World Music Studies

Division: Fine Arts, Comm, and New Media

Department: Music

Course: MUSC 4405

Title: World Music Studies

Description: This course provides students with a rigorous introduction to selected musical traditions from various parts of the globe. Through the use of a comparative analytical framework, which includes perspectives from ethnomusicology, the cognitive sciences, and psychoacoustics, students will learn to critically analyze and appreciate the selected musical traditions. These traditions will be approached from within their own cultural contexts and viewed as a social process. Students will develop an understanding of what music is, what it means to its practitioners and audiences, and the means by which musical meaning is transmitted. Emphasis is placed on recognition and analysis of the salient musical characteristics of each tradition, the artists who made major contributions to those traditions, and the particular musical instruments that are iconic to each.

Courses Taught Fall 2024

Courses Taught Spring 2025

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