Newsletter No. 7 from 8th of February 2011

Dear colleagues and friends,

This latest newsletter from the research group "Music, Conflict and the
State" contains information on the one-day workshop “Music Torture: Research
Perspectives” which we will hold on 29 April 2011, and also gives
introductory information on our new project on the connection between music
and cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.


MUSIC TORTURE: RESEARCH PERSPECTIVES
Conference Centre at the Historic Observatory, Göttingen, 29 April 2011

The use of music as an instrument of torture became widespread public
knowledge following media reports of US military use of music in this way.
Recent publications on music in the Third Reich have also discussed how music
was used as a means of torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment
in concentration camps. First indications suggest, however, that these
examples may only be the tip of the iceberg, and that the connection between
music and torture has a longer and also more global history. The aim of this
international, interdisciplinary workshop is to establish the current state
of research on this issue and to establish research priorities in this area.
Invited speakers include leading researchers on music and torture as well as
experts in the area of human rights law and in the treatment and
rehabilitation of survivors of torture. A full list of speakers is now
available on our website at
http://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/198674.html

Please note that places at the workshop are limited and some places are
reserved for students and employees of the University of Göttingen. If you
would like to attend the workshop, please contact us as soon as possible, but
no later than 15 April 2011, via
mcs-info@uni-goettingen.de


THE ARTICLE 5 PROJECT: RESEARCHING MUSIC TORTURE

The workshop “Music Torture: Research Perspectives” represents an important
first step for us in establishing our new longer-term research project on the
use of music in connection with torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and
degrading punishment. A further element in this project - which we call the
Article 5 Project in reference to the corresponding article in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights - is a database chronicling information, material
and references to the use of music in this way, both in history and the
present day.
Further information on the Article 5 Project is available at
http://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/207622.html

We would like to acknowledge the generous financial support of the Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft for the workshop on music torture.

Further general information on the research group is available under
http://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/84354.html

Best wishes,
The Research Group "Music, Conflict and the State"