World Music and Culture

This course examines select music traditions of the world, along with their many surrounding cultural contexts. The study of specific musical styles and traits will be accompanied by an examination of how individuals and cultures make that music meaningful in their lives, including: Music as a tool for individual and cultural identity; the process of musical composition and transmission; methods of teaching and learning; social status and roles of music makers; globalization, diaspora and their effect on music traditions; definitions of, and concepts around music in various cultures; specific functions of music in culture. Music cultures studied will include‚Ä® South Indian Carnatic classical music Indian Bollywood film music‚Ä® Javanese and Balinese gamelan‚Ä® Indonesian puppet theatre (Wayang kulit) West African Mande storytelling music Shona mbira music of Zimbabwe This course will also provide an overview of ethnomusicology, the academic field involving the study of music in culture. Topics will include: Standard research methods and goals; the ethics and power structures of ethnographic fieldwork; objectivity and subjectivity in the field; methods of documenting music. All students are welcome to participate in this course; No experience with technical music making is required. Texts: Titon, Jeff Todd, editor. Worlds of Music. 6th ed., Schirmer Cengage, 2017. Rice, Timothy. Ethnomusicology: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2013. Note also that listening to musical examples will be a crucial component of this course. Requirements/Evaluation -Students will be expected to complete all reading and listening assignments, and actively participate in class discussions. -Students will create a listening journal, to facilitate class discussions around the music. -There will be brief, weekly written responses associated with readings and listening examples. -Students will complete a research project on a topic of their choosing.