Musicality and Meritocracy

Undergraduate

Meritocracy, the notion that educational and social opportunities should be distributed hierarchically according to aptitude and effort, has long occupied a paradoxical place in American popular and scholarly discourse. Despite abundant evidence that this system is neither as socially just nor as achievable as it might seem, meritocracy has endured as one of America’s most defining ideals—and the prevailing logic by which we produce and justify inequalities. Why is this the case? What might we learn by inspecting the space between the meritocratic dream and the real-world systems of exclusion it has inspired? This course takes up musical case studies as a rich opportunity to investigate meritocracy’s mechanics and effects. We analyze how beliefs and evaluations of innate musicality and personal merit influence every facet of musical culture and every stage of musicians’ careers, from children’s first music lessons to conservatory juries, from the most prestigious music competitions to social media users’ cutthroat quest for virality. Across these case studies, we consider how meritocracy’s hierarchical, individualist, competitive logics impact our work and lives as music scholars. How do we decide which musical figures merit further study, which scholarly voices merit consideration and inclusion in the field? How have meritocratic processes and promises shaped our own educational experiences and professional priorities? WR , HU W 1:30pm-3:25pm