The SIM department is collaborating with the Sound Travels team at Cambridge based TERC research group to explore the role of sound in attention, attraction, and learning in out-of-school spaces through conversation, exploration, investigation, documentation and making.
Four SIM Majors engaged in an independent study during the spring 2025 semester which resulted in the SoniCexhibit at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
SoniCexhibit Research and Artist participants:
SIM Students: Rosa Doherty, Teagan Far, Isabella Febbroriello, Amanda McCluskey
Sound Travels Advisors: Martha Merson, Nickolay Hristov, Elise Levin-Güracar
Documentary Filmmakers: Nathan Knox & Alexis Brunnert of Notable Human Films
Tech support: Owen Greenfield, Eric Freeman
Faculty advisor: Nita Sturiale
This collaboration is continuing over the summer 2025 as the team prepares for World Listening Day on July 18, 2025 with 2 Events!
- World Listening Day Tune Up: Breaking the Sound Barrier – A week in advance of World Listening Day, join the Sound Travels team and special guests on zoom for a session with resources, inspiration, and a preview screening of “When I Think About Sound,” a film in process about the project.
Listening deeply feels rare and risky. Anyone making the attempt to tune into the world (vs. music of their choice delivered on headphones) might feel overwhelmed. World Listening Day is an opportunity to re-set, renew our efforts to curate sound experiences, and to celebrate the beauty of soundscapes within our reach and of our own and others’ making. This session is intended for educators, exhibit designers, and community leaders with an interest in increasing listening among our various audiences.
July 10, 3 pm eastern; 2 pm central; 1 pm mountain and 12 noon pacific time.
Eventbrite registration link coming soon.
Free! - Summer Soundtrack Soundwalk – Ice cream truck bells? the hum of a mosquito? Fireworks? What are the sounds of summer for you? Join a soundwalk Thursday evening July 17. Local educators and artists will lead the walk, as we tune in to natural and community-made sounds to mark World Listening Day (officially celebrated on July 18). Listening deeply feels rare and risky. World Listening Day is an opportunity to re-set, to celebrate the beauty of soundscapes within our reach.
We’ll discuss some of the sounds that make us nostalgic for past summers and what we hope our neighborhood sounds like in the coming years and how we can move toward a soundscape that feels vibrant and yet soothing.
Meeting place: Central JP, to be announced closer to the day
Date and Time: Thursday July 17, 7:30pm-9pm eastern
Distance: 1.5-2 miles on paved surfaces
Free!!
All ages welcome with children 10 and younger accompanied by a parent or teen
Questions: Email martha_merson@terc.edu
TERC is a non-profit made up of teams of math and science education and research experts. The Center for Research and Evaluation at COSI, and musicologist Daniel Shanahan at Northwestern University as well as midwest-based cultural institutions partner on the project.