Study location	Netherlands, Maastricht
Type	Summer Courses, Full-time
Nominal duration	1 week (2 ECTS)
Study language	English
Course code	MSS1022

Tuition fee	€699 one-time Early Bird Discount: €649,00. Valid until 17 February 2025.

Entry qualification

Enrolled as an Undergraduate student or Undergraduate diploma This course is aimed at any university student, researcher, or alumni. Non-academic workers are free to apply too, as long as they have a university degree. The entry qualification documents are accepted in the following languages: English. Often you can get a suitable transcript from your school. If this is not the case, you will need official translations along with verified copies of the original.

Language requirements	English The language of the course is English, so we expect a fluent level and the ability to follow and participate in class.

More information	maastrichtsummerschool.nl

Overview

Course Description
What does it matter what people speak when no one listens? If one were to study all the academic fields, would one not essentially be listening to various experts from various fields making various claims about the same world? If no one would listen to each other’s unique experiences of the world and reality, how would we ever be able to organize ourselves in a well-functioning society? Isn’t listening then the predominant constitutive element of communication, knowledge, and society? Academic research and discourse predominantly focus on language and speaking, but little attention is given to the other side of language: listening. It should therefore not be all too surprising to the sensitive and careful observer that in everyday life we see more people talking past each other than listening to each other; much attention is demanded, little is supplied. How does listening therefore relate to the world and society, and vice versa? This is a crucial question to understand in order to tackle many issues in all fields of life as one will not find any part in life where listening is not utilized. This course will therefore focus on the transdisciplinary inquiry of listening (what listening is) and its wider relation to society. The basic framework for the philosophy of listening will be provided for then to explore other areas in listening such as psychology, neuroscience, anthropology, and communication science. Finally, a pathway towards a sociology of listening will be laid out that not only critiques the literature on listening but also reveals how society shapes our listening behaviour and vice versa; to additionally reveal unfair and inhumane listening practices found in everyday life and their consequences; how the act of listening is enacted.
During this course, renowned scholars in the field of listening will come to Maastricht to give guest lectures on listening. This course will therefore not only provide the opportunity to learn about the intricate inquiry of listening but also to network with listening scholars and course participants. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, this course will also, directly and indirectly, provide an opportunity to ‘develop’ your own listening skills as listening is more a confrontation with yourself than with the other.

Goals
• To inquire into the intricate nature of listening.
• To learn about the various academic perspectives on listening.
• To be able to critically assess the listening literature and listening practices in everyday life.
• To learn about how society shapes listening and vice versa, and how it contributes to the(re)production of inequalities.
• To discuss and reflect upon our own listening practices and what it means to listen ethically.
• Tentative: to visit @ease Maastricht to get an insight into how they as an organization provide a free face-to-face listening service to youngsters in need of listening

Recommended Literature
• Bueskens, P. (2015). Beyond the paradigm war: Good psychotherapy is sociological. Mothering and psychoanalysis: Clinical, sociological andfeminist perspectives (pp. 433–444).
• Demeter. Bodie, G. D., & Wolvin, A. D. (2020). The Psychobiology of Listening. The Oxford handbook of the physiology of interpersonal communication, 288.
• Gallese, V., Eagle, M. N., & Migone, P. (2007). Intentional attunement: Mirror neurons and the neural underpinnings of interpersonal relations. Journal of the American psychoanalytic Association, 55(1), 131-175.
• Garrison, J. (1996). A Deweyan theory of democratic listening. Educational theory, 46(4).
• Grygierczyk, A. T. (2024a). The dramaturgy of listening. Theory and Society, 1-24.
• Grygierczyk, A. T. (2024b). Extending Durkheim’s sociology of suicide to healthcare decision-making: towards a sociology of choice as a social phenomenon of integration and regulation. Social Theory & Health, 1-27.
• Haroutunian‐Gordon, S. (2011). Plato’s philosophy of listening. Educational Theory, 61(2), 125-139.
• Kimball, S., & Garrison, J. (1996). Hermeneutic listening: An approach to understanding in multicultural conversations. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 15, 51-59.
• Lipari, L. (2009). Listening otherwise: The voice of ethics. The Intl. Journal of Listening, 23(1), 44-59.
• Marazzi, A. (2019). Aural Anthropology, a Way of Listening. Visual Anthropology, 32(2), 193-204.
• Merton, R. K. (1973). The perspectives of insiders and outsiders. The sociology of science: Theoretical and empirical investigations (pp. 99–136). University of Chicago.
• Purdy, M. (1991). Listening and community: The role of listening in community formation. International Listening Association Journal, 5(1), 51–67.
• Stewart, J. (1983). Interpretive listening: An alternative to empathy. Communication education, 32(4), 379-391.
• Waks, L. J. (2010). Two types of interpersonal listening. Teachers College Record, 112(11), 2743-2762.
• Wittgenstein, L. (1953). Philosophical investigations.

Teaching Methods
Interactive Class, Lectures, PBL Tutorials, Presentations, Working visits

Assessment Methods
Assignment, Presentation, Participation, Attendance

Course Coordinator
Artur Grygierczyk