Syllabus - Musics of the World (MUSC 230)

Musical cooperation between a South African isicathamiya choir, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and American rock star, Paul Simon
Discussion of ethical and political considerations concerning Simon's album Graceland (1986)

4. Music, Gender, Sexuality

Cross-cultural Perspective

Cultural Areas Approach: A Limited Geographic Survey

The scope of this course is geographically limited, and its intention is not to make a broad geographical survey of many world musics. Its focus is rather placed on several broadly conceived musical-cultural areas, all of which are connected by the four themes, listed above. The cultural areas covered are:

1. West Asia

Turkey, Iran

2. East and Southeast Asia

China, Japan, Indonesia

3. Africa

Morocco, Ghana, Nigeria, South African Republic

4. North America

The Appalachians, U.S.

COURSE PURPOSE AND PHILOSOPHY

The purpose of the course is to encourage your critical thinking, reading, listening and viewing of presented musical material, as well as of my own classroom statements. The course philosophy is to raise a number of critical questions and to make students aware of certain social, cultural, political, ideological, philosophical issues as they are reflected in, through, and by music as everyday practice. Another philosophical emphasis is to encourage students to look at the ways such issues are differently understood, constructed and perpetuated / reconstructed by different musicians as everyday actors and practitioners. Thus, the concept of difference is emphasized and contrasted to that of identity:

Interdependence of music and ritual in Muslim societies: How does Islam present itself through music? What is your picture of Islam?
Syncretic character of musical theater in which several elements, such as music, dance, emphatic speech, poetry, and drama, are blended together, something like the modern multimedia. What is your idea of theater, especially the musical one?
The issue of gender and sexuality in musical-theatrical genres and popular musics observed cross-culturally. What can we learn about these issues by studying musical cultures of the world?
Social, political, and economic implications in the "world-beat": How do you read the slogan, "The West and the Rest"?
Popular musics as the global trend and the meeting place of world cultures: Is this our future?
And last but not least: What do we mean when we say "Our"? And who is the Other?

REQUIRED TEXTS AND MUSIC LISTENING

Textbooks

Erlmann, Veit. 1991. African Stars: Studies in Black South African Performance. Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology; Philip V. Bohlman and Bruno Nettl, eds. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.
Nettl, Bruno et al. 1997. Excursions in World Music. Second Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Waterman, Christopher A. 1990a. Jùjú: A Social History and Ethnography of an African Popular Music.
Course Packet: A selection of readings for MUSC230

Books and Course Packet available in the University Bookstore.

Music

A set of two CDs accompanying Excursions in World Music (Prentice Hall, 1996) -- audio accompaniment to the textbook. You may purchase the set in the Bookstore.

RESERVES

Required Selected Readings

All selected readings are listed in the Readings page

Required Listening / Viewing

A set of two audio cassettes accompanying Excursions in World Music is on Reserve in UMBC Library, Media Section.

A selection of other audio and video recordings pertaining to the geographic areas and the themes included in this course is on Reserve in UMBC Library, Media Section.

You are also encouraged to browse through the library media catalogues and make your own selection pertaining to the above course themes.

OPTIONAL TEXTS

You may also consult two other similar books on the musics of the world:

May, Elizabeth, ed. 1983. Musics of Many Cultures: An Introduction. Foreword by Mantle Hood. First Paperback Printing. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press. (Originally Published in 1980).

Titon, Jeff Todd, ed. 1996. Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World's Peoples. Third edition. New York: Schirmer Books. (Book accompanied by a set of three CDs. Second edition published in 1992).

as well as entries related to and mentioned in this course in the following dictionary:

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians 1-20. 1980. Stanley Sadie, ed. London: Macmillan Publishers Limited; Washington, D.C.: Grove's Dictionaries of Music Inc.; Hong Kong: Peninsula Publishers Limited.

RECOMMENDED FEATURE FILMS

To Live. Chinese movie directed by Zhang Yimou, 1994. In Mandarin with English subtitles. Cast: Ge You, Gong Li. 135 min.

Movie about the life of a Chinese shadow play puppeteer and his family during the turbulent years of the modern Chinese history, spanning from the 1940s, through the early Communist era, the Cultural Revolution, and the present. Contains scenes with communist mass songs.

Farewell My Concubine. Chinese movie directed by Chen Kaige, 1993. In Mandarin with English subtitles. Cast: Leslie Cheung, Zhang Fengyi, Gong Li. 154 min.

Movie about the two male Beijing Opera stars, their sexual identities, whose stage and everyday lives are hopelessly intermingled. Covers the fifty year period in the modern Chinese history.

Blue Kite. Chinese movie directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang, 1994. In Mandarin with English subtitles. Cast: Tian Yi. 138 min.

Movie banned in China but highly acclaimed abroad. A story about a young schoolteacher, from her first marriage in 1953 to the Cultural Revolution in 1967. Contains scenes with communist mass songs.

Shanghai Triad. Chinese movie directed by Zhang Yimou, 1995. In Mandarin with English subtitles. Cast: Gong Li. 117 (?) min.

Psychological drama about the Chinese urban mafia and its life style, set in Shanghai in the 1920s-1930s. Contains scenes with the Shanghai night life, and the Western (American) influenced night-club music and dance.

INTERNET ACCESS

You must have a valid internet access, i.e. an e-mail account at UMBC
All students at UMBC have electronic accounts automatically reserved for them at the time of their enrollment, so make sure to validate your account and activate it if it has not yet been used

!!! Important !!!

Without a valid and working UMBC e-mail account you will not be able to login on any computers in UMBC Computer Labs
This also means that without your valid UMBC e-mail account you will not be able to do your tests, which will be administered electronically (see below)

WebCT ACCOUNTS

You must create an electronic account for this course in UMBC's World Wide Web Course Tools (WebCT) site.
To create you account in WebCT:

Click on this link -- WebCT --
Then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on "Create Account" button
Fill in all required textboxes
Login

For easier and safest use of WebCT, I strongly suggest that you use your UMBC Login ID and Password
Student information, such as grades and activity, contained in this site is confidential

CLASS ATTENDANCE AND GRADING POLICY

Your presence in each class is crucial, and your class attendance and activity will affect your Final Grade. All absences must be excusable and you will have to provide a clear proof for such absences.

If you miss three classes (one full week of Winter Session) you will fail the course, and your Final Grade will be an F. In this case I suggest you withdraw from this course.

Three classes amount to 570 credit minutes (25%) out of the total of 2280 credit minutes (100%) of the entire session time

If you miss more than three classes, regardless of whether your absences are excusable or not, you may not pass the course, and your Final Grade will be an F. In this case I suggest you withdraw from this course.
If you miss two classes your grade will be lowered by one grade letter (for example, A becomes B, etc.)

Two classes amount to 380 credit minutes (17%) out of the total of 2280 credit minutes (100%) of the entire session time

!!! Important !!!

All absences should be explained and your explanation posted on WebCT.
If you miss one class you do not have to provide any clear proof for that absence.
However, I do not recommend you miss any classes.
You may not be aware, but missing even a single class in Winter Session may seriously affect your success and jeopardize your final grade in this course.
Winter Session courses are intensive in their scope, material covered, and pace. They should be understood as all other three-credit courses offered during regular semesters (fall and spring terms).
The fast pace of courses in Winter Session does not make such courses any easier.
You should be aware that Winter Session is a quick way of earning three credits, but this requires your utmost readiness to work hard and under the pressure of limited time
The quality of information, grading policy, your approach and academic conduct in this course, regardless of the fact that it is offered during Winter Session, should not be any different from the same expected in courses offered during the fall and spring terms.
All absences are cumulative, meaning that you may not use one absence for which you do not have to submit any proof and treat it separately from other absences you might make.

It is your responsibility to be punctual and come to class on time.
I insist on punctuality and do not tolerate late arrivals!
If you come to class after I take the roll, you will be marked as being absent.

FINAL GRADE

Your Final grade will be an average of your tests
Your Final Grade will be the result of the following:

Midterm Test - 45%
Endterm Test - 45%
Your discussion in class, critical thinking, activity on WebCT (doing quizzes, sharing information if any, and other activities) - 10%

IMPORTANT: Your discussions and active participation in class, punctuality, regular attendance, and your active interest in course material will substantially affect your final grade
You may always check your class progress and grades on WebCT

TESTS

There will be two written tests
Both tests will be administered electronically on computers, on WebCT, in Engineering and Computer Sciences Building, Room 122 (ECS 122)
Tests will consist of two parts:

Listening to and aural recognition of musical pieces played in class
Topics questions: multiple choice, matching, and/or short answer

Test dates

Midterm Test:

Tuesday, January 16
5:45-6:45 p.m.
ECS 122

Endterm Test

Thursday, January 25
5:45-6:45 p.m.
ECS 122

Although the material included in previous tests will not generally be a part of the next test, you are nevertheless expected to draw certain parallels between various cultures and musical styles
Endterm Test is your last scheduled class

(No)Make-Up's and (No)Incomplete Policy

It is your responsibility to take all tests at their scheduled times
The only exceptions to this rule that might be taken into consideration are cases of serious illness or other serious situations beyond your control that may have prevented you from taking the test at its scheduled time
All such matters must be officially proved and supported by official evidence presented to me. Prior to taking a makeup test you will also need to present written approval concerning your case signed by the Music Department Chairperson
It is your responsibility to arrange the time and place of all make-up tests with the secretary of Music Department and inform me about that at least a week earlier
For further information on UMBC Policies see the UMBC Fall 1999 Schedule of Classes, p. 83 ff.
It is your responsibility to complete this course within the set time. I do not give an Incomplete, "I," grade to any students. In cases where you do not complete all requirements in this course you will be given an F as your Final Grade

A REMARK ON THE INTERNET

I am wholeheartedly encouraging you to take my Webpage and the documents contained in it seriously as another learning and information tool pertaining to this class

Since all of you have e-mail accounts at UMBC, I will keep sending you occasionally chain messages reminding you of certain events in our class, such as test dates, or even announcing other events

I will not accept any excuse for ignoring to use the Internet in this class

The best, fastest and easiest way of contacting me is via WebCT

I cannot guarantee that I will return your phone calls, but I guarantee you that I will respond to your postings on WebCT

Although you may leave messages for me to the secretary in the Music Office or even leave note-pads in my mail box, it would be more beneficial and efficient if you get the habit of using WebCT