CMUS 103 - Introduction to the Anthropology of Music: Case Studies from around the World

Next Offered: Fall Semester

Semester Offered: First Semester
Full Course
Credits: 4 Credits
Attribute: ARHU, CD, WINT

This course explores the study of musical practices around the world from an anthropological perspective. This means that the emphasis is on exploring the meanings, uses, and power of music, including the way music is used to heighten and ensure spiritual efficacy, to comment on and contribute to political movements, and to make sense of “natural” disasters. The class is organized around a series of themes - for example, Music and Ecology, Music and Spirituality, Music and Politics, and Ethics and Representation - rather than geographical areas. The course gives you critical tools and frames to apply to your own case studies in order to understand the power of music. After exploring the methodologies of ethnomusicology, you learn to use them yourself by designing your own research project on some aspect of musical practice in Oberlin. The course is designed to challenge the ways you think about and listen to music.

N.B. This class is designed for students without prior musical experience. As such it places the emphasis on understanding music in its cultural, political, religious, economic, historical, and ecological contexts rather than exploring the musical structures in much depth or teaching you about the theory of music. ETHN 100: Introduction to Musics of the World in the spring is a comparable class that gets into the nuts and bolts of music in more depth. for ETHN 100, considerable musical experience, a good ear, and the ability to read notation are ideal; you are asked to do more critical listening exercises and musical analysis.

Which class is right for me?
CMUS 103	ETHN 100
No prior musical knowledge necessary	Prior musical knowledge necessary
Emphasis on music as a social act	Balance between musical analysis and music as a social act
Very little about nuts & bolts of musical structures	Deep exploration of the way music is structured
Organized around thematic units	Organized around areas and themes
Goal is to think critically about the role of music and to focus on the meanings and uses of music	Goal is to think critically about the role of music and learn to listen critically
Evaluation exercises will ask you to write and speak	Evaluation exercises will ask you to listen, map out music, write, and speak
Not a gateway course to the Musical Studies Major	A gateway course to the Musical Studies Major

Enrollment Limit: 30
Instructor: J. Fraser

Consent of the Instructor Required: Yes
Prerequisites & Notes: This class is designed for students without prior musical experience. See ETHN 100 for a comparable class that requires experience.