| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
|
Examinations and Assignments:
2-3 short papers; final paper/project |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Topic: Spirituality, theatricality, and visuality in Tan Dun's operas and music for martial arts films
This course takes a close look at intersections of film music, opera, world music, experimental music, and Western art music. It explores the entanglement of spirituality, theatricality, and visuality in sound and music through learning about how Chinese artists have been searching for new aesthetics, new expressions, and new world market in the 21st century, especially that of one composer's creative path and distinguished global career often entangled with orientalism, eroticism, and China's historical and cultural symbols.
Tan Dun (1957-) is the most well-known and most controversial contemporary Chinese/Chinese American composer. His career spans from Asia to North America, Europe, and Australia. In this seminar, we will study Tan Dun's five operas including "Nine Songs," "Marco Polo," "Peony Pavilion," "Tea," and "The First Emperor" (commissioned by the Met), and his music for three martial arts films of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (won him an Oscar), "Hero," and "The Banquet." Focusing on the aspects of spirituality, theatricality, and visuality, the class will examine various roots and sources of Tan Dun's music, the impact of the "global flow" of the cultures, ideas, and resources, and the controversies in and surround his works. |
| Instructor(s): Zheng,Su Times: .M.W... 02:50PM-04:10PM; Location: TBA |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: 8 | JR major: 7 | | |
| Seats Available: 15 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: X | JR non-major: X | SO: X | FR: X |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
| SECTION 02 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Various articles and book chapters. |
Examinations and Assignments:
Graded work will include short response papers/listening journals and a final project. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Topic: The Politics of Listening: Sound and Music in Conflict and Peace
What role does sound play in shaping political life, and how do music and listening mediate experiences of conflict, violence, and peace? From the requiem and memorial traditions to the protest power of popular music, and from anti-nuclear activism to sonic responses to war, displacement, and political violence, this course explores the transformative force of music and sound in narrating, inciting, and responding to social and political conflict. Adopting a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approach, we will examine how music and sound can support political regimes, challenge authority, memorialize trauma, and foster new forms of community and ethical listening. Drawing from scholarship in (ethno)musicology, sound studies, and cultural and media studies, the course emphasizes active and critical listening while introducing analytical approaches to sound and music in diverse historical and cultural contexts. |
| Instructor(s): Shatilova,Anya Times: .M.W... 10:50AM-12:10PM; Location: TBA |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: 7 | JR major: 8 | | |
| Seats Available: 15 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: X | JR non-major: X | SO: X | FR: X |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
|