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CS92PROD
Musicking Body
MUSC 117
Fall 2022
Section: 01  

"What is this thing called music?" asks Christopher Small in his book "Musicking" (1998) and observes, "Music is not a thing at all but an activity, something that people do." Taking a cue from Small's concept of "musicking" as an inherently social and physical process, this course will explore the role of the human body in the act of music performance and the creation of musical meaning. We will discuss interdisciplinary approaches to the study of music as embodied experience, drawing insight from fields as diverse as philosophy, feminist and performance studies, anthropology, ethnochoreology, and ethnomusicology. We will examine the modes, aesthetics, and cultural connotations of bodily expression, movement, and gesture in a variety of music and dance traditions worldwide--from Sufi-shamanic rituals in Central Asia to Indian classical vocal music, and from drumming and martial arts in East Asia to African American popular genres. By engaging with a range of theoretical perspectives and case studies of embodied sounds, we will reflect on the corporeal, sensory aspects of music performance and perception, the tacit nature of learning and transmission, the intersections of human musicking with the environment and technology, and the ways in which the musicking body is entangled with the physical, social, spiritual, and political forces that shape our lives.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA MUSC
Course Format: SeminarGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (MUSC)
Past Enrollment Probability: 90% or above

Last Updated on MAR-28-2024
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