I would like to base my research around the inaccessibility of academia, and how this restricts the topics which are recognised within the realm of sound art. I am going to research recognised DIY practices in the realm of sound art in comparison to DIY cultures in the world of dance music to show the latter as a valid sound art. To be able to tackle this topic, an understanding of DIY cultures, how academia becomes recognised as such, and the political landscape of educational institutions will be of importance. 

I believe this is an important topic to research due to a number of reasons. The main reason is because of my recent realisation that my practices within the dance music world may be seen as a novelty; the cultural implications of being a DJ takes this practice very far away from an academic context. Perhaps this is because the literature surrounding dance music culture and the practice of DJing focuses on the cultural history, particularly pertaining to its strong association with drugs and free party culture (for the most part). Authors such as Simon Reynolds have played a part in tackling this lack of knowledge surrounding dance music culture, with his detailed Energy Flash being one the texts I will use in reference when writing the essay. Perhaps though, this only makes speaking on this topic important for myself and my ego. Something else I hold of importance within work I create is to create a sense of interconnectedness and community. It would therefore be important to analyse this topic from an ecological standpoint, ecology in sound art therefore needing to be understood.

So the initial building of this essay will be based on texts surrounding DIY cultures, dance music and ecology. I have therefore identified Riot Grrrl, Energy Flash, and Ecology without Nature as my initial chosen texts. However, these texts will not provide insight into the main topic of my essay, which is the innaccessibility of academia. A text that I have identified to gain an understanding of the problemetising of academia is Dark Academia: How Universities Die by Peter Fleming. Hopefully through analysing these initial texts, I will be able to gain an understanding of what the actual issues are within academia which classifies it as a restrictive field, and how these relate to dance music and DIY cultures, and will therefore be able to build a solid question that my essay will respond to.