Global Arc

Music can get your feet tapping, trigger a cascade of memories, mire you in nostalgia, or leave you with an earworm. What happens when tools drawn from cognitive science are applied to understanding these experiences? What can music tell us about the human mind, and what can psychology and neuroscience tell us about music? This course will provide an introduction to music cognition, emphasizing the potential and the challenges that characterize work at the intersection of science, the humanities, and the arts. Students will gain experience posing their own questions at this intersection, and identifying appropriate methods to answer them.

Course explores aesthetic principles and social context underlying traditional and popular musics of various world regions, drawing on examples from South Africa, Japan, India, and Indonesia, among other places. Issues explored include conception of melody and rhythm in culture; the impact that language, pedagogical methods, patronage systems, gender, and ethnic or class identity have had on musical composition and performance; and the role of migration, globalization, and politics in the development of musical style.

An examination of the effect of different compositional practices and different sound technologies on the film viewer. The course will focus on three parameters of film music: music that has a visual point of origin on the screen (diegetic music), music that does not have a visual point of origin on the screen (nondiegetic music, also called background scoring), and music that floats between these two realms. Prerequisite: 103, or 105, or permission of instructor. One three-hour seminar.

The practice and examination of unconventional approaches to theater and music/theater. This is not a history course, although some exemplary work will be dealt with. Largely, we will be making things, playing, looking, listening and analyzing. We will examine different theatrical approaches to music, narrative, poetic, gestalt, metaphor, sculpture and design. We will write, improvise, compose and critique.

This course examines the aesthetics and reception of popular music genres in Japan, including children's songs, war songs, enka, jazz, rock, hip-hop, reggae, Okinawan pop, J-Pop, and music for anime and video games. Through listening exercises, analyses of translated lyrics, and readings, we will consider the ways in which music has reflected Japanese identity in changing international contexts and the reception of Japanese artists overseas. Issues examined include nationalism, the music industry, language, cultural hegemony, subcultures, and technology.

This course explores the music, history, politics, and cultural meanings of taiko (Japanese drum) from a transpacific perspective. Rooted in festival traditions, ensemble drumming developed into a performance art in the postwar era, featuring coordinated choreography. Taiko is also popular in North America. Students participate in a hands-on workshop, learning techniques, choreography, and three pieces of traditional and modern styles.

An introduction to the melodic types (raga), metric types (tala), and the principal vocal and instrumental genres of South Asian art music. One three-hour class. Prerequisite: instructor's permission.

Introduction to the vocal and instrumental music of Africa south of the Sahara. Topics include the place of music in society, the influence of language on musical composition, principles of rhythmic organization, urban popular music, "art" music as a response to colonialism, and the impact of African music on the earliest forms of African American music. Two 90-minute lectures.

Performance course in West African drumming with focus on music from Mandé Empire (Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Guinea Bissau and Senegal.) Taught by master drummer and exponent of Mogo Kele Foli drumming technique. Course provides hands-on experience on two instruments, Djembe and Dun dun. Students acquire performance experience, skills and techniques on Wassolon and Diansa, and develop appreciation for integrity of drumming in daily life of West Africa.

This course will delve into the many historical themes, social issues, and musical aspects that arise from surveying and comparing the diverse musical traditions of Mexico, the U.S., and Canada.