Latin American Music and Culture

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

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 explores the musical traditions of Spanish-speaking Latin America, focusing on the intersections of music, culture and language. A number of selected musical traditions will be examined including expressions from the Caribbean, Andean and River Plate regions such as Cuban son, Argentine tango, protest song and art music, among others. These repertoires will be approached from a twofold perspective, concentrating on the different musical genres and their original cultural contexts, as well as critically examining their representations in mainstream Western culture through an analysis of the presence of Latin American music in media.

On completion of this subject students should be able to:

• Aurally analyse different expressions of Latin American music according to their musical characteristics and be able to situate them in their socio-historical context
• Discriminate between different Latin American musical traditions and be able to support your opinion with relevant musical evidence
• Articulate historical, social and musical data in coherent narratives applying a sophisticated technical and scholarly vocabulary
• Evaluate and criticise a body of empirical data and identify its theoretical context
• Conduct independent research on music and cultural representations of Latin America

• Two (2) listening tests (20 minutes each) - During Semester (2 x 15% each: Total 30%)
• In-class presentation equivalent to 1,000 words - Second Half of Semester (20%)
• Essay of 4,000 words - End of Semester (40%)
• Attendance and class participation - Ongoing (10%)

A reading pack will be available for purchase from the Co-Op Bookshop prior to the commencement of semester.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

On completion of this subject students will have further developed:

• an enhanced capacity to value the music of different cultures
• critical thinking and analytical skills
• ability to seek out, organise and evaluate relevant information
• advance communication skills, both oral and written
• collaborative skills
• capacity for independent, self-reflective and critical enquiry
• the ability to apply appropriate critical skills to evaluate diverse musical and cultural phenomena
• the ability to communicate specific musical content in an academic context both in oral and written form