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 music meaningful in their lives, including: music as a tool for individual and cultural identity; the process of musical composition and transmission; modes of teaching and learning music; 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 South Indian Carnatic classical music, Indian Bollywood film music, Javanese and Balinese gamelan‚ Indonesian puppet theatre (Wayang kulit), West African Mande storytelling music, Shona mbira music of Zimbabwe.

This course also serves as an introduction to ethnomusicology, the academic field engaged with the study of music in culture. We will cover the core theories and methods of that field, along with related topics, such as: 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 music (technical, theoretical or historical) is required.