Public Affairs

AUK hosted the eighth talk of the Faculty Speaker Series (FSS) online entitled, Music and the Liberal Arts, presented by Professor Theodore Levin, the chair of the Music Department at Dartmouth College.  
 
Dr. Levin shared his views on music being an all-encompassing field. He discussed how music is a multidisciplinary art form that involves a range of fields that include arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy. He also highlighted how music should be addressed in university curricular and research projects through the prism of multiple disciplines that range across the liberal arts, showcasing the extent to which music is all-inclusive.  
 
“The idea that music should be grouped together with math and science in the quadrivium, which you could think of as antiquity's way of representing what we now call STEM disciplines, seems counterintuitive in today's world, where the practice of music is universally understood as a domain of the arts, while music history, music theory, and music criticism belong firmly to the humanities. But, as I'm guessing you already know, the notion of music as a science flourished not only in Western Antiquity but also in the Middle East and Central Asia, in particular during the so-called Golden Age of Islam centered in Baghdad, the cultural center of the medieval Muslim world, and later, in Herat, Samarkand, and Bukhara under the Timurids. There, the so-called science of music was invariably one of the topics addressed by the medieval polymaths who made significant contributions to the ongoing development of domains of knowledge transmitted through textual sources from Antiquity,” he stated.  
 
AUK and Dartmouth College were used as references by Dr. Levin upon discussing the prospect of providing a liberal arts education to students, illustrating their shared values and vision. The event concluded with an open discussion and Q&A session with the audience.  
 
Dr. Levin’s FSS lecture showcased how the Dartmouth-AUK partnership facilitates the sharing of knowledge, resources, and expertise between the two institutions, allowing students and faculty to learn from each other’s perspectives and experiences.  
 
The Faculty Speaker Series is a platform that enables faculty members to showcase their research and scholarly accomplishments. The event also allows AUK to make a difference in the community both in Kuwait and beyond by spreading knowledge and awareness about various topics while offering an opportunity to the general public to take part in the AUK experience.  
  
 
 

Dr. Theodore Levin