Musicking from Empathy to Global Justice: Sound & Proactive Peacebuilding
Dr. Olivier Urbain
Director, Min-On Music Research Institute (MOMRI, Tokyo)
Visiting Research Professor, Queen’s University Belfast
Can we change the world through music? Is there any connection between music and the major threats confronting humanity today, such as climate change, species extinction, rising nationalism and populism, and the rise of artificial intelligence?
The Min-On Music Research Institute (MOMRI) was established in 2014 in Tokyo, Japan, to investigate the potential application of music in peacebuilding activities. Dr. Urbain will highlight some of the achievements and findings of MOMRI as they celebrate our fifth anniversary. Included in his talk will be findings of recent research that show links between music and empathy, sound and proactive peacebuilding as a way to connect the individual and global events, and how the work of global justice can be illustrated through music. Dr. Urbain's research suggests that music in peacebuilding will not solve all of our problems, but it might enhance our capacity to change a small corner of the world through musicking.
