Music 371HM - Topics in Music: 'History of Music Education'

This seminar explores the history of formalized, institutional music education in Europe and North America, focusing on the Middle Ages to the present. Topics include monastic and cathedral schools; conservatories and their roots in orphanages and vocational schools; music programs in pre-school, K-12, and higher ed (including Mount Holyoke); approaches to music within disability education; formal training in jazz, popular, traditional, and experimental musics; and the politics of degrees and accreditation. Through critical reading of primary sources, we trace the political and cultural work of music education, and how it reinforces aesthetic ideologies and systems of power and access.

Prereq: 8 credits in classroom Music courses including at least 4 credits at the 200 level or above.