American Music Ethnography

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

In this dynamic seminar, you’ll discover the variety of America’s musical landscapes by exploring music and culture, immersing yourself in ethnographies, uncovering untold stories, and creating your own sonic narrative. We will engage how music relates to broader social, political, and cultural issues through careful reading and critical discussion of book-length ethnography. We will examine how ethnographers study American musical cultures by evaluating each book’s questions, methods, theories, and technical elements, such as prose style and organization. The subjects of these books range from art to folk to popular to underground music. An emphasis on recently published works will introduce current issues and topics in the field. Students will work on their own ethnographic projects throughout the semester, conducting interviews, making field recordings, attending performances, and possibly even learning musical traditions.