Surveys the music and music making of different world cultures outside the United States, with a focus on current issues in the arts, culture, and society. Such issues can include the impact of government polices on the arts, transnational circulation, intellectual property rights, as well as the current movements in the arts ranging from popular styles to cutting-edge contemporary experimentation. The particular culture to be studied will vary.

Music has been described as the perennial migrant, following the movements and migrations of people and communities throughout the world. This course explores music’s own migrations, probing the complex ebbs and flows of music across national, regional, ethnic, and other borders in and across Latin America. Examples will focus on some of today’s most crucial borderlands such as the US-Mexico or Venezuela-Colombia borders. Additionally, the course will examine the transnational flows of musical styles such as salsa, tango, cumbia, reggae, reggaetón, and samba. Throughout, we will ask what the affordances and limits of music and/in migration are. The course includes an attached laboratory component in which students will get hands-on experience playing the musical styles discussed. All levels of musical experience or background will be accommodated.

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Requirements class fulfills