Issues in Ethnomusicology (Fall 2007)

Music 665: Issues in Ethnomusicology

Classes: Wednesday 9:00-11:50, Music Library 2-109A

Instructor: Prof Federico Spinetti

Office: 3-65 Fine Arts Building; office hours: Tuesday 10:00-12:00am, or by appointment. Tel. 492-7534; spinetti@ualberta.ca

Course Description

This course examines some of the topics that are central to current ethnomusicological research and debates, at the same time providing an overview of the historical development of the discipline. Each week, specific themes will be selected for investigation and discussion, drawing examples from a broad range of case studies. Emphasis will be placed on tracing the theoretical underpinnings of ethnomusicology and, also, on examining how theories and approaches developed in a variety of other disciplines (such as anthropology, sociology, linguistics, literary studies, political studies) have been adopted and remodeled within an ethnomusicological context. Students will be encouraged to engage in critical thinking and maintain interpretive openness in respect of a plurality of methodological, epistemological and cultural-philosophical perspectives (structural-functional approaches, phenomenology, hermeneutics and experiential approaches, performance theory, Marxism, cultural and postcolonial studies, postmodernist approaches and critical theory).

Prerequisites

This course is for graduate students only.

Course requirements

- Attendance and participation. Includes:

1) doing weekly readings and participating in class discussions. You will be invited to take turns in leading discussion.

2) you will occasionally be invited to identify additional readings or audio-visual recordings related to weekly topics and to discuss your findings in class.

- Class presentations: each of you will be asked to make 4 to 5 class presentations (about 10 minutes each) on individually assigned readings, with an eye to identifying their theoretical perspective, ethnographic approach and general contribution to the discipline.

- Book review: a written review on an ethnomusicological book of your choice, of the kind usually found in academic journals. Includes overview or summary of the reviewed work, assessment of its contribution and relevance to ethnomusicological debates and research, and critical evaluation of its theoretical/methodological/ethnographic approach. Do not exceed 1,000 words. DUE WEEK 7 – October 17.

- Professional organizations paper (POP): an essay critically addressing some aspects of one or more professional organizations, journals or websites relevant to ethnomusicology. For instance: comparison between SEM and ICTM websites; critique of Smithsonian Folkways or Freemuse websites and publications; examination of the treatment of a particular subject in the history of the Yearbook for Traditional Music and/or Ethnomusicology. DUE Week 11 – November 14.

- Final paper: a written piece of research that shows your critical engagement with one or more theoretical and ethnographic issues addressed in the course. Your discussion may proceed entirely on a theoretical level or employ examples and illustrations drawn from case studies. You should reference at least 20 scholarly works (books or articles). Length; 4,000-5,000. DUE DECEMBER 15. Prior to this, you should submit a short abstract of your paper (250-300 words. DUE Week 9 – October 31) with annotated bibliography for at least 10 of your references (1 or 2 sentences per reading).

No final exam.

Assessment

Each assignment will be marked according to the numeric scale of evaluation given below. Individual assignment marks will be combined to obtain a final numeric grade, which will be translated into the correspondent final letter grade.

A 4.0

A- 3.7

B+ 3.3

B 3.0

B- 2.7

C+ 2.3

C 2.0

C- 1.7

D+ 1.3

D 1.0

D- 0.7

F 0.0

The relative weight of each assignment on the overall grade is as follows:

Attendance and participation: 20%

Class presentations: 20%

Book review: 10%

POP: 15%

Abstract & Final paper: 35% (5% + 30%)

Resources

There are no required textbooks for this course. Most class readings will be on reserve at the Music Library or available on-line through the library database – mainly JSTOR. Relevant bibliographic or audio-visual materials that may not be available on reserve will be handed out in class or included in the course mediawiki page (http://folkways.tapor.ualberta.ca/mediawiki). I will use the course mediawiki page to post updated reading assignments and changes of schedule. The mediawiki may also function as a class forum, and please do not hesitate to post in your messages, comments or questions.

List of useful journals: Ethnomusicology; Yearbook for Traditional Music (formerly Journal of the International Folk Music Council); The World of Music; African Music; Asian Music; Ethnomusicology Forum (formerly The British Journal of Ethnomusicology); Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology (UCLA).

Websites: Society for Ethnomusicology; British Forum of Ethnomusicology; VirtualMusicalInstrumentCollection; SmithsonianGlobalSound; International Council for Traditional Music; UNESCO, Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Mankind; FreeMuse: Freedom of Musical Expression