From Song to Science, Peeling Layers of Art

A Duke senior explains what art means to him as a budding scientist

A group of students from a Duke a capella group.
Eric Wang (front row, far left) blends medicine with melody as part of the student a cappella group Something Borrowed Something Blue. (Photo courtesy Eric Wang)

The following is a summary of a story that originally appeared on the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences website.

Duke senior Eric Wang wanted an academic experience that blended his interest in science with his longtime love of music.

He found it in a Bass Connections project and his eventual selection of an Interdepartmental Major (IDM) in neuroscience and music. Now heading into his final semester, Wang is reflecting on how the arts and humanities can color, enhance and illuminate the uncertainties inherent in science.

“Before joining the Language, Music and Dementia [Bass Connections] project team, I only saw music as an artistic endeavor and didn’t realize that it could literally shape the physical structure and functional networks of the brain,” said Wang, a classically trained pianist.

Wang took to the arts in a big way at Duke. Along with chamber music – which he was already familiar with – he has studied pop and other contemporary music forms as well as music composition. He played piano at the Duke Children’s Hospital and the Durham VA, and joined the student a cappella group Something Borrowed Something Blue (SBSB), even though he had no prior singing experience.

“SBSB has enabled me to explore all my faith and love for music in so many new ways,” he said. “Everyone here is so incredibly talented yet kind, and they are like a second family to me. These layers and perspectives have motivated me to keep exploring music from every angle.”

Wang is also doing research with the Wood Lab with the Department of Pharmacology & Cancer Biology. He hopes to go to medical school and is considering a career in audiology – a marriage of his interests in sound and science.For the entire story, go to the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences website.