Primarily but not exclusively focused on music, this seminar appraises the voice as an instrument of communication, song, gender expression, desire, ancestry, politics, spirit, and variance. Our inquiry begins with the acoustics and biomechanics of the human larynx, and continues towards the development of feedback and audition tools that enable us to listen more closely to ourselves and others. Students will design their own theoretical and applied frameworks for vocal practice through a combination of written and creative exercises which culminate in two projects of research and/or performance documentation. Topics include opera and gospel musics as sites of queerness, ASL interpretation, speech synthesis, and disembodied sound. Case studies of unique artists who push the boundaries of vocalism are considered within metaphors of “finding one’s voice” that engage both the pedagogical and proverbial.