University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Departmental Papers (Music) Department of Music 9-2011 Our Varying Histories and Future Potential: Models and Maps in Science, the Humanities, and in Music Theory Eugene Narmour University of Pennsylvania,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://repository.upenn.edu/music_papers Part of the Music Theory Commons Recommended Citation Narmour, E. (2011). Our Varying Histories and Future Potential: Models and Maps in Science, the Humanities, and in Music Theory. Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 29 (1), 1-21. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/mp.2011.29.1.1 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. http://repository.upenn.edu/music_papers/2 For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Our Varying Histories and Future Potential: Models and Maps in Science, the Humanities, and in Music Theory Abstract Part 1 briefly er counts the influence of social unrest and the explosion of knowledge in both psychology and the humanities circa 1970-1990. As the sciences rely on explicit top-down theories connected to bottom-up maps and models, and whereas the humanities build on bottom-up differences within malleable top-down “theories” (approaches, themes, theses, programs, methods, etc.), the changes in the sciences during this period contrasted sharply with the changes in the humanities. Part 2 discusses in detail how these two social transformations affected the histories of music theory and cognitive music theory. The former fractiously withdrew from its parent organization (AMS), whereas the latter was welcomed into SMPC. Inasmuch as both music theory and cognitive music theory rely on maps and models, Part 3 examines the metatheoretical importance of these terms for music cognition, music theory, and cognitive music theory.