Humanities Arts Cultural Stu 0191 - World Music: A Critical Inquiry

This is not a kind of "World Music" survey course that simply offers you a little taste of exotic music that people create in some faraway places or nearby ethnic neighborhoods. Although we study different musical ideas, practices, and cultures originated in different parts of the world throughout the course, the primary purpose of this course is to examine "World Music" as a genre of music, a commodity, a discourse, and a cultural phenomenon of our own. Through case studies, we look deeply into our society's political, economic, intellectual, and creative mechanisms that have contributed to the emergence of "World Music" and its continuous operation, despite various controversies. No previous training in music is necessary to take this course, but students need to be prepared to do fairly heavy reading and critical unpacking of course materials for each class. Keywords:Music, ethnomusicology, media studies, cultural anthropology

Media and Technology Students should expect to spend 8 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time. The content of this course deals with issues of Race and Power.