Journal articles and reviews by Laryssa Whittaker
Culture, Theory and Critique, 2014
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Ethnomusicology Forum, 2010
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Book chapters by Laryssa Whittaker
Making Congregational Music Local in Christian Communities Worldwide, 2018
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The Routledge Companion to the Study of Local Musicking, 2018
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Soundscapes of Wellbeing in Popular Music, eds. Gavin J. Andrews, Paul Kingsbury, and Robin Kearns, 2014
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
PhD Thesis by Laryssa Whittaker
PhD Thesis, Royal Holloway, University of London, 2015
This thesis investigates music education provided by non-profit organisations in South Africa as ... more This thesis investigates music education provided by non-profit organisations in South Africa as a means of countering socioeconomic inequality. I focus on the case study of the national organisation known as the Field Band Foundation (FBF), with whom I undertook an intensive period of research in 2012. The FBF is a non-governmental organisation that has been working nationwide since 1997 to create opportunities for the development of “life skills” in youth in predominantly socioeconomically underprivileged communities through music education. I examine the origins of their work in the politics and economics of post-apartheid South Africa, and the rationale behind the choice of music as the medium through which they accomplish their goals. I examine their educational programme, in connection with literature on education and skills development in global, neoliberal economies. Engaging with the “capabilities approach” developed by Amartya Sen, and connecting these thoughts with the political significance of notions of “the good life” discussed in economic and philosophical terms, I apply theoretical frameworks to the work of the FBF, analysing the ability of the organisation’s programme to increase the capabilities and thus the wellbeing of participants. I provide an ethnographic account of participants' assessments of the impact of their participation in the programme upon multiple dimensions of wellbeing—physical, social, psychological, spiritual, and financial. I discuss the ways in which this evaluation may indicate the success of the FBF's programme and indicate areas for future development. I conclude by pointing toward a broader theory of music for positive social change grounded in political economic analysis of global economies and societies.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
List of Figures and Illustrations 10
Chapter One. Introduction 12
PART ONE: POLITICAL ECONOMY AND MUSIC DEVELOPMENT 56
Chapter Two. Neoliberalism, inequality, and NGOs in South Africa 57
Chapter Three. Letha imali yami: The FBF and sound business practice 85
Chapter Four. Refining the nation’s “new gold”: The FBF’s educational programme 109
PART TWO: WELLBEING AND CAPABILITIES 147
Chapter Five. Conceptualising “the good life”: Theoretical frameworks for music education as a route to increased wellbeing 148
Chapter Six. Assessing “the good life”: Ethnography of the effects of FBF participation on multidimensional wellbeing 163
Chapter Seven. Ubuhle bendoda izinkomo ozayo: Assessing success, outcomes, and impact 220
Chapter Eight. Conclusion 261
References 277
Appendix A: National statistical information 295
Appendix B: Field Band Foundation overview 297
Appendix C: Data collected from FBA student focus groups 301
Appendix D: Semiformal interviews and focus group participants 318
Appendix E: Transcription of “Ubuhle bendoda” 322
Appendix F: Glossary 324
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
MA Thesis by Laryssa Whittaker
MA Thesis, University of Alberta, 2010
People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) in South Africa experience a stigmatised HIV status which th... more People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) in South Africa experience a stigmatised HIV status which threatens to supplant their prior identities. This compounds the marginalization on multiple social levels experienced by those most vulnerable to infection as they cope with associations of death and disease, as well as perceptions of guilt, shame and personal responsibility built into the moral discourse with which the subject of HIV is laden. My thesis explores the grassroots activism of groups and individuals in South Africa who musically advocate for support and social acceptance of PLWHAs within a volatile post-apartheid sociopolitical environment where government intervention has been controversial, inconsistent and, in terms of advocacy, largely absent. I argue, using Thomas Turino’s Peircian theory of semiotics, that my research participants draw upon the indexical characteristics of their music to assert social, religious and ethnic identities in the construction of alternative, healthy HIV-positive identities.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Chapter One – Introduction 1
Chapter Two – Relevant Scholarship 15
Chapter Three – HIV/AIDS in South Africa 39
Chapter Four – Key strategies in HIV/AIDS intervention 81
Chapter Five – Case studies: Musicians leading HIV/AIDS advocacy initiatives 99
Chapter Six – Musical indaba and HIV/AIDS activism 166
Chapter Seven – Reflexive considerations and future explorations 188
References 199
Appendix A – Poetry and Song Lyrics 214
Appendix B – Index of song titles, lyrics or themes 218
Appendix C – Accompanying film 219
[See link for downloadable thesis, above]
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Papers by Laryssa Whittaker
VR narratives and artworks have been exhibited and discussed at ELO conferences for years, but th... more VR narratives and artworks have been exhibited and discussed at ELO conferences for years, but this experimental session will be the first ELO panel to take place in a VR space. This 90 minute session will be held as a free, public event in AltspaceVR, a VR social space which works best for participants using consumer VR headsets but can also be accessed in 2D mode using an app on Mac, Windows and Android operating systems. There will be lightning talks (about 5 minutes each) on VR narratives by researchers and creators, followed by small group discussions among speakers and participants, and then a plenary Q&A session. Speakers include Caitlin Fisher, Director of the York University Augmented Reality Lab; Illya Szilak, author of the VR narratives Queerskins: A Love Story and the forthcoming work Queerskins: Ark; critic and scholar Anna Nacher of the Jagiellonian University, Scott Rettberg, co-author of the VR CAVE narrative Hearts and Minds, and Laryssa Whittaker, an audience insight researcher from StoryFutures, the UK’s National Centre for Immersive Storytelling. The session will be moderated by Jill Walker Rettberg and Maud Ceuterick, both of the University of Bergen. Partication is possible either using a VR headset (e.g. Oculus Quest) with the AltspaceVR app, or using a Windows computer to connect to a 2D version of AltspaceVR. Unfortunately, there is no Mac or Linux client for AltspaceVR, however, we will write up a summary of the discussions for people who were not able to participate. To participate, create an AltspaceVR account at altvr.com. Go to the event page to sign up for the event. Install the app from your headset (search for AltspaceVR) or install the Windows client. Please explore AltspaceVR before the event so you can find your way around - and then when it\u27s time, simply log on, select My Events, and click on the event to join us! Please also sign up on the ELO2020 conference website as this will give you access to the conference discord and let us know what numbers to expect
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Journal of sound and music in games, 2021
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Journal of Marketing Management, Jan 2, 2023
Borrowing from computing via media art, we introduce the concept of ‘glitch’ pedagogy to insert u... more Borrowing from computing via media art, we introduce the concept of ‘glitch’ pedagogy to insert unexpected tension into the marketing curriculum, offering learners a glimpse into the underlying ideological structures of neoliberal higher education and opening up spaces of resistance and affirmation. We draw on neoliberal, marketised educational discourses and the bureaucratic systems they engender to illustrate glitches within the employability agenda, providing students conceptual space to leverage the contradictions and inequalities implicit in this agenda. As a genre of post-critical pedagogy, we argue that glitch pedagogy can move us beyond some of the noted dualisms of critical pedagogy to recognise the complexity of students’ emotional investments, in particular socio-cultural and political positions by way of affective relations.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies
Virtual reality (VR) technology is an emerging medium of experience in many different public-faci... more Virtual reality (VR) technology is an emerging medium of experience in many different public-facing entertainment and cultural contexts, such as immersive theatre, live performance, VR film festivals, gaming arcades, escape rooms, and museum exhibitions. The processes of ushering audience members or users into the virtual experience and out again, to which I refer here as ‘onboarding’ and ‘offboarding’, have been considered within some specific contexts, or on a case-by-case basis, but to date no systematised consideration of VR onboarding and offboarding has been produced. One reason for this is that ambiguities in disciplinary and practical definitions of immersion have obscured the relationship between VR technology and users. Clarification of this relationship results in clear evidence of a need for attention to onboarding and offboarding processes in public-facing contexts. In this paper, I define onboarding and offboarding, and present a framework for considering the onboardin...
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Consumption Markets & Culture
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The Oxford Handbook of Economic Ethnomusicology
“Ubuhle bendoda” is a Zulu song about lobolo, the exchange of bridewealth in the form of cattle. ... more “Ubuhle bendoda” is a Zulu song about lobolo, the exchange of bridewealth in the form of cattle. A practice that was never conceptualized simply as transactional, lobolo indexed and cemented social contract between families, and represented the capacity of individuals and families to fulfil their social roles. The song is a favorite in the repertoire of the Field Band Foundation (FBF), a national non-profit youth development organization that provides music education in underprivileged communities in South Africa. This chapter analyzes “Ubuhle bendoda” in the context of the FBF’s work, revealing social and economic change due to colonialism, apartheid, and post-apartheid capitalism. I argue the song provides a heuristic for understanding the way that the FBF addresses present-day socioeconomic inequality through teaching, musical practice, and financial partnerships, resulting in new ethical and economic bases for gender roles, new forms of reciprocity, and new economic vehicles for establishing social relations.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Frontiers in Virtual Reality, 2022
Virtual reality in a public place is enticing for some yet daunting for others. Social Impact the... more Virtual reality in a public place is enticing for some yet daunting for others. Social Impact theory proposes that performing in front of larger (vs. smaller) audiences is typically seen as more anxiety provoking and less desirable. Having peers perform with you can offset this, however. Our goal was to test whether Social Impact theory extends to the context of trying virtual reality in a busy public setting, and whether any such effects are influenced by extroversion and trait anxiety. In Experiment 1, we ran an online study with 100 participants and found that images of people trying virtual reality in front of others were indeed rated as more anxiety provoking than images with no audiences. Images with (vs. without) audiences were also rated as scenarios in which people would be less willing to try virtual reality. There was no impact of extroversion levels on people’s reported Willingness to Try; however extroverted individuals were less affected by audience size compared to in...
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Computers in Human Behavior, 2021
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The Routledge Companion to the Study of Local Musicking, 2018
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Making Congregational Music Local in Christian Communities Worldwide, 2018
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Journal of Academic Writing, 2018
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Uploads
Journal articles and reviews by Laryssa Whittaker
Book chapters by Laryssa Whittaker
PhD Thesis by Laryssa Whittaker
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
List of Figures and Illustrations 10
Chapter One. Introduction 12
PART ONE: POLITICAL ECONOMY AND MUSIC DEVELOPMENT 56
Chapter Two. Neoliberalism, inequality, and NGOs in South Africa 57
Chapter Three. Letha imali yami: The FBF and sound business practice 85
Chapter Four. Refining the nation’s “new gold”: The FBF’s educational programme 109
PART TWO: WELLBEING AND CAPABILITIES 147
Chapter Five. Conceptualising “the good life”: Theoretical frameworks for music education as a route to increased wellbeing 148
Chapter Six. Assessing “the good life”: Ethnography of the effects of FBF participation on multidimensional wellbeing 163
Chapter Seven. Ubuhle bendoda izinkomo ozayo: Assessing success, outcomes, and impact 220
Chapter Eight. Conclusion 261
References 277
Appendix A: National statistical information 295
Appendix B: Field Band Foundation overview 297
Appendix C: Data collected from FBA student focus groups 301
Appendix D: Semiformal interviews and focus group participants 318
Appendix E: Transcription of “Ubuhle bendoda” 322
Appendix F: Glossary 324
MA Thesis by Laryssa Whittaker
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Chapter One – Introduction 1
Chapter Two – Relevant Scholarship 15
Chapter Three – HIV/AIDS in South Africa 39
Chapter Four – Key strategies in HIV/AIDS intervention 81
Chapter Five – Case studies: Musicians leading HIV/AIDS advocacy initiatives 99
Chapter Six – Musical indaba and HIV/AIDS activism 166
Chapter Seven – Reflexive considerations and future explorations 188
References 199
Appendix A – Poetry and Song Lyrics 214
Appendix B – Index of song titles, lyrics or themes 218
Appendix C – Accompanying film 219
[See link for downloadable thesis, above]
Papers by Laryssa Whittaker
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
List of Figures and Illustrations 10
Chapter One. Introduction 12
PART ONE: POLITICAL ECONOMY AND MUSIC DEVELOPMENT 56
Chapter Two. Neoliberalism, inequality, and NGOs in South Africa 57
Chapter Three. Letha imali yami: The FBF and sound business practice 85
Chapter Four. Refining the nation’s “new gold”: The FBF’s educational programme 109
PART TWO: WELLBEING AND CAPABILITIES 147
Chapter Five. Conceptualising “the good life”: Theoretical frameworks for music education as a route to increased wellbeing 148
Chapter Six. Assessing “the good life”: Ethnography of the effects of FBF participation on multidimensional wellbeing 163
Chapter Seven. Ubuhle bendoda izinkomo ozayo: Assessing success, outcomes, and impact 220
Chapter Eight. Conclusion 261
References 277
Appendix A: National statistical information 295
Appendix B: Field Band Foundation overview 297
Appendix C: Data collected from FBA student focus groups 301
Appendix D: Semiformal interviews and focus group participants 318
Appendix E: Transcription of “Ubuhle bendoda” 322
Appendix F: Glossary 324
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Chapter One – Introduction 1
Chapter Two – Relevant Scholarship 15
Chapter Three – HIV/AIDS in South Africa 39
Chapter Four – Key strategies in HIV/AIDS intervention 81
Chapter Five – Case studies: Musicians leading HIV/AIDS advocacy initiatives 99
Chapter Six – Musical indaba and HIV/AIDS activism 166
Chapter Seven – Reflexive considerations and future explorations 188
References 199
Appendix A – Poetry and Song Lyrics 214
Appendix B – Index of song titles, lyrics or themes 218
Appendix C – Accompanying film 219
[See link for downloadable thesis, above]