Each short essay should be about 4 pages long (1,000 words). Due dates for the “draft,” presentations, and final paper are on the course calendar.
- Make sure to research the topic using materials in the music library and other materials as needed (recordings on YouTube, for example)
- As you research your topic, include the the best facts and evidence about the topic -- don’t include everything you find! Only include what is useful to your argument.
Consider Small's themes in Musicking:
- Music is not an object but an action
Consider Bakan's approach:
- Chapter 1:
- 5 propositions of exploring World Music;
- Be sure to closely examine #5: the problems of ethnocentrism (and the three options to deal with it)
- Chapter 2:
- Meaning is the glue that binds sound and culture to form music
- Conceptions of music are closely tied to conceptions of identity (group and individual)
- Society may be defined as a group of persons regarded as forming a single community of related, interdependent individuals (as seen in social organizations)
- Culture is a defined mainly by a collective worldview shared by its members (beliefs that underscore social organization: religions, phyllophytes, ethical principles, rituals)
- important terms: nations, nation-states, nationalism, colonialism, post-colonialism, diaspora, transnational communities
- Music is made by individuals who exist within the networks of society and culture outlined above
Consider
- Roles of Music in Society and Culture:
- Music and spirituality
- Music and Dance
- Music and Ritual
- Music as a commodity
- Music and patronage
- Transmission of Music and Music Knowledge:
- production and reception
- creation (composition, performance, improvisation, arranging)
- tradition (canon)
