Ethnomusicology of the Arab World (Fall 2014)
Music 468 / 568: Area Studies in Ethnomusicology: The Arab World
(Tuesday and Thursday 12:30PM - 1:50PM Old Arts 403)
3-Sep-2014 to 3-Dec-2014
Professor Michael Frishkopf
michaelf@ualberta.ca
Office hours: Wednesdays, 1 - 3 PM, 334D Old Arts Building
Professor Michael Frishkopf
short link for this page: http://bit.ly/arabmusic14
This course will survey music culture in the Arabic-speaking world, from the 7th century to the present. Historical and music theoretical approaches will be adopted, but the course will focus on musics of the present day in their socio-cultural contexts. The course will develop a critical stance towards Arab music, by contextualizing music designated as such within Arab nationalism from the 19th century onwards. We will examine localized musical dialects--urban and rural--characterizing societies and cultures from Morocco to the Gulf, as well as broader mediated forms, and music media, from phonodiscs to videoclips. The relations between music and language, and between music and Islam, will also be discussed. The concept of "Arab world" will be problematized and extended to the diasporic community.
We'll use eClass for course management, in conjunction with this wiki. You'll find weekly assignments posted on eClasss site, as well as a calender, and various resources (including a link back to this wiki page). All assignments must be uploaded via eClass.
Weekly pages (consult these pages for lecture notes and listening/viewing examples, week by week)
El Mastaba Community Service Learning Project. This is a CSL course. Here is where we'll organize our contributions to El Mastaba, a folk music organization based in Cairo, Egypt.
eClass (including protected resources, and assignment upload links)
