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Dr Shaleph O'Neill
Applications accepted all year round
Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Dundee
United Kingdom
Animation
Art
Design
Digital Media
Film Studies
Fine Art
Graphic Design
Human Computer Interaction
Music
Music Technology
About the Project
Investigating the science of synaesthesia and crossmodal experience as a basis of robust parameters for a visual language of sound.
• Taking the concept of synaesthesia as a starting point and looking at the evolution of a language of visual music in the arts. How do we systematically investigate the correspondence between audio and visual components in relation to cross-modal psychology and neuroscience?
• Is the concept of synaesthesia now scientifically described enough to constitute a genuine experiential phenomenon that is wired into our wetware?
• What are the fundamental underlying principles at work in the brain and mind that cross-modal psychology and neuroscience have identified e.g. the Bouba-Kiki Effect.
• What role does language play in enabling translation from the domain of sound to the domain of the visual or spatial?
• What dimensions of correlation do we need to consider?
• What methods of investigation would be appropriate to investigate this further?
• How do we establish robust experiments that provide a solid basis for a visual language of sound that is routed in synaesthesia and cross-modal psychology and neuroscience?
This project aims to build upon recent developments in the fields of Neuroscience and Psychology that have shed new light on the concept of synaesthesia and cross-modal experiences. Particularly of relevance is the expansion of ideas related to the cross modal Bouba-Kiki effect and it persistence across cultures, as well as further findings that identify sound iconicity within language, which potentially roots key aspects of language to embodied experiences coming from the spatial or visual domains highlighting deep structures of translation or correlation between domains.
For informal enquiries about the project, contact Shaleph O'Neill, s.j.oneill@dundee.ac.uk
For general enquiries about the University of Dundee, contact doctoralacademy@dundee.ac.uk
Our research community thrives on the diversity of students and staff which helps to make the University of Dundee a UK university of choice for postgraduate research. We welcome applications from all talented individuals and are committed to widening access to those who have the ability and potential to benefit from higher education.
QUALIFICATIONS
Applicants must have obtained, or expect to obtain, a UK honours degree at 2.1 or above (or equivalent for non-UK qualifications), and/or a Masters degree in a relevant discipline. For international qualifications, please see equivalent entry requirements here: www.dundee.ac.uk/study/international/country/.
English language requirement: IELTS (Academic) overall score must be at least 6.5 (with not less than 6.5 in reading and writing, and 6.0 in speaking and listening). The University of Dundee accepts a variety of equivalent qualifications and alternative ways to demonstrate language proficiency; please see full details of the University’s English language requirements here: www.dundee.ac.uk/guides/english-language-requirements.
APPLICATION PROCESS
Step 1: Email Dr Shaleph O’Neill, s.j.oneill@dundee.ac.uk to (1) send a copy of your CV and (2) discuss your potential application and any practicalities (e.g. suitable start date).
Step 2: After discussion with Dr O’Neill, formal applications can be made via our direct application system. When applying, please follow the instructions below:
Candidates must apply for the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Art & Design (3 year) using our direct application system: Apply for a PhD in Art and Design.
Please select the study mode (full-time/part-time) and start date agreed with the lead supervisor.
In the Research Proposal section, please:
- Enter the lead supervisor’s name in the ‘proposed supervisor’ box
- Enter the project title listed at the top of this page in the ‘proposed project title’ box
In the ‘personal statement’ section, please outline your suitability for the project selected.
Funding Notes
While no institutional funding is available for this project, I am more than happy to help prospective students with applications to research councils, funding bodies and doctoral training partnerships (DTPs) as part of their application process. The Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities (SGSAH) is the appropriate DTP for my institution. View Website
References
Towards a Semiotics of Visual Music
O'Neill, S., 27 Mar 2023, (E-pub ahead of print) The Intermediality of Contemporary Visual Arts [Working Title]. López-Varela Azcárate, A. (ed.). Intech
Live Visuals; History, Theory, Practice, eds. Steve Gibson, Stefan Arisona, Donna Leishman and Atau Tanaka, (London and New York, Routledge, 2023).
van Campen, C. 1999, Artistic and Psychological Experiments with Synesthesia, Leonardo, 32 (1) p 9-14, MIT Press, Massachusetts, USA.
Pieperhoff, E. (2009) The Influence of Synaesthesia on 20th Century Art and Beyond: Myths, reality and Artistic Expressions of the Cross-sensory Experience, DVM Verlag Dr. Müller, Saarbrüken, Germany.
Visual Music: Synaesthesia in Art and Music Since 1900, eds. Kerry Brougher, Olivia Mattis, Jeremy Strick, Ari Wiseman and Judith Zilczer, (Thames and Hudson, London, 2005).
Berman, G. 1999 Synesthesia and the Arts, Leonardo, 32 (1) p 15-22, MIT Press, Massachusetts, USA. https://doi.org/10.1162/002409499552957
van Leeuwen, T., M., Trautman-Lengsfeld, S., A., Wallace, M., T., Engel, A., K. and Murray, M., M., 2016, Bridging the Gap: Synaesthesia and Multisensory Processes, in Van Leeuwen, T., M., Trautman-Lengsfeld, S., A., Wallace, M., T., Engel, A., K. and Murray, M., M., (Eds) Neuropsychologia 88 1(4), Elsevier, Science Direct.
Ramachandran, V. S., and Hubbard, E. M., 2001a, Psychophysical Investigations into the Neural Basis of Synaethesia. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 268 p979-983, The Royal Society, London, UK.
Ramachandran, V. S., and Hubbard, E. M., 2001b, Synaethesia – A Window Into Perception, Thought and Language, Journal of Consciousness Studies, 8 (12) p3-34, Imprint Academic, UK.
Ramachandran, V. S., and Hubbard, E. M., 2003, The Phenomenology of Synaesthesia,
Casini, S. 2017 Synesthesia, Transformation and Synthesis: Towards a Multi-sensory Pedagogy of the Image, The Senses and Society, 12 (1), p1-17, https://doi.org/10.1080/17458927.2017.1268811
Hume, E., & Johnson, K. (2001). Sound symbolism. In L. Hirschfeld & S. Gelman (Eds.), Handbook of cognitive development (pp. 445-469). Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers.
Köhler, W. (1929). Gestalt psychology. New York, NY: Liveright.
Deroy, Ophelia & Auvray, Malika. (2013). A new Molyneux's problem: Sounds, shapes and arbitrary crossmodal correspondences. CEUR Workshop Proceedings. 1007. 61-70.
Ćwiek, Aleksandra, Susanne Fuchs, Christoph Draxler, Eva Liina Asu, Dan Dediu, Katri Hiovain, Shigeto Kawahara, et al. “The Bouba/Kiki Effect Is Robust across Cultures and Writing Systems.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 377, no. 1841 (January 2022). doi:10.1098/rstb.2020.0390.
Niklas Erben Johansson, Andrey Anikin, Gerd Carling and Arthur Holmer, “The Typology of Sound Symbolism: Defining Macro-concepts via their Semantic and Phonetic Features,” Linguistic Typology 2020: 24(2) p253-310
William A. Yost, “Psychoacoustics: A Brief Historical Overview,” Acoustics Today 11, (2015): 3.
Hugo Fastl, “Psychoacoustics and Sound Quality,” in Communication Acoustics, ed. J. Blaubert, (Springer, 2005).
Patrick Susini, Gillaume Lemaitre and Stephen McAdams, “Psychological measurement for sound description and evaluation”, in Measurement with persons: Theory, methods, and implementation areas, eds. B. Berglund, G. B. Rossi, J. T. Townsend, & L. R. Pendrill (pp. 227–253). (Psychology Press, 2012).
O'Neill, S., 27 Mar 2023, (E-pub ahead of print) The Intermediality of Contemporary Visual Arts [Working Title]. López-Varela Azcárate, A. (ed.). Intech
Live Visuals; History, Theory, Practice, eds. Steve Gibson, Stefan Arisona, Donna Leishman and Atau Tanaka, (London and New York, Routledge, 2023).
van Campen, C. 1999, Artistic and Psychological Experiments with Synesthesia, Leonardo, 32 (1) p 9-14, MIT Press, Massachusetts, USA.
Pieperhoff, E. (2009) The Influence of Synaesthesia on 20th Century Art and Beyond: Myths, reality and Artistic Expressions of the Cross-sensory Experience, DVM Verlag Dr. Müller, Saarbrüken, Germany.
Visual Music: Synaesthesia in Art and Music Since 1900, eds. Kerry Brougher, Olivia Mattis, Jeremy Strick, Ari Wiseman and Judith Zilczer, (Thames and Hudson, London, 2005).
Berman, G. 1999 Synesthesia and the Arts, Leonardo, 32 (1) p 15-22, MIT Press, Massachusetts, USA. https://doi.org/10.1162/002409499552957
van Leeuwen, T., M., Trautman-Lengsfeld, S., A., Wallace, M., T., Engel, A., K. and Murray, M., M., 2016, Bridging the Gap: Synaesthesia and Multisensory Processes, in Van Leeuwen, T., M., Trautman-Lengsfeld, S., A., Wallace, M., T., Engel, A., K. and Murray, M., M., (Eds) Neuropsychologia 88 1(4), Elsevier, Science Direct.
Ramachandran, V. S., and Hubbard, E. M., 2001a, Psychophysical Investigations into the Neural Basis of Synaethesia. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 268 p979-983, The Royal Society, London, UK.
Ramachandran, V. S., and Hubbard, E. M., 2001b, Synaethesia – A Window Into Perception, Thought and Language, Journal of Consciousness Studies, 8 (12) p3-34, Imprint Academic, UK.
Ramachandran, V. S., and Hubbard, E. M., 2003, The Phenomenology of Synaesthesia,
Casini, S. 2017 Synesthesia, Transformation and Synthesis: Towards a Multi-sensory Pedagogy of the Image, The Senses and Society, 12 (1), p1-17, https://doi.org/10.1080/17458927.2017.1268811
Hume, E., & Johnson, K. (2001). Sound symbolism. In L. Hirschfeld & S. Gelman (Eds.), Handbook of cognitive development (pp. 445-469). Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers.
Köhler, W. (1929). Gestalt psychology. New York, NY: Liveright.
Deroy, Ophelia & Auvray, Malika. (2013). A new Molyneux's problem: Sounds, shapes and arbitrary crossmodal correspondences. CEUR Workshop Proceedings. 1007. 61-70.
Ćwiek, Aleksandra, Susanne Fuchs, Christoph Draxler, Eva Liina Asu, Dan Dediu, Katri Hiovain, Shigeto Kawahara, et al. “The Bouba/Kiki Effect Is Robust across Cultures and Writing Systems.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 377, no. 1841 (January 2022). doi:10.1098/rstb.2020.0390.
Niklas Erben Johansson, Andrey Anikin, Gerd Carling and Arthur Holmer, “The Typology of Sound Symbolism: Defining Macro-concepts via their Semantic and Phonetic Features,” Linguistic Typology 2020: 24(2) p253-310
William A. Yost, “Psychoacoustics: A Brief Historical Overview,” Acoustics Today 11, (2015): 3.
Hugo Fastl, “Psychoacoustics and Sound Quality,” in Communication Acoustics, ed. J. Blaubert, (Springer, 2005).
Patrick Susini, Gillaume Lemaitre and Stephen McAdams, “Psychological measurement for sound description and evaluation”, in Measurement with persons: Theory, methods, and implementation areas, eds. B. Berglund, G. B. Rossi, J. T. Townsend, & L. R. Pendrill (pp. 227–253). (Psychology Press, 2012).
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