Ethnomusicology of the Arab World (Fall 2014)

short link to this page: http://bit.ly/arabmusic14
short link to weekly content pages: http://bit.ly/arabmusic14w
short link to eClass: http://bit.ly/arabmusic14e

Course

Music 468 / 568: Area Studies in Ethnomusicology: The Arab World
Meetings: Fall 2014, Tuesday and Thursday, 12:30 - 1:50 pm, HC 2 34

Instructor

Professor Michael Frishkopf
Office: 334D Old Arts Building
Office hours: Wednesday 1:00-3:00, by appointment
Tel: 780-492-0225, email: michaelf@ualberta.ca

Course scope and goals

This course will survey music cultures and trends in the Arab world (broadly defined), from the 7th century to the present. We will develop a critical perspective, by contextualizing music designated as "Arab" within Arab nationalism from the 19th century onwards. Likewise, the concept of "Arab world" will be problematized, nuanced, and extended to the diasporic community. Historical and music theoretical approaches will be adopted, but the course will focus on the sociology and anthropology of music. 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 themselves, from phonodiscs to satellite TV. Aesthetics of music, spiritual, religious, and metaphysical dimensions, gender and sexuality, politics, coloniality, and globalization are all topics to be taken up. A significant component of the course is sensory immersive, including listening and viewing, including a number of music-related films, both documentary and feature. The objective is for you to learn about these multifacted music cultures, and, through them (and by means of their critical analysis) to begin to understand the Arab world (so frequently misunderstood) in a new way.

This course also features a required Community Service Learning component, centered on folk music revival in Egypt, and its social implications, allowing you to participate in music of the Arab world directly, by joining an extended program of musical research, performance, preservation, dissemination, and revitalization. This component entails 20 hours of service supporting a Cairo-based folk music organization, El Mastaba, including applied research in support of El Mastaba's social, educational, research, and archival mission: to document and help promote the continuous development of traditional Egyptian musical forms as a means of building community and civil society.

Thus course goals include:

• To learn about the diversity of "Arab music" and critique the concept (along with parallel concepts of "Arab world" and "Arab")
• To learn about the multiple dimensions--historical, political, social, religious--of the Arab world and its diaspora as expressed, maintained, and contested through music.
• To understand how music can serve to support civil society and engagement in the public sphere, as well as correcting stereotypes of the global imagination, through applied research in support of a folklore organization (El Mastaba) based in Cairo: http://www.el-mastaba.org/ [thereby supporting and xtending a project being carried out by the professor, with internal UofA funding]

Course Schedule

eClass site includes course schedule (readings, listenings, assignments), plus protected resources.

Weekly pages includes lecture notes and listening/viewing examples, week by week.

Course Format

Preparation for class

Readings, listenings, viewings will be finalized on eClass (see below) by the end of Saturday prior to the week in which they'll be taken up. For each reading, you should prepare a reading report: one or two paragraphs of summary and critique, for your own reference. (These need not be handed in, but are useful for discussions and writing SC papers. Optionally, and for extra credit, you may submit them on the eClass Reading Report Database to share with others).

In class

Each class will combine several kinds of activities (to keep things interesting):

1. lectures with AV examples
2. student presentations
3. class discussions
4. sensory immersion, via extended listening or viewing (e.g. films, concerts)
5. musical practica (ear training, composition, improvisation, experiments), sometimes followed by discussion.

Mechanics

We'll use eClass for course management, in conjunction with this wiki. Use http://bit.ly/arabmusic14e for quick access to eClass. You'll find weekly assignments posted on the eClass site, as well as protected resources. All assignments must be uploaded via eClass. This page (http://bit.ly/arabmusic14) contains the course outline, while http://bit.ly/arabmusic14w contains weekly lecture notes and links (periodically revised).

NB: This course can be taken at either of two levels: 468 (regular) or 568 (advanced). If you are an undergraduate, you should be enrolled in 468. Graduate students should be enrolled in 568. Expectations for 568 are slightly higher throughout the course.

Course Requirements

• Regular attendance and participation. Complete preparatory readings, listenings, and viewings before each class. Come prepared with written notes, comments, questions, and critiques. Be able to state each reading’s main points in one or two sentences, and develop a critical perspective: what’s missing? What are the author’s assumptions (perhaps unstated)? Participate in class activities, including discussions. During the term, everyone will present one reading in class, asking probing questions and stirring discussion.
• Map quiz. Identify 22 countries of the Arab League, their capitals, and approximate populations.
• Two synthetic-critical (SC) papers. Each paper draws together five weeks’ worth of readings, listenings, and viewings, by comparing, contrasting, and critiquing them. These are relatively short assignments (4 pages for students enrolled in 468; 6 pages for those enrolled in 568); no additional research is required. Do, however, cite the readings as you discuss them, using any standard for scholarly references, and list all references cited in any standard bibliographic format at the end of the paper. You must reference every assigned reading (optionally, for extra credit, listenings and viewings as well) at least once in one of the two papers. Submit SC papers via eClass. (I’m evaluating these assignments with two questions in mind: (a) did you do the readings? (b) did you think about them?)
• Event ethnography: an ethnographic report on an Arab music or dance performance in Edmonton, including concerts, nightclub performances, rehearsals, or workshops (3 pages for students enrolled in 468; 5 pages for those enrolled in 568). We can all use the eClass' News Forum to alert each other to upcoming events. Attend, participate, observe. In your report, discuss the venue, people, behavior, discourse, music, sequence of events. Try to make connections to what we’ve learned in the course, citing readings as needed. Submit via eClass. Extra credit: transcription and analysis of the music (you’ll need permission to record), with special attention to maqam.
• CSL component, detailed below. This is a major course component.
• Extra credit: Maintain an eClass blog, documenting your experiences learning about music of the Arab world, and comment on others’ blogs. Submit reading reports to eClass's Reading Report database, for general reference. Contribute to the course glossary and wikipedia index. Join MENAME.

Note: all page counts refer to double-spaced, 12 pt, 1” margin, Times New Roman text pages, not including bibliography.

Course Resources

• Special resource page for this course, on Arab history, music, and research
• This wiki. A wiki is a website that facilitates rapid collective editing and linking of pages (Wikipedia is an instance.) This page is our course wiki (quick link: http://bit.ly/arabmusic14); weekly lecture notes and related links are on http://bit.ly/arabmusic14w. The wiki contains links to numerous resources, including the course outline, many online library resources (most importantly, the Jstor database), and a course bibliography. Lecture notes will also be stored here. Anyone can browse. In order to edit the wiki, you must login using information available on eClass. For a basic tutorial about wiki editing, see http://bit.ly/wikihowto. Note that you can create internal wiki links without creating the linked-to page. Clicking on such a link brings up a blank page to be edited; collaboration begins when others finish what you’ve begun. Don’t forget to save your changes after you edit a page! Also, please sign your entries, otherwise you will not receive credit for having written them.
• eClass, an open source virtual learning environment based on Moodle technology. Quick link: http://bit.ly/arabmusic14e . Treat eClass as the primary course website. Weekly assignments are posted here, with links to online fulltext whenever available. There is also a useful calendar, forums (for course events, to discuss your favorite music and readings), a database, and a blog for each user, other resources, and a link to the course wiki (described below). You’ll upload assignments to eClass - please do not submit them in hardcopy or by email unless directed otherwise!
• Online library resources, via http://library.ualberta.ca. Several databases are especially relevant, including jstor and Oxford Music Online.
• Community service learning: see below.
• Hardcopy. Not everything is online! Hence the following:

1. SUB bookstore: many course-related books available for purchase. You don't have to buy them - all should be on reserve.
2. Music library reserve: course-related books/CDs/films for short-term borrowing (Rutherford North)
3. Rutherford Library.

• FolkwaysAlive wiki, with lots of links...including advising
• Sources for Ethnomusicology, a growing repository of links compiled by former 665 students
• Resources for ethnomusicological research, another site I've put together, including a number of research databases
• The Music Library and Music Library Reserve (search for "Frishkopf"). Here I've placed all of the books available for purchase in the bookstore, so you don't have to buy them if you don't want to. Reserve will also contain other items that need to remain available for the class.
• My template for Research Proposals in Ethnomusicology. I suggest this template for any proposal, short or long, whether for your supervisor, ethics approval, grant applications, or for yourself.
• My systematic framework for etic analysis of music, derived by building on ethnomusicological terms in common use.
• Chicago Manual of Style (you can follow any standard style guide as long as you do so consistently, but Chicago is a standard that's also readily available online, so is highly recommended).
• Technical information:
  • Zotero to manage and format all your citations - whether you're using Chicago or another style.
  • A guide to this mediawiki
• Society for Ethnomusicology website (more useful if you become a member).

CSL component

This course is registered for Community Service Learning credit.

Here is some general information about CSL at the UofA: Community Service Learning program guidebook and CSL at the UofA

Our partner community organization is El Mastaba Center for Egyptian Folk Music, based in Cairo.

This link -- El Mastaba Community Service Learning Project--contains background information on El Mastaba, a folk music organization based in Cairo, Egypt, and its constituent bands.

In support of El Mastaba's goals (listed above) we will:

• Divide into teams (probably 2 students each), each team devoted to one of the El Mastaba bands.
• Each team will:
  • Edit and annotate a set of band-related videos on YouTube.
    • Use YouTube editing facilities to create a short documentary featuring the band, extracting from footage available on our class account (see eClass for details).
    • Annotate archival footage, noting points of starting and stopping, entry of particular musicians and instruments, technical issues (quality, framing), and other temporal features.
    • Add atemporal technical and descriptive metadata (we'll discuss this in due course)
  • Develop an annotated bibliography of references (online and off) relevant to the band [team]
  • Write a short online paper linking to this literature, positioning the band within its broader social, culture, and historical contexts-- suitable for incorporation as CD liner notes, concert program notes, or El Mastaba web text [individual; 5 pages undergrad; 10 pages grad]
  • Carry out one or more of the following, depending on team member skills (we will discuss the options together later): [team or individual, as you like]
    • Transcribe and analyze segments of the band's music, with attention to texture, melody, rhythm, modality. (You may wish to consult my framework for etic analysis of music, derived by building on ethnomusicological terms in common use). (musicians, musicologists, theorists, composers, ethnomusicologists)
    • Design an album cover or website highlighting the band and helping connect to potential audiences, in Egypt and abroad (artists, designers)
    • Design a content management system suitable for displaying online media (audio and video).
    • Develop a strategic marketing or fundraising plan, including links to like-minded Canadian government, business, and non-profit organizations (business-minded folks)
    • Design a social media platform and plan (web-minded folks)
    • Critique El Mastaba's current website, from perspectives of design and content, and propose improvements, including replacement texts
    • Analyze ways in which class, religion, and gender cross-cut El Mastaba's cultural mission
    • Research related performing arts (e.g. theatre, dance, photography, film) and how they might be linked to music in El Mastaba's mission
    • Another task (to be approved by the instructor)
  • Present this work to the class for discussion and critique, and submit a final summary report, to be shared with El Mastaba.

Evaluation and grading

The evaluation of each requirement is on a scale from 0-4 points. These scores are combined according to the percentages indicated in order to produce a final numeric grade. This grade is rounded to the nearest numeric value in the table below, in order to determine the final letter grade. In exceptional cases the grade A+ may also be assigned. Expectations for 568 are higher than for 468.

attendance and participation: 10%
map quiz: 5%
reading presentation: 5%
each SC paper: 15% (30% total)
event ethnography: 10%
CSL project: 40%

• video annotations, metadata, and editing: 10%
  
• annotated bibliography: 10%
  
• paper: 10%
  
• other selected task : 10%
  

Each assignment is to be uploaded to eClass before class on its due date. Thereafter, an eighth point will be deducted, and an additional eighth point for each subsequent day of lateness (e.g. 8 days' lateness lowers an A to a B).

All course components are evaluated using letter grades, or numbers on a scale from 0-4. Letter grades are converted to their numerical equivalents, then combined in a weighted average (as given above), rounded to the nearest numeric value and converted to a letter grade. Number-grade conversions are performed according to the following table:
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
F: 0.0

Official statements

Course prerequisites: none
Course-based ethics approval, Community service learning: Required
Past or representative evaluative course material: see instructor
Additional mandatory instruction fees: No

Policy about course outlines can be found in Section 23.4(2) of the University Calendar. (GFC 29 SEP 2003).

Academic Integrity
“The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behaviour (online at http://www.governance.ualberta.ca/en/CodesofConductandResidenceCommunityStandards/CodeofStudentBehaviour.aspx ) and avoid any behaviour that could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University.

Learning and working environment
The Faculty of Arts is committed to ensuring that all students, faculty and staff are able to work and study in an environment that is safe and free from discrimination and harassment. It does not tolerate behaviour that undermines that environment. The department urges anyone who feels that this policy is being violated to: • Discuss the matter with the person whose behaviour is causing concern; or • If that discussion is unsatisfactory, or there is concern that direct discussion is inappropriate or threatening, discuss it with the Chair of the Department. For additional advice or assistance regarding this policy you may contact the student ombudservice: (http://www.ombudservice.ualberta.ca/ ). Information about the University of Alberta Discrimination and Harassment Policy and Procedures is described in UAPPOL at https://policiesonline.ualberta.ca/PoliciesProcedures/Pages/DispPol.aspx?PID=110

Academic Honesty:
All students should consult the information provided by the Office of Judicial Affairs regarding avoiding cheating and plagiarism in particular and academic dishonesty in general (see the Academic Integrity Undergraduate Handbook and Information for Students). If in doubt about what is permitted in this class, ask the instructor. Students involved in language courses and translation courses should be aware that on-line “translation engines” produce very dubious and unreliable “translations.” Students in language courses should be aware that, while seeking the advice of native or expert speakers is often helpful, excessive editorial and creative help in assignments is considered a form of “cheating” that violates the code of student conduct with dire consequences. An instructor or coordinator who is convinced that a student has handed in work that he or she could not possibly reproduce without outside assistance is obliged, out of consideration of fairness to other students, to report the case to the Associate Dean of the Faculty. See the Academic Discipline Process.

Recording of Lectures:
Audio or video recording of lectures, labs, seminars or any other teaching environment by students is allowed only with the prior written consent of the instructor or as a part of an approved accommodation plan. Recorded material is to be used solely for personal study, and is not to be used or distributed for any other purpose without prior written consent from the instructor.

Attendance, Absences, and Missed Grade Components:
Regular attendance is essential for optimal performance in any course. In cases of potentially excusable absences due to illness or domestic affliction, notify your instructor by e-mail within two days. Regarding absences that may be excusable and procedures for addressing course components missed as a result, consult sections 23.3(1) and 23.5.6 of the University Calendar. Be aware that unexcused absences will result in partial or total loss of the grade for the “attendance and participation” component(s) of a course, as well as for any assignments that are not handed-in or completed as a result. In this course, 8% of your grade depends on regular attendance and energetic participation.

Policy for Late Assignments:
See Evaluation and Grading, above.

Specialized Support & Disability Services:
If you have special needs that could affect your performance in this class, please let me know during the first week of the term so that appropriate arrangements can be made. If you are not already registered with Specialized Support & Disability Services, contact their office immediately ( 2-800 SUB; Email ssdsrec@ualberta.ca; Email; phone 780-492-3381; WEB www.ssds.ualberta.ca ).

Previous students' research

Course research from previous years....