Maria Mendonca

This course is designed to introduce students to the study of Asia and the Middle East within the context of the global humanities. It serves as a sampler, which exposes students to the rich diversity of Asian and Islamicate humanities. The seminar explores a wide range of primary sources from different places and historical periods. These may include such diverse materials as the memoirs of the medieval Muslim traveler Ibn Battuta, "The Analects of Confucius," readings from the "Vedas" and "Upanishads," Farid ud din Attar's "The Conference of the Birds," Kurosawa's "Rashomon," Rabindranath Tagore's "The Home and The World," short fiction from the modern Palestinian author Ghassan Kanafani and examples of contemporary Chinese science fiction. This interdisciplinary course does not count toward the completion of any diversification requirement. Only open to first-year students.

This course introduces students to the discipline that studies and compares cultures. Students learn about the main concepts used in anthropology and how anthropologists conduct research, while also discovering how people live in other times and places. They also learn about theories that provide frameworks for understanding and comparing cultures. Ethnographic descriptions of life in particular places give students factual materials with which to apply and critique such theories. Through this introduction to the study of culture in general, and an exposure to specific cultures, students inevitably come to re-examine some of the premises of their own culture. This foundation course is required for upper-level work in cultural anthropology courses. Offered every semester.

This course investigates the issues, methods and history of the discipline of ethnomusicology. It focuses on case studies drawn from different music genres and areas of the world that illustrate the complexities of considering music in its cultural contexts. Student work involves close listening, engagement with cultural theory and practical fieldwork exercises, culminating in an individual field research project on a topic related to the course. This course is the same as MUSC 206D. It must be taken as ANTH 206D to count toward the social science requirement. It counts toward the ethnomusicology requirement for the music major or elective for the minor and also as an upper-level elective for the anthropology major. Prerequisite: MUSC 102, 105 or 107 or ANTH 113. Offered every three out of four years.

Music is deeply embedded in many forms of individual and cultural identity. This seminar examines the relationship of music to notions of cultural and human rights. Using case studies from a variety of music cultures, we explore topics such as music censorship, music and warfare, music and disability, and music and AIDS awareness. Engaging with literature from ethnomusicology, anthropology and other social sciences, we explore the following questions: What roles do music and related forms of expressive culture play in notions of human rights? Who owns music? Who has the right to transform music? What are the artistic, political and economic reasons for these transformations? What are their implications? What constitutes a cultural-rights violation? What role, if any, should regulatory agencies have with regard to monitoring cultural rights? This course is the same as MUSC 310D. It must be taken as ANTH 310D to count toward the social science requirement. It counts as an elective for the music major and minor. It counts toward the upper-level cultural anthropology requirement for the major. Prerequisite: ANTH 113 or MUSC 102, 105 or 107 and permission of instructor. Offered every other year.

This seminar explores the relationship of music and film, with a focus on ethnographic film and ethnographic filmmaking. How does our understanding of music inform our experience of film? How, in turn, does our immersion in film and its conventions inform our understanding of different music? How are such conventions localized and expanded in different cultural settings? How does ethnographic film both react against and make use of other stylistic conventions of filmmaking in achieving its ends? Practical exercises in ethnographic filmmaking (and analysis) during the semester lead toward ethnographic, historical or analytical projects. This counts as an elective for the music major and minor. It counts toward the upper-level cultural anthropology requirement for the major. This course is the same as MUSC 312D. It must be taken as ANTH 312D to count toward the social science requirement. Prerequisite: MUSC 102, 105 or 107 or ANTH 113. Offered every other year.

The department reserves individual study for those students who are unusually motivated in an area of the field and who we believe are responsible enough to handle the challenge of working independently. Such courses might be research-oriented (e.g., students returning from off-campus study programs with data) but are more commonly reading-oriented courses allowing students to explore in greater depth topics that interest them or that overlap with their major course of study. To arrange for individual study, a student should consult with a faculty member during the semester before the independent work is to be undertaken. The individual-study course may be designed exclusively by the faculty member or it may be designed in consultation with the student. For reading courses, a bibliography is created and the student reads those works, meeting periodically (weekly or bi-weekly) with the faculty member to discuss them. Faculty directing the individual study will set the terms of course evaluation, which typically involve either a research paper or an extensive annotated bibliography with a short explanatory essay tying the entries together and situating the debates that they represent. Another option is for the student to write one- to two-page assessments of each book or reading at intervals throughout the semester. The faculty member comments on these assessments and may request periodic reassessments. The course culminates with a synthetic paper that pulls together all the readings. Because students must enroll for individual studies by the end of the seventh class day of each semester, they should begin discussion of the proposed individual study preferably the semester before, so that there is time to devise the proposal and seek the departmental approval before the established deadline. This course can count toward the major or minor.

This course is an investigation of the issues, methods and history of the discipline of ethnomusicology. This course focuses on case studies drawn from different music genres and areas of the world that illustrate the complexities of considering music in its cultural contexts. Student work involves close listening, engagement with cultural theory and practical fieldwork exercises, and culminates in an individual field research project on a topic related to the course. This course is the same as ANTH 206D. It must be taken as MUSC 206D to count toward the fine art requirement. This counts toward the ethnomusicology requirement for the music major or elective for the minor and also as an upper-level elective for the anthropology major. Prerequisite: MUSC 102, 105 or 107 or ANTH 113. Offered every three out of four years.

Music is deeply embedded in many forms of individual and cultural identity. This upper-level seminar examines the relationship of music to notions of cultural rights and human rights. Using case studies from a variety of music cultures, we explore topics such as music censorship, music and warfare, music and disability, and music and AIDS awareness, among others. Engaging with literature from ethnomusicology, anthropology and other social sciences, we explore the following questions: What roles do music and related forms of expressive culture play in notions of human rights? Who owns music? Who has the right to transform music? What are the artistic, political and economic reasons for these transformations? What are their implications? What constitutes a cultural-rights violation? What role, if any, should regulatory agencies have with regard to monitoring cultural rights? This course is the same as ANTH 310D. It must be taken as MUSC 310D to count toward the fine arts requirement. This counts as an elective for the major and minor. Prerequisite: ANTH 113 or MUSC 102, 105 or 107 and permission of instructor.

This seminar explores the relationship of music and film, with a focus on ethnographic film and ethnographic film-making. How does our understanding of music inform our experience of film? How, in turn, does our immersion in film and its conventions inform our understanding of different music? How are such conventions localized and expanded in different cultural settings? How does ethnographic film both react against, and make use of, other stylistic conventions of film-making in achieving its ends? Practical exercises in ethnographic film-making (and their analysis) during the semester lead toward ethnographic, historical or analytical projects. This course is the same as ANTH 312D. It must be taken as MUSC 312D to count towards the fine arts requirement. This counts as an elective for the major and minor. Prerequisite: MUSC 102, 105 or 107 or ANTH 113.

This course provides study of the music of the Sundanese gamelan degung, a traditional ensemble incorporating different types of tuned bronze percussion, drums, flutes and vocals. Students are introduced to basic and advanced instrumental techniques for several individual gamelan instruments and receive coaching in musicianship and ensemble skills. A variety of repertories is covered. Each semester culminates in one public performance. No musical experience is required. This course can be used to satisfy diversification requirements in anthropology as well as music. This is not a yearlong course, and registration is required each semester. Permission of instructor required. No prerequisite.

Individual study is available to junior or senior music majors wishing to explore, with a music department faculty member, a topic not normally offered in the curriculum. The student proposes the topic to the faculty member, who then brings the proposal before the department for approval. The department discusses the feasibility of any proposal. Individual studies supplement the music curriculum and may not be used to satisfy major requirements. Individual studies earn either 0.25 or 0.5 units. After identifying a faculty member willing to oversee the individual study, the student should work with that professor to develop a short (one-page) proposal to be shared with the department for approval. The proposal should articulate the nature of the proposed study; present planned readings, assignments and other work; and describe how or what in the proposed study will be assessed at the end of the semester. Meeting schedules may vary, but at a minimum the department expects that students will meet once per week with the faculty member. Because students must enroll for individual studies by the end of the seventh class day of each semester, they should begin discussion of the proposed individual study by the semester before, so that there is time to devise the proposal and seek departmental approval.