Course Description
History, styles, and forms of African music. Investigation of historical, cultural and social aspects, contexts and functions, music structures, instruments, genres, structures and indigenous societies, nation-states, and global industry.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Students will be required to carry out an ethnographic and
analytical investigation of the interplay of African music on the
continent and in Diaspora resulting in a major paper which meets
the standards of the profession for publication. The reading list
will be substantially more extensive and sophisticated than that
of the undergraduates. Additional material on the major examinations.
Athena Title
AFRICAN MUSIC
Prerequisite
Any one of the following courses: MUSI 3020 or MUSI 3021 or MUSI 3210 or MUSI 3220 or AFST(ANTH)(CMLT)(GEOG)(HIST)(SOCI) 2100 or permission of school
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Students will be able to * define and discuss music in the African context as cultural practice or as artistic expression; * identify and analyze social, cultural, political, and religious intersections of music in Africa; * identify and describe the instruments, genres, forms, and musicians found in different regions of Africa; * discuss the impact of African music in the Americas and the Caribbean; * discuss the role, place, and impact of African music in the global music industry.
Topical Outline
1. Music and Africa 2. Aesthetic and general considerations 3. Music culture areas concept; social,cultural, and religious dimensions 4. Political perspective: indigenous, nation-state, religio-economic colonialism, and global dimensions 5. Northern Africa 6. Sudanic Africa 7. West Africa 8. East Horn 9. Central Africa 10. East Africa 11. Southern Africa 12. The diaspora 13. Popular music 14. Contemporary musicians in the academy
Syllabus