MUS 203-01 - Topics in Ethnomusicology: Music and Sound in the Arab World

4 credits (Fall)

This course is an introduction to the musical traditions and the role of sound in the Middle East and North Africa. In this class, students will explore a wide array of religious, art, folk, and popular musics and consider formal musical elements and aesthetics, contexts and purposes of performance, and the politics of performance and listening. Beyond music, the course emphasizes the significance of orality in Muslim-majority societies, covering the sounds of speech in the Arabic language and the styles of reciting Qur’an, the Islamic holy book. We will examine the legality of music listening in Islamic societies and the musical practices of religious, ethnic, and racial minority groups, including Jews, Christians, Sub-Saharan Africans, and indigenous peoples. We will also discuss contemporary conflicts surrounding sounds associated with Islam in Europe and North America, questions of gender and class, and the use of music for political protest.

Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Colwell