ABC (0101) 252 - African Music Cultures

Credits: 3.00

Like the Arab traders and European explorers who first penetrated the interior of the African continent centuries ago, students will actively engage sub-Saharan Africa’s diverse music cultures from diverse vantage points, examining different instruments, people(s), and practices. In addition, students will study diasporic African music cultures in the Americas.

Course Learning Goals: Through written responses, exams, and the research paper students will:
1.   demonstrate knowledge of the diverse musical traditions of sub-Saharan Africa.
2.   investigate the significance of instruments as human extensions in different African music cultures
3.   recognize the importance of race, ethnicity, class, gender, and religion in African music cultures
4.   examine the extent to which social and musical structure are closely related throughout sub-Saharan Africa and the Diaspora
5.   research, draft, and write well-conceived essays that address the above