3 September 2020
Learning the Language of Music: An Afternoon Workshop
Organized by Stanislas Dehaene, Phyllis Hattis, and Giovanna Santoro

Following the success of both Brain Visions: Art, Science and Symbolism (2018), and Rethinking the Senses (2016), Centre L'Oubradou, in partnership with The College de France in Paris, under the direction of Stanislas Dehaene hosted its third colloquium in September 2020 and adapted to the exigencies of COVID-19.  Most of the speakers were on Zoom, but we were able to begin with live introductory remarks by Stan and Phyllis and end with Marianne Blayau's remarkable story of how she has created orchestras and bands in 1,450 public secondary schools throughout France.  Her program of engaging fortunate and less fortunate teenagers with the language of music proves to have educational and social benefits beyond measure.

Speakers this year included:

Nancy Kanwisher, on neural populations specialized for music in human auditory cortex


Samuel Mehr, on the universals of music cognition


Morten Kringelbach, on spatiotemporal brain dynamics during the recognition of music


Nina Kraus, on sound and the brain: a biological argument for music education


Isabelle Peretz, on how music sculpts the brain


Marianne Blayau, on orchestral practice, a school subject for child development


The meeting concluded with a general discussion on the impact of music in education, and how to maximize its potential in the French education system.

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