Overview of Course

This survey course attempts to gain a deeper understanding of the societies we will encounter on this voyage by studying their musical traditions in the belief that a culture’s music is a reflection and expression of the culture and its worldview. We will investigate how music is conceived, organized, and performed and ponder what it tells us about its parent society. The course aids students in cross-cultural understanding, differentiates music styles within regions and cultures, and examines broad historical, cultural, and social contexts of music. Students will become familiar with basic musical concepts and explore traditional, religious, folk, art, and popular musical styles of the societies we will visit and engage with on the voyage. Using the tools, techniques, and methodologies we gain and develop in class, faculty and students will listen to, evaluate, and perform music and dance; observe, document and participate in musical events during field experience; and keep a research journal documenting their fieldwork, thoughts, observations, and conclusions. Method of evaluation based on exams, participant observation projects, and class and field participation.