Introduction to World Music

DePaul University

Quarters taught: Winter 2012, Winter 2010

University of Chicago

Quarters taught: Spring 2010, Spring 2009

Course description

In this course, we will examine the social and cultural role of music(s) and musical experiences around the world, with special attention to the role of music in discourses regarding multiculturalism in the United States. How does music structure individual and collective identity? How do aesthetics, ideals, politics, and values shape musical experiences? How might we begin to understand culturally- and contextually-specific attitudes towards localism and globalization, appropriation and syncretism, individual and collective interests, exclusion and inclusion, art and commerce, resistance and conformity through music?

Throughout the quarter, we will develop our critical discussion, listening, thinking, and writing skills. The texts will introduce us to a number of musical traditions that will allow us to compare and contrast specifics across a wide variety of cultural contexts. Students will also develop a critical perspective on contemporary global popular culture: how can a deeper understanding of diverse distinctions, experiences, and forces contribute to the ways in which we make sense of the world (musical and otherwise) outside of the classroom?