Entangled Sounding Objects: The Social Life of Musical Instruments
MUSC 260
Fall 2025
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
ARCP 270, ANTH 260, COL 255, MDST 260 |
Musical instruments exist at the intersection of material, cultural, and social worlds. Entangled in webs of human and non-human relationships, they serve as both tangible and symbolic objects that hold significant meanings for the communities they serve. This course examines the social lives of musical instruments worldwide, focusing on Central Asia, a region that extends from the borderlands of China in the east to the Caspian Sea in the west, and from Russia in the north to the frontiers of Afghanistan in the south. Students explore theories and concepts derived from interdisciplinary literature on material and sound culture and apply them to case studies of a variety of musical instruments -- lutes, flutes, zithers, harps, and drums -- in Central Asia and beyond. Through these case studies, students learn about the historical trajectories and cultural significance of individual instruments in various societies; consider how instrument making and performance are influenced by indigenous religious beliefs and cosmology, political ideology, ecology, and economy; and interrogate the roles of musical instruments as symbols of national identity, objects of cultural heritage, and global commodities. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA MUSC |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (Anthropology)(Archaeology Minor)(Archaeology)(College of Letters)(Medieval Studies Minor)(Medieval Studies)(Music) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Eliot Bates, The Social Life of Musical Instruments, ETHNOMUSICOLOGY 56(3), 2012
Kevin Dawe, The Cultural Study of Musical Instruments, THE CULTURAL STUDY OF MUSIC: A CRITICAL INTRODUCTION, edited by Martin Clayton, Trevor Herbert and Richard Middleton, Routledge, 2003
Veronica Doubleday, Sounds of Power: An Overview of Musical Instruments and Gender, ETHNOMUSICOLOGY FORUM 17(1), 2008
Theodore Levin, Saida Daukeyeva, and Elmira Köchümkulova (eds), THE MUSIC OF CENTRAL ASIA, Indiana University Press, 2016, www.musicofcentralasia.org
Tyler Yamin, One or Several Gamelan? Perpetual (Re)construction in the Life of a Balinese Gamelan Semara Pagulingan, ETHOMUSICOLOGY 63(3), 2019
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Examinations and Assignments:
Reading and listening assignments, Moodle posts, and a final project based on literature research or hands-on engagement with a musical instrument. The project may involve learning to play an instrument, composing, performing and/or improvising a piece, or producing an audio/video recording. Students will have access to a variety of Central Asian musical instruments and will be able to use them in their projects. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
The course is open to both music majors and students with no background in music or Central Asian history and culture. All are welcome to attend. |
| Instructor(s): Daukeyeva,Saida Times: ..T.R.. 10:20AM-11:40AM; Location: TBA |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: 4 | JR major: 4 | | |
| Seats Available: 15 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 3 | JR non-major: 2 | SO: 2 | FR: 0 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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