Sounding sustainability: integrating environmental themes into music education.
Dr Jonathan Hodgers & Student, Cathal Ahern, School of Creative Arts
This presentation explores how a Senior Sophister undergraduate music module embeds ESD by examining the intersections of music and climate change. Through case studies on sustainable touring, eco-conscious music production, and climate-focused compositions, the course fosters critical thinking, industry awareness, and ethical reflection. This approach demonstrates how non-STEM disciplines can effectively engage with ESD themes, equipping students with the tools to shape a more sustainable future in the arts.
Presentation: Sounding sustainability: integrating environmental themes into music education. (Download)
Dr Jonathan Hodgers is a lecturer specialising in 20th-century music, with a particular emphasis on popular and vernacular traditions, as well as music’s impact on the environment. He earned his PhD in Music from Trinity College Dublin in 2014, where his dissertation, Dylan in Cinema, explored Bob Dylan’s influence on film.
His monograph, Bob Dylan on Film: The Intersection of Music and Visuals, was published by Routledge in 2024. He is an editorial board member of the biannual journal The Dylan Review. In addition to his work on Dylan, he has also contributed to research on student data as a strategic resource and graduate employability.
Jonathan is currently a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Music and was recently seconded to develop Trinity’s Education for Sustainable Development programme.
Cathal Ahern, is a twenty-two-year-old student from Lucan, Co. Dublin.
In recently completing his Trinity Joint Honours Music & Modern Irish degree, he submitted a composition portfolio as his final capstone project.
He also has a keen interest in research areas including popular and traditional Irish music studies, and hopes to pursue music further following his graduation.