Music in Indigenous Societies

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2015:

170 hours

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

This subject examines the diversity of musical expression that arises as a response to particular physical environments among various Indigenous societies. Using seminal ethnomusicological writings and recordings, case studies are drawn from rainforest societies in Africa, Asia, South America and Melanesia, societies on the rim of the Arctic circle, and the nomadic herder societies of the grasslands and taiga of southern Siberia and Mongolia. The subject explores how sound, speech, song and ceremony are used to reflect the social, spiritual, sensory and sonic relationships between people and nature. Students will be encouraged to make intellectual and creative connections between acoustic epistemologies, sonic awareness, sound environments and musical responses in their own society.

On completion of this subject students should be able to:

• Demonstrate a high level of understanding of how different Indigenous societies react sonically and musically to their physical environment;
• Demonstrate a critical understanding of the impact of globalisation on Indigenous musical production;
• make critical, informed and sophisticated responses to new ideas, methodologies and theoretical frameworks in the study of music;
• integrate a reflective knowledge and an informed understanding of cross-cultural and intercultural concepts and behaviours in musical production from different times and places into their professional and intellectual lives;
• conduct independent secondary research in ethnomusicology; make intelligent responses to aural sources; and
• write in a scholarly manner appropriate to the discipline.

• Essay of 2000 words - End of Semester Exam (40%)
• Cumulative assignment equivalent to 2000 words - Mid Semester & End of Semester (40%)
• One hour Listening Test - End of Semester Exam (20%)

All readings for this subject will be available on line through the LMS for this subject.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

On completion of this subject students should have developed:

• a capacity for independent critical thought
• an openness to new ideas
• knowledge and skills which provide a basis for independent critical inquiry and research-based writing
• an informed understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity