Instructor Spotlight: Annie Hui-Hsin Hsieh
By Sarah Elizabeth Bender
Within the Integrative Design, Arts, and Technology (IDeATe) network at Carnegie Mellon, talented instructors come together from departments across campus to build a collaborative atmosphere and grow interdisciplinary expertise and creative inquiry through making. We asked Associate Professor of Music Theory Annie Hui-Hsin Hsieh a few questions about her work, to find out more about the ways she inspires students to innovate beyond the traditional boundaries of their primary majors.
Q: In your own words, give us an overview of the classes you teach for IDeATe.
A: I teach classes in the Sonic Arts area that focus on using electronic means to create exciting new sounds and experiences.
Q: Students from all disciplines, not just those with a music background, can take your class. How can learning about sonic arts elevate any academic experience? What lessons might translate to other disciplines?
A: Fundamentally, the classes in sonic arts require students to collaborate across disciplines. Learning the foundational skills and knowledge of how sound can be imagined, created, and utilized can deepen the student’s understanding of sensorial experience and, hopefully, translate into other areas of their interests.
Q: Within IDeATe, students have the chance to work on projects with other students from across campus. What opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration does your class offer? Why is that important?
A: My class often collaborates with other IDeATe classes for an end-of-the-semester multiarts exhibition. So far, these classes span animation, inflatable sculptures, and sometimes wearable technologies, but the list is definitely growing!
Q: Share a bit about your own work outside the classroom. What projects are you working on? How do they inform your teaching?
A: My own work as a composer sits in the electroacoustic world, where I often work with musicians and process their sounds live in performance. My practice is also interdisciplinary, considering how sound and performance work together with the specific physical spaces in which the event takes place, with a primary focus on curating and orchestrating the embodied sensations the audience and performers experience.
Q: What do you find most meaningful or impactful about teaching with IDeATe?
A: I greatly enjoy the interdisciplinary conversations with my fellow colleagues and students who found themselves at IDeATe from across the campus. Cross-fertilization of ideas keeps thoughts fresh and dreams adventurous.
Q: What’s one key takeaway you hope students in your class have learned by the end of the semester?
A: Be daring to experiment regardless of the outcome; trust the process and enjoy discovering new things that you have yet to encounter.
