Wednesdays 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

Davison Room
Ethnomusicologists conduct research on music, music-makers, music-making,
concepts of music and the events within which music is embedded in virtually
any culture. In this course we shall examine a selection of approaches, historical
themes, and musical materials that are foundational in the field of ethnomu-
sicology. The selection of readings in this course is meant acknowledge a few
of the many ways in which ethnomusicological approaches are related to those
of other disciplines, such as anthropology and linguistics. It also reflects an
ethnomusicological concern with the study of music as a system of sounds and
as something often best learned through hands-on performance.
Requirements:
All students are expected to do the required reading, participate in class, and
write a weekly précis and discussion (described below). In addition, one student
per week will do an oral report on a major work, usually a book, for the class,
using handouts, visual and aural aids. (These works are not always tied into
the theme of the week). Later in the course students will do short exercises in
transcription and audio-visual documentation. The main semester assignment
will be to create an annotated bibliography and state-of-the-field paper in a
secondary ethnomusicological field. For ethnomusicology grad students this
means their proposed secondary area. For historical musicologists, it means
an area of interest within ethnomusicology that you might eventually wish to
research or teach. For students outside of musicology, please arrange with me.
Reading and listening:
Most of the articles/chapters and recorded examples will be online. The other
readings and recordings will be on reserve, available for in-library use, or, in the
case of books for individual presentation, available for check out (please pick a
book and check it out well in advance). The online readings can be accessed by
clicking on the online syllabus or on the web pages created for each week.
Weekly Writing:
Consists of two parts, one-half page each (single-spaced, 12 point, 1" margins).
Part 1 should be a précis of the book or major reading assignment for the week.
A précis represents, in miniature, the main content of a work in the order it is
presented. Please avoid, to the extent possible, reference to the author (“the
author writes. . .”) and do not include quotations. Present the argument or
narrative in your own voice. This section should show that you’ve read the
selected reading and can communicate it to the reader. It should not involve
opinions or arguments of your own.
Part II should be a critical discussion of one or two points and serve as the basis
for your classroom interventions.

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Week 1 (Jan 25): Definitions
Week 2 (Feb 1): A: Bibliographic tools and B: The concept of style
Week 3: (Feb 8) Fieldwork I: Recording
Week 4: (Feb 15) Fieldwork II: Interviews
Week 5: (Feb 22) Models
Week 6: (March 1) Classics
Week 7: (March 8): Transcription and analysis
Spring Break (March 15)
Week 8: (March 22): Culture
Week 9: (March 29) Sound Studies
Week 10: (April 5) Across the Senses and the disciplines
Week 11: (April 12) New Ethnographies
Week 12: (April 19) Subfields and Topic Area
Week 13: (April 26) Oral Presentations
Reading period begins (April 27)
Reading period ends (May 3)
Final annotated bibliography and state of field projects due May 3rd