples:
• gender alterity
women: the Other sex
• cultural alterity
non-western: Other peoples
• academic alterity
humanities: Other disciplines
Music-Ology
• Object of research
– music in different representations
• signal, experience, performance, memory, score…
systematic musicology
(the Other musicology)
• Context of object
– society, history, culture
historical musicology & ethnomusicology
(the Real musicology)
Psych-Ology
• Object of research:
– behavior/experience of individuals
psychology
(the Real study of human behavior)
• Context of object:
– human society, history, culture
anthropology
(the Other study of human behavior)
and by the way:
“Science” is not Wissenschaft!
In modern British and American English,
“science” implies “positivist” scholarship
 natural sciences
 disciplines with similar methods (e.g. social sciences)
“Humanities” and “sciences”
are mutually exclusive categories!
Wissenschaft
= scholarship, research, academe
wissenschaftlich = scholarly, research-based, academic
Humanities
Some slightly dangerous generalisations
• object of research
– specific manifestations of culture (e.g. music performances, works)
• epistemology (knowledge acquisition, “truth”)
– personal experience and observation
– intuition and introspection
– expert discussion (a kind of intersubjectivity)
• research methods
– qualitative, analytic, critical, speculative, “subjective”
• researchers
– institutionally qualified or well recognized
– expected to come to different conclusions
Sciences (of culture)
More slightly dangerous generalisations
• object of research
– general issues (about culture, e.g. what is musical emotion?)
•
epistemology
– systematic observation
– data analysis
– comparison of hypotheses with evidence
• research methods
– quantitative, data-orientiert, empirical, “objective”
• researchers
– not necessarily institutionally qualified or well recognized
– expected to come to similar conclusions (the implied “truth”)
Subjectivity, objectivity
Ambiguous value judgments!
Three cases:
1. the research object itself (Geist / Natur)
2. distance between researcher & research object
3. agreement among researchers
Subjectivity is considered…
• good in humanities
• bad in sciences
Music (ology) according to Nicholas Cook
Music: A very short introduction (Oxford, 1998)
Exposes musicological prejudices against:
• popular and non-western musics (musical Others)
• women and non-westerners (human Others)
Seems unaware of prejudice against:
• musical sciences
• non-Angloamerican musicology
Contents page could have included:
•
•
•
•
•
musical perception, cognition, emotion
music, rhythm and movement
music and personality; development of ability
music, the body and the brain
the nature, functions and origins of music
Academe: A very short introduction
Some broad generalizations and idealisations
cent
ury
progress
character strong
academic
of univer- discip-lines approach
sities
role of
individual
conflict main
languag
es
17th
scientific religious
revolution
sciences
(physics,
medicine)
observation,
deduction
search for
truth
church
Latin,
national
languages
18th
Enlightenment
religious
humanities
(history,
arts,
literature)
rational
thinking
human
rights,
freedom
of speech
royalty,
aristocracy
national
languages
19th
modern
university
(German
model)
secular
all - but
mainly
humanities
institutionalisation
(expansion,
structure)
as above
coloGerman,
nialism, national
racism languages
Academe: A very short introduction
Some broad generalizations and idealisations
century
nature main idea
of universities
20th
public
21st
virtual?
main
disciplines
role of
individual
main
languages
technological sciences
explosion
toward equal
rights for women
and foreigners
English and
national
languages
information
explosion
not knowledge,
English
but ability to find
and interpret
information
all
Academe: A very short introduction
Dominance of sciences in the 20th century
• scientific progress
– physics: atom, universe; nuclear weapons (Einstein)
– biology: evolutionary thinking (Darwin)
• explosion of technologies
– positive impact on everyday life
– exacerbation of international conflict
(Music) psychology becomes a science
Fechner, 1801-1887
Helmholtz, 1821-1894
Wundt, 1832-1920
Why?
1. Introspective psychology is
subjective in all three ways
a) research object = researcher
b) no distance between researcher and object
c) diverse findings and theories
2. Empirical methods are possible
e.g. psychophysics
(Music) history remains in humanities
Why?
1. History is less subjective than
introspective psychology
a) research object not necessarily the researcher
b) more distance between researcher and object
c) tolerable diversity of findings and theories
2. Empirical methods are impossible
a) composers and listeners mostly unavailable
b) performance traditions lost or uncertain
German historical musicology and
international music psychology today
A strained relationship
Two sources of long-term resentment:
• English, the international academic language
– German, the Other language
• Sciences, the main form of scholarship
– Humanities: the Other scholarship
Academe in the 21st century
Revival of the humanities?
Technology
Culture
• quality of life
• human identity
• interculturality
• means to prevent
intercultural conflict?
– in industrialised countries
• self-destruction of humanity
– exhaustion of resources
– climate change
– nuclear war
The return of the humanities
• create new institutions
– Islamic studies
– intercultural studies
• improve finances
– research (positions and support)
– professorships
• improve quality control
– peer review
– teaching evaluation
• reward interdisciplinarity
– especially with sciences
(natural, social, formal)
Categorization of disciplines
Some problems
• Psychology as science
– power: obsession with methods and statistics
– content: neglect of cultural, historical, political and
even social (!) contexts and implications
– quality: obsession with peer review and English
• Musicology as humanities
– power: domination by qualified/eminent researchers
– content: neglect of research methods, which determine
content/validity of findings in any discipline
– quality: rejection of peer-review and English
Categorization of disciplines
• good for administrators 
strengthens hierarchy
faster decisions
less conflict
• bad for academic creativity 
suppresses interdisciplinarity
biased answers to central questions
myopic academic culture
Interdisciplinarity must be directly promoted!
Abstracts at ICMPC10
Sapporo, Japan, 2008
Other 9
Demo 13
Review 22
Subjective classification
based on main content
of abstract
Theoretical
42
Other = methods, pedagogy,
software development, analysis…
Empirical
and data
oriented 265
International music psychology
Too much data-oriented empiricism!
We need a better balance of:
• empirical and theoretical papers
• pure and applied research
German music psychology
No problem 
• institutionalisation of music psychology
– Germany: mp is a musicological Other (“systematic”)
– USA: mp is officially external to “musicology”
• recent German texts on music psychology
– Oerter & Stoffer
– de la Motte & Rötter
– Bruhn, Kopiez & Lehmann
Needed: English translation of the best chapters
Expansion and specialisation
• typical duration of study and doctorate
– 10 years or 10 000 hours (Ericsson)
• expansion of research literature
 specialisation, subdisciplines, sub-subdisciplines
 experts no longer know their own discipline!
Plausible expertise in both humanities and sciences
is no longer possible!
Collaboration is inevitable!
Collaboration humanitiessciences
Why is it so difficult?
• very different concepts of “truth”
– nature
– acquisition
– application
• political dominance of sciences
– sciences: deep-seated arrogance
– humanities: deep-seated resentment
Discrimination in psychology, musicology
• increasing power of dominant subdisciplines
democratic professorial selection procedures tend to
– squeeze out disciplinary minorities
– sharpen disciplinary categorizations
– reduce interdisciplinary collaboration
– increase dependency of “truth” on power (Foucault)
• solution: complex, sensitive democracy
not only one person, one vote
but also explicit promotion of minorities & interdisciplinarity
(“explicit” = financial!)
Collegiality & academic productivity
20th-century contexts
If interdisciplinary collaboration is necessary, collegiality
is also necessary! But we cannot take it for granted:
• social and historical context
–
–
–
–
schools: decline of religion and moral education
undergraduate study: no training in academic collegiality
research, teaching: collegiality within, not between disciplines
politics and economics: neo-liberalism, Geiz ist geil
• academic context
– cold war between humanities and sciences
– multiple distinctions between Real and Other disciplines
– evolutionary psychology: harassment is “natural”
Achieving academic collegiality
Some general strategies
• clarity
– non-overlapping job descriptions
– mission statements, transparency
• supportive atmosphere
– recognition of achievement
– mutual constructive criticism
– solidarity
• objective quality control
– teaching: student and expert evaluation
– research: peer review
• fair competition
– common goal: academic quality
 mutual trust and respect
Achieving academic collegiality
Some specific strategies
• awareness raising, discussion
–
–
–
–
discrimination of Others (sexual, racial, academic)
definitions of collegiality
strategy development
guidelines to promote collegial culture
• research
– publication of objective performance indices
– effect of diversity on creativity and productivity?
• selection procedures
– professors, administrators
– statements on collegiality, affirmative action…
• rewards for good practice
– ceremonies, awards, financial incentives
History of collegiality
Sharing of responsibility in
•
•
Roman republic
Catholic church
Reformation universities (16th C.) trained humanism:
•
•
•
civilised behavior
social responsibility
promotion of culture
Walter Rüegg (Ed., 1992). A history of the university in Europe, Vol. 1: Universities
in the Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press.
Collegiality and the 19th-Century
German university model
• Humboldt’s educational ideal
– combination of arts and specialised academic discipline
– unity of research and teaching
– academic freedom through independence from private sector
• Teachers and learners are:
– autonomous citizens of the world
– concerned with global issues such as peace, justice, cultural
exchange, natural environment
 common goals and supportive atmosphere
 collegiality
Antifascism in global scholarship
Fascism (especially Nazism) is based on:
• belief in the fundamental superiority of one’s own group
…and involves:
• institutionalised victim mentality, intolerance, envy, marginalisation
• authoritarian rule, violence, instability, destruction
Historical, sociological, evolutionary evidence:
Fascism is latent in all cultural groups incl. countries & disciplines*
Antifascism is necessary in all countries & disciplines
Antifascism is based on:
• fundamental respect for both Own and Other groups
…and involves:
• institutionalised empowerment, acceptance, collegiality, solidarity
• democracy, peace, stability, abundance
* cf. Kenneth Westhues: academic mobbing
Spinoffs of academic collegiality
in conjunction with performance orientation
• job satisfaction
psychological identification with institution
• conflict-free environment
openness; diversity of opinions/approaches
• intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
willingness to perform and serve
 risk taking and entrepreneural attitude
 academic creativity!
Collegiality and performance orientation
A spiral of positive reinforcement?
improved research and teaching
recognition of university and its members
attractivity for external academics and students
good job applicants; good students
even better research and teaching
even more recognition
even better staff and students…
Tips for scientists
Take humanities seriously!
• investigate, teach and report the historical, social and
cultural background and implications of research
• present sciences as dangerous, humanities as a solution
• expose and reduce arrogance
in (music) psychology:
• more logic, speculation, reflection
• cultural turn (Allesch)
Tips for humanities scholars
Open up!
•
•
•
•
•
develop / publish methodologies for specific purposes
integrate scientific / computational methods
be more international (not necessarily in English)
create / support peer-review conferences and journals
collaborate!
Tips for both humanities and sciences
• study, apply, develop qualitative methods
– Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
– systematic exposure of researcher bias
• explicity promote collegiality at all levels