Month: May 2018

Fall 2018 Course Offerings

MUS 358: Music in World Cultures
TR 8:30-9:50 AM Room: CLS 250 + Discussion Section

Beyond humanly organized sound, music is a tool to think with. The different ways in which humans use and talk about music can teach us much about each other. In this class, we will examine music-related practices from cultures associated with three different regions of the world (Fall 2017: South India, China, Hispanic Caribbean). You will learn how people raised in these cultures produce and perceive these musics as well as what concepts scholars have developed to understand these expressions more generally. Beyond exposing you to musics that you may not be familiar with, my goal is for you to apply the concepts you learn here to think critically about the multiple cultural performances you experience in your own lives. This course fulfills the IC (International Cultures) Multicultural Requirement.

Selected Texts Include:

Lau, Frederick. 2008. Music in China. Oxford University Press: New York.
Moore, Robin. 2010. Music in the Hispanic Caribbean. Oxford University Press: New York.
Viswanathan, T. and Matthew Harp Allen. 2004. Music in South India. Oxford University Press: New York.

You will also need an i-clicker for this class.

Summer 2018 Class Offerings

MUS 359: Music of the Americas
Second session, July 23 – August 19, 2018
M-R 12:00-1:50 PM Collier House, Rm. 103
Musics of Latin America Textbook

The Americas is a broad geographic expanse covering a range of cultures that is impossible to cover in-depth in a single academic term. There are ideas, however, that can help us bring important aspects of these cultures together: indigeneity, colonization, diaspora, and hybridity. Using these ideas, we will look at three countries and cultures in the Americas to see these ideas help us analyze music in these specific regions. No musical experience is necessary, but students will be asked to think through listening examples to understand why different musics sound the way they do. While we focus on three regions, the ideas are applicable throughout the Americas. This course fulfills the AC (American Cultures) Multicultural Requirement.

Selected Texts Include:

Moore, Robin with Walter Aaron Clark (eds). 2012. Musics of Latin America. W.W. Norton & Company: New York.