Chantal Berry
PhD topic title: Sensory Environments c.1500-c.1950.
PhD supervisor(s): Professor Mark Jenner and Dr Amanda Rees.
Biography and research
My research focuses upon acoustic ecology, or the sounds and rhythms of human-nature relationships between c.1500-c.1800. I consider how changes in human activity have altered natural soundscapes and consequent human perceptions of the natural world. My research also looks to communicate experiences of ‘the natural’ through sonic recreations of past environments.
Between 2017-2020, I studied at the University of Leeds School of Music and specialised in electronic composition, engaging with artistic approaches to convey philosophical ideas about nature, largely by electronically editing field recordings and employing compositional techniques such as plunderphonics and musique concrète. Whilst undertaking an MA in Renaissance and Early Modern Studies at the University of York in 2020-2021, my interest in acoustic ecology developed from explorations of modern sound, into historical sound, and has led me to research how retrospective applications of acoustic ecology might contribute to developing scholarship in soundscape conservation and architectural acoustics and spiritual histories within studies of the Anthropocene.
Alongside PhD research, I currently collaborate with LCAB artist in residence, Laura Denning, aiming to develop sound-based artworks that evoke historical soundscapes, bringing 'lost' sounds to life. Recently, I have co-organised an interdisciplinary seminar series ‘Sensing the Environment in Art and Music’, funded by the University of York Humanities Research Centre and am a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the History Department at the University of York.