Current NYU Shanghai Global Research Initiatives Fellows

Synopsis of Research in Shanghai (September 8 - December 5)

Ricardo Adrian Arbiza Roverano’s research focuses on the development of a non-intrusive human-computer interaction (NIHCI) design framework for the trombone, aimed at enhancing musical expression through digital augmentation without compromising the instrument’s playability. Arbiza Roverano explores how attachable and tangible user interfaces can enable performers to interact with real-time sound processing, multimedia, and AI-driven systems while preserving full acoustic control. As part of his dissertation, Arbiza Roverano is composing a multimodal piece that integrates the NIHCI prototype into the trombone performance, allowing the performer to shape sound and media interactively in real time.

At NYU Shanghai, Arbiza Roverano plans to collaborate with Dr. Alex Ruthmann and the faculty in the Interactive Media Arts (IMA) program to work on the creative application of the NIHCI system. Arbiza Roverano is particularly interested in projects involving spatial audio, sensor integration, and AI tools for composition and performance. Engaging with Shanghai’s experimental music scene and interdisciplinary research culture will provide a fruitful environment for testing and evolving the prototype in real-world settings. Through this residency, Arbiza Roverano aims to contribute to the ongoing exploration of human-centered design in music technology while crafting his artistic work as a performer, composer, and researcher.

Synopsis of Research in Shanghai (September 15 - December 12)

John (Zhicheng) Fan is planning to finish another chapter of his dissertation on blame and forgiveness. On blame, Fan is interested in "writing someone off" as a response to wrongdoing. Fan argues that it is different from the kind of angry blame familiar in ethics, and that there are distinctive moral norms that apply to this response. Fan’s next chapter will focus on what it means to give someone another chance. Fan contrasts this form of reparative response to the kind of forgiveness more familiar from the Christian tradition, usually associated with the metaphor "wiping the slate clean." Importantly, to give another chance does not require wiping the slate clean, or overcoming anger or resentment toward the wrongdoer and the past wrong. Fan argues that apologies sometimes are not sufficient for forgiveness in the clean slate sense, even though they can be sufficient for giving the wrongdoer another chance. And while we are not always obligated to give wrongdoers another chance, we may have an imperfect duty to do so (in Kant's sense). This is because to refuse to give people second chances as a general policy is to see them as defined by their past wrongs. But this is incompatible with seeing them as agents who can learn from their mistakes and reform. Fan’s intuition is that forgiveness, in the clean slate sense, can be quite risky, and it may be dangerous to treat forgiveness as a virtue, as is usually done in Western culture. There are many good reasons why we shouldn't wipe the slate clean. But Fan wants to argue that society can and should encourage second chances, and that it is distinct from clean-slate forgiveness. If Fan has time, he plans to also work on the political and legal implications of this line of argument, especially how we should think about agential freedom and certain forms of punishment (such as the death penalty and life without parole).