Inaugural Lecture of Professor David Lines

The Faculty of Arts and Education invites you to join us in celebrating Professor David Lines' achievements by attending his inaugural lecture.

Venue: University of Auckland B250 | 6 Symonds Street, Auckland

Lecture hall: Lecture Theatre 250-117

Time: Lecture 5- 6pm | Drinks Reception 6-7pm

Celebratory refreshments will be held after the inaugural lecture.

About the lecture

In this professorial lecture I draw on research and creative practice to explore the relationships between music, dialogue, community and education. I bring together insights from a broad range of research and artistic projects that span three decades of work. Contrary to neoliberal and reductive notions of literacy education, I take communication to be multi-modal in that it includes different texts, words, numbers, physical gestures, images and music. Music, as an important facet of human communication, is inherently social and as such is linked to community and whanaungatanga. Musical experiences then offer us “musical dialogues” or spaces that hold transformational potential for social connection and learning. I initially develop the idea of dialogue through a consideration of three philosophers/theorists: Bakhtin, Buber and Freire. We live in a world that needs a deeper sense of dialogue. Consider for instance the political situation in USA today and the deepening divide between points of view. Although people like to use social media as a form of communication and dialogue with others, much social media is filled with divisiveness and fakery. Dialogue is often absent in discussions about educational policy, curriculum, race, colonialism, and the increasing economic divide in society between the haves and have-nots. These are just some of the contexts that lack a sense of dialogue today. In some cases its seems that people are wilfully ignoring it. Musical dialogue offers a sense of connectedness and community, a shared sense of belonging missing in many of these disconnected scenarios. I ask: what does this mean for learning and education? The lecture includes examples from my past research, live music making, conversation, and audience interaction.

About the speaker:

David Lines is Professor of Music Education in the Faculty of Arts and Education at Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland. David’s research examines the role of music and the arts in contemporary society as it shifts from the concert/recording space to one that is more integrated in people’s lives and well-being. His articles and books explore research, philosophies and pedagogical practices in a broad range of topics including creativity, music technology, improvisation, community music and cultural diversity. As a creative artist he has played piano in contemporary music bands including covers, standards, original music and free jazz. In his early career he composed school musicals and conducted mass choirs and jazz bands. In recent years has has been involved in university curriculum redevelopment, curriculum change and transdisciplinary teaching and learning.

David is currently working on his own book Making Tracks: Dialogues and Pathways for Contemporary Music and Education. The main aim of this book is to open up new spaces of thinking to help musicians, music educators and the general public move towards greater creativity, access, participation and engagement in music. He is also writing with a team of international researchers on arts-based and narrative forms of qualitative research. In recent years at the university, David has acted in a range of leadership roles for the Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries including Acting Deputy Dean, Associate Dean, Academic and Associate Dean, Curriculum.

Think GREEN! - registration is for catering purposes only, no need to print out your ticket

Getting to the venue: The Faculty of Arts and Educations' buildings are conveniently located at the heart of the University's City Campus and are easily accessible via many forms of public transport. For further information on public transport schedules, visit the Auckland Transport website. For those driving in, further information on parking options can be found here.