Biography
Dana's research has occurred at the intersection of music, embodied cognition, and technology. Her PhD focused on how audience experiences at concerts are affected by technological mediation. During the coronavirus crisis, Dana's research focus shifted to the burgeoning field of "pandemusicology", examining the social and emotional effects of virtual concerts and other "coronamusicking". As the pandemic subsided, she was able to examine the entrainment and pleasure resulting from live concert experiences and contrast them with livestreamed concerts. Specifically, she was instrumental in examining the audience experience at the MusicLab Copenhagen: Danish String Quartet Concert where the research focus was on musical absorption, social connectedness, and kama muta (i.e. feeling moved or touched). Dana also led a concert experiment at the LIVELab (McMaster University) where she examined the effects of participation and liveness on motion, emotion, and social bonding, and contrasted the experiences of the live and livestreaming audiences. Specifically, the performer encouraged the audience to clap and sing along during two songs at the concert which promoted audience connectedness.
In her spare time, Dana is a passionate singer-songwriter-scientist having performed her original music with her band Dana & The Monsters since 2015 and her second EP is scheduled for release in autumn 2024. She also applies her nerdiness in her athletic endeavors as a climber.
Academic interests
- Music cognition, neuroscience, and psychology
- Entrainment, pleasure, and social bonding
- Emotions (e.g., kama muta/feeling moved/touched, awe, connectedness)
- Music and movement (motion capture and groove)
- Music technology (technological mediation and music production)
- Concert experiences (audience, performers, and fanship)
- Performance science and creativity (in both music and sport)
- Motor learning, exercise, and rehabilitation sciences
Background
- BSc in Psychology, Neuroscience, & Behaviour with a specialization in Music Cognition, McMaster University's Institute for Music and the Mind
- MSc in Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Toronto's Faculty of Medicine
- Doctoral Researcher in Musicology, University of Oslo's Faculty of Humanities
Awards
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellowship (2020-2023).
- Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery Lab Exchange. (2018). Dr. Janice Eng's Neurorehabilitation Lab at the University of British Columbia
- Canadian Graduate Scholarship-Master's Program. (2017-2018). Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
- Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience Award. (2014 & 2015). Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council-Create Program
Research
- Theme: Entrainment & Pleasure