Stephen Venkataranga

PhD candidate, Independent Study (INDI) specializing in Music Therapy

Thesis Title

Participants’ Experiences of Raga Music Therapy Listening Experiences in Non-Ordinary States of Awareness: A Neurophenomenological and Arts-Based Inquiry.

Supervisor

Dr. Guylaine Vaillancourt, Associate Professor in Music Therapy and Chair of the Department of Creative Arts Therapies

Supervisory Committee

Dr. Christine Beckett, Prof. Sandeep Bhagwati, and Dr. Sumathy Sundar

Research Interests:

• Intersectionality in music therapy
• Raga
• Music and emotion
• Neurophenomenology
• Unfamiliar music systems.

His research interests include how listeners perceive, contextualize, and emotionally process raga through artistic, and neurophenomenological media in music therapy experiences.

His work is in-part informed through internationally touring as a musician, his clinical work as a music therapist and his study of Hindustani classical sitar.