View source for Introduction to Modern Italian Musical Life: From Opera to Hip Hop (Winter 2012 - School of Cortona)

'''Music 365: Introduction to Ethnomusicology'''

'''Introduction to Modern Italian Musical Life: From Opera to Hip Hop'''

'''Cortona Winter 2012'''

Instructor: 	Federico Spinetti

Class time:	Monday 2:45PM – 6:00PM

Location: 	St. Agostino

Office hours:	After / before class or by appointment

Email:		spinetti@ualberta.ca

Phone:		+39 340 9875525

'''Prerequisites''': 	Waived. Knowledge of ethnomusicology, music theory, music notation or the Italian language is not required to take this course and to effectively complete its assignments/requirements.


==Course description==

This course explores Italian music and musical life as they relate to cultural and social transformations in Italy, particularly during the 20th century and today. The course has no ambition to cover in detail all musical genres and activities in Italy; it rather provides a survey of selected topics with a focus on musics, musicians and musical initiatives that have had a particularly important role in Italian public and popular culture, political history and socio-cultural developments. For example, we will examine musical life in relation to the formation of national identity (both in the early days of the Italian unification and, further, with the advent of the mass media), the Fascist regime and the liberation struggle (la Resistenza), the dynamics of regional and local cultural traditions vis-à-vis the emergence of a national public arena, the 1968-generation and the radicalization of political discourse in the 1970s, and contemporary transformations in Italian political and social realities. The course will encourage students to make meaningful connections between class topics and materials (readings, discussions, listening examples) and their direct encounters with musical life in Cortona and on occasion of field trips. Class instruction will include lecturing, class discussions on reading assignments, guided listening to audio and audiovisual recordings, and illustration and discussion of song lyrics.

==Course objectives==

* To familiarize students with Italian popular musical culture.

* To familiarize students with some of the main turning points in Italian modern social and cultural history.

* To study local musical idioms and aesthetic perceptions in relation to their socio-historical contexts, and to develop a critical understanding of the role of music in identity construction, cultural life and political-ideological processes. 

* More generally, to introduce students to the anthropological study of music, as an academic discipline, a set of scholarly methods and perspectives, and, more broadly, as a way of experiencing, listening to, understanding and thinking about music.

== Course requirements / assignments ==

* '''Class attendance and participation''': Includes completing weekly reading assignments and participating in class discussions pertinently and actively. You may be invited to take turns in leading the discussion on specific readings.

* '''Midterm paper''': A paper requiring you 1) to review one course reading of your choice, and 2) to discuss a broader course topic it relates to. Length of paper: 750-1,000 words. Due on Week 5 (Thursday, February 9).

* '''Field report''': A written report reflecting on your experience of music and music-related activities during your stay in Italy (including Cortona, field trip/s, and any other relevant contexts). Length of report: 1,000-1,500 words. Due on Week 8.

* '''Final exam''': An in-class test based on selected topics and audiovisual materials covered in the course. Due on Week 9.

==Assessment==

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

* Attendance and participation: 20%

* Midterm paper: 20%

* Field report: 20%

* Final exam: 40%

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

==Resources==

Readings will be provided by the instructor in PDF format or directly accessed by students through the online UofA Library databases. Required audio and audiovisual materials will be provided in class and/or posted on this mediawiki course outline.

== Course schedule and reading assignments==

[[Week 1 - Jan 9: Introduction to the course, ethnomusicology and music in Italy]]

[[Week 2 - Jan 16: Italian Opera: national identity and music industry]]

[[Week 3 - Jan 23: Music, politics and society 1900-1945: labor songs, the fascist regime and the 'Resistenza']]

'''Friday January 27: Field trip to Rome'''

[[Week 4 - Jan 30: From Naples to San Remo: the classic 'canzone italiana' and its transformations]]

[[Week 5 - Feb 6: Italian folk music: practice, scholarship and revival]]

'''DUE (Thursday February 9): Midterm paper'''

[[Week 6 - Feb 13: Engaged singer-songwriters and art song: 'cantautori' and 'canzone d'autore']]

[[Week 7 - Feb 20: Rock, experimentalism and political struggle in Italy]]

[[Week 8 - Feb 27: Rap and Roots: antagonism and multicultural trends in contemporary Italian music]]

'''DUE (Monday February 27): Field report'''

[[Week 9 - March 5: Final exam]]