COURSE OFFERINGS IN Contemporary World Music

The Anthropology of Music and Sound (Steven Feld)
Sound and music are approached as cultural and symbolic systems. The first half of the class introduces students to various social theories relevant to understanding music and sound. The second half of the course focuses on reading music ethnographies of both "traditional" and "popular" musics.

The Anthropology of World Beat (Steven Feld)
The course is about music globalization beginning with the invention of the phonograph. Students learn various social theories to understand the global industrialization of ‘world music’ or ‘world beat’ with in the past two decades. The course approaches concepts of new geographies of power and consumption post “ Graceland” and other major fusion projects.

Native American Music (Maria Williams)
Survey course on Native American music, providing an introduction to the vast repertoire of traditional Native American music by region. The majority of the course covers traditional repertoires, cultural context of musical performances, musical styles, and relationship to dance. The course will examine contemporary Native American music, and incorporate issues such as cultural survival and identity.

Indigenous World Music (Maria Williams)
Survey course on indigenous music cultures of the world. The indigenous musical traditions of Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Near/Far East will be studied. This course offers an introduction to the different musical styles and world views, and focuses on how music is not only defined, but also placed within each cultural context. Issues of change, adaptation, and contemporary influences on music traditions will also be discussed.

Alaska Native Music and Culture (Maria Williams)
Study of Traditional Alaska Native music and dance by region and culture group. Interdisciplinary methods will be used to examine the historical and social dynamics behind changing musical and cultural traditions. Students will design research projects that illustrate the dynamic relationships of colonialism and cultural survival. Fundamentals of ethnomusicology theory and research methods will be introduced. The music and culture of Alaska’s indigenous peoples, which includes seven broad culture groups, will be the main focus of the course. Lectures are designed to introduce the music and dance practices of the seven broad culture areas and how they reflect the cultures, social structure(s), philosophies, and belief systems, as well as the geography and history of each region. All major historical events will be included such as the Russian Period (1700’s to 1867), the American period (1867 to 1959) and the contemporary period (1959 to present). Discussions will include the impact of European diseases, American missionaries, boarding schools, oil development, resource exploitation, and post-colonial theory.

Folk Music of North America (Staff)
Explores “American”-ness in music, and examines understandings of “folk” music as it relates to fostering community and identity. The course examines a variety of culture groups in the United States, their history of arrival or continuance in this country, and their traditional musical practices. Major theoretical issues framing the study of these musics include multiculturalism, ethnicity race and identity, as well as issues of musical authenticity, change, adaptation, hybridity and assimilation.

Selected Topics in Contemporary World Music
This course allows permanent or visiting faculty to offer topics not included above. Recent offerings have included "Music of Latin America" (taught by Steven Loza), "Middle Eastern Music" (taught by Rahim Alhaj), "Music of South India" (taught by Deepti Navaratna, and "Development of Latin Jazz" (taught by Steven Loza).