For the next 10 weeks, I am excited to work alongside four brilliantly intelligent people to discover the musical geography of Paris in 1924. Together, we will create a dynamic map and timeline that should act as a useful resource for anyone interested in the topic. This will likely be a resource for students and academics. I want to ensure that our work is accessible for all, especially for people like me who might not have any specialty in music, but who are interested in Paris or other related topics.
That brings me to my role in this group. I must admit, my role isn’t necessarily obvious. I don’t have much knowledge of music (though I did recently download spotify), nor am I a technological genius (though I did recently download spotify). I did however just spend 5 months in Paris and now have a high level of French. I am excited to use these skills in examining primary documents and other resources written in French and to expand my vocabulary with musical terms I probably wouldn’t otherwise have learned. I consider myself a very adaptable person, so I am excited to acquire new skills, and no doubt learn a lot of new things in order to contribute to the project.
In addition to our map, I am hoping to expand our research in order to study and write a related paper in French. I am interested in the historical elements that contributed to international interactions and collaborations at this time (for example, the Russian Revolution). I think studying the interaction between governments and the arts especially as it concerns accessibility for citizens is particularly interesting as well. I feel overwhelmed by the amount of work ahead of us, but motivated by the knowledge I know I’ll have gained and dynamic map we’ll have made. Here’s to a wonderful summer, Allons-y!
–Breanna