At each location (see itinerary below), I can give one
or more of the following talks:
Book presentation: Psychoacoustic
foundations of major-minor tonality (abstract)
The fetus/infant and the origins of music,
religion, art, language, and consciousness (abstract)
Modeling future climate mortality:
Implications for ethics, human security, climate
litigation (abstract)
The global multi-hub academic conference:
Both sustainable and inclusive (abstract)
The
duration of each talk is flexible, but usually one hour followed by
half an hour for questions. All talks are free and (to my knowledge)
open to the public (subject to security checks in some locations).
To fly or not to fly?
For the average person who sometimes flies, avoiding flying
massively reduces their personal carbon footprint. My aim
is to travel without flying -- usually by bus or train,
both of which emit much less CO2 per
passenger kilometer than flying. In addition, avoiding flying
generally means traveling smaller distances, which means emitting even
less. Tip: Cancel your international holiday and explore your home
country instead. There are jewels waiting to be discovered!
My aim is not to be perfect, but to
significantly reduce flying, which is something every flyer
can do. I could avoid flying all the way from Austria to Australia with
one
exception:Tbilisi
(Georgia) to Aktau (Kazakhstan):
The land border between
Georgia and Azerbaijan is currently closed.
It is possible but quite difficult for pedestrians to take
the irregular ferry
from Baku to Aktau.
The visa procedure for Turkmenistan is complicated,
time-consuming, and unreliable.
I am avoiding Russia and Iran for political reasons.
A
member of Flight-Free
Travellers Network let me know how to get from Indonesia to Darwin
without flying. First I have to get from Bali to Timor. There is a
three-day Pelni ferry trip from Bali to Kapung, but it is booked out
long in advance (as I discovered too late). Other options are more
complicated. From Dili to Darwin there is an occasional freight ship
that takes 2-3 days (no timetable).
In
1889-1890, Nellie Bly traveled around the world -- an impressive
achievement for a solo woman in a patriarchal world. Today, a lot of
things are easier, but it is not always easier to travel without
flying. Take Azerbaijan,
whose land borders are closed. Before the advent of aviation, that
would have been unthinkable. As for the ocean between Bali, Timor, and
Australia -- if there were no flights, shipping
companies would be competing for these routes.
Counterarguments and rebuttals
Some will object that aviation is getting more sustainable, therefore
we need not be too concerned. In fact, the industry is expanding faster
than aircraft are becoming more efficient. Besides, aviation requires
enormous amounts of fuel, and 100% "sustainable aviation fuel" for all
flights would use up a devastating amount of natural resources. With
current technology, electric flight is only possible for relatively
small aircraft traveling relatively short distances. Of course,
research on sustainable flight is important and should be generously
financed. But don't expect big progress anytime soon. Meanwhile don't
believe anything the airlines tell you about this. The greenwashing is
intense.
Others will object that it is more important to stop the biggest carbon
polluters than to reduce one's personal carbon footprint. That is true.
But if global catastrophe is to be avoided, at least in part,
eventually everyone with an above-average carbon footprint (that is,
most people in richer countries) will have to seriously reduce their
personal emissions. So let's get started! Besides, in the existential
political
struggle against the biggest polluters (who meanwhile belong to the
most evil actors in all of human history), reducing one's own footprint
is a good way to gain influence and credibility.
Visas
Traveling
as an Austrian citizen, I will not need to apply for any visa in
advance. This year, nationals of several countries including
Austria
need no visa for China. The same applies to Timor-Leste. In some
countries (Laos, Indonesia), I will
get a visa on the border. My route has been chosen
to avoid Afghanistan, Pakistan,
and Myanmar, and I'm also skipping Azerbaijan.
Zagreb Psychoacoustic foundations
of major-minor
tonality Wednesday 15 May, 4 pm
Academy of Music, University of Zagreb, Trg
Republike Hrvatske 12, Room 339
Organized by Prof. Sanja Kiš
Žuvela
Belgrade Psychoacoustic foundations
of major-minor
tonality Friday 17 May, 12:30 pm
Faculty of Music, University of Arts in
Belgrade, Kralja
Milana 50
Organized by Prof. Blanka Bogunovic
Modeling future climate
mortality Friday 17 May, 6 pm
Institute for Philosophy and Social
Theory (IFDT), University of Belgrade, Kraljice Natalije 45, 4th
floor
Organized by Dr. Zoran Erić
Istanbul
Modeling future climate
mortality
Wednesday 22 May, 3 pm (end: 4pm)
Department
of Philosophy, Üsküdar
University
Güney Kampüs,
E Blok (Mahir İz Cd. No:23), Room: Sokrates Salonu
Organized by Prof. Çiğdem
Yazıcı
Psychoacoustic foundations
of major-minor
tonality
Thursday
23 May, 3 pm (talk 60 min + 30 for Q&A)
Center for Advanced Studies in Music, Technical
University of
Istanbul (Maçka
Campus) (İTÜ MİAM)
Organized
by Dr. Jerfi Aji
Izmir The fetus/infant and the
origins of music,
religion, art, language, and consciousness
Monday 27 May, 13:30-14:30
Department of
Musicology, Dokuz
Eylül University
Organized
by Prof. Ali Cenk Gedik Live
stream
Ankara Psychoacoustic foundations
of major-minor
tonality
Wednesday 29 May, 12:30-1:30
Department of Communication and
Design,
Bilkent University
Organized by Ufuk
Önen
Yerevan Psychoacoustic foundations
of major-minor
tonality Thursday 6 June, 5 pm
Komitas Museum-Institute, 28 Arshakunyats Ave
Organized by Dr. Tatevik Shakhkulyan
Tbilisi Modeling future climate
mortality
Friday 7
June, 6 pm
Centre for Advanced Studies, Ilia State University
3 Giorgi Tsereteli St, S building, 8th floor,
Room S800
Organized by Prof. Tamar Tsopurashvili
Almaty Psychoacoustic foundations
of major-minor
tonality
Friday 21 June, 10 am
Zhurgenov Kazakh National
Academy of Arts
127 Panfilov street, Almaty city, 050000
Organized
by Dr. Zakiya
Sapenova
Ürümqi, Kunming, Venetiane, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur
I
visited these cities without giving a talk
Singapore Modeling future climate
mortality
Friday 5 July, 3:30 - 5:00 pm
School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University
10 Canning Rise, Singapore 179873
Meeting Room 4-1/4-2, Level 4
Organized by Matthew Hammerton, TAN Sor Hoon, and Cindy Kwoh
The global multi-hub
academic conference
Monday 8 July, 11 am - 12 noon
James Cook University
149 Sims Drive, Singapore 387380, auditorium C2-15
Organized
by Prof. Denise Dillon and Belinda Lee
Jakarta Psychoacoustic foundations
of major-minor tonality
Thursday 11 July, 9 am (until 10:30)
Conservatory
of Music, Universitas Pelita
Harapan, Grace Hall, UPH Building
B, Lippo
Village
Organized by Delicia
Mandy Nugroho, M.Mus.
Yogyakarta The fetus/infant and the origins of
music, religion, art, language, and consciousness
Monday 15 July, 10 am Cultural
Park (Taman Budaya)
Organized by Vishnu Satyagraha, local government in Yogyakarta
Malang
Wednesday 17 July
Denpasar
Friday 19 July
(Ferry from Denpasar to Kupang 3 days, bus from Kupang/Atambua to Dili
1 day)
Dili
Thursday 25 July
(Ferry or freight ship from Dili to Darwin: 2-3 days, every 10 days or
once a month. Carriers include Bollore/SDV and ANL/Perkins/Tollgroup.
Has anyone done this? Please send suggestions!)
Biography Richard
Parncutt
(born 1957) studied at the University of Melbourne and the
University of New
England
(Armidale, NSW), graduating with a Bachelor of Science with
honours in physics, a Bachelor of Music, and an interdisciplinary PhD
in
psychology, music and physics. His interdisciplinary research, which
spans humanities and sciences, addresses the
perception and
cognition of musical structure, the origins of behavioral
modernity (music, religion, art, language), and the human
cost of global warming. A father of two children, he was professor of
systematic musicology at the University of Graz, Austria from 1998
to 2023. Any opinions
expressed on
this page are the
authors' personal
opinions. Suggestions
for improving or extending the content
are
welcome.
