Guest lecturer to present at UNCG SMTD on Thursday, November 19, 2015.

“Humanizing Agents, Humanizing Music: Social Affordances and the Practice of Agential Narrative”

Cora Palfy holds a Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy in Music Theory with a specialization in Music Cognition from Northwestern University, where she specialized in narrativity, musical agency, and musical virtuality.

Dr. Palfy’s research interests focus on the relationship between a listener’s perception of musical agency and the intersubjective behavioral patterns used in everyday life. She blends social psychology with theoretical research and has a forthcoming publication in the Oxford Handbook of Music and Virtuality exploring the expression of personality and behavioral traits in the music of Daft Punk.

Dr. Palfy has presented her research at regional and international conferences, including meetings of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music. Currently, she is working on articles concerning musical agency and personality inventories, as well as a paper investigating the personality and behavioral expression of Byronic Heroes in late-nineteenth century orchestral music.

At UNC-Chapel Hill, Dr. Palfy teaches courses in music theory, popular music, and music cognition.