Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE ANT1010

 
TITLE Introduction to the Anthropology of Music and Dance

 
UM LEVEL 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL 5

 
ECTS CREDITS 2

 
DEPARTMENT Anthropological Sciences

 
DESCRIPTION This study-unit will introduce students the the anthropological study of musical worlds (including ethnomusicology and dance). Music and Dance have long been a topic of anthropological interest. In this study-unit we will try and look at some of the basic questions posed in the discipline. Through a select number of case studies we will also seek to contextualise musical worlds in relation to their social function connecting cultural traditions (new and old) with social praxis.

Study-Unit Aims:

This study-unit aims to:

- Develop a solid grasp of the social dimension to music and dance;
- Develop a comparative ethnographic knowledge of the different functions and forms of dance and music across the world.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- Recognise the social function of music and dance;
- Analyse the inter-relationship between form and function in music;
- Quote some of the basic texts and apply several theoretical approaches in ethnomusicology and the anthropological study of music and dance.

2. Skills:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- Conduct limited ethnographic fieldwork in the study of musical worlds;
- Have improved their time management in addressing assessment tasks.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

- Nettl, Bruno. 2006. The Study of Ethnomusicology: Thirty-one Issues and Concepts. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
- Rice, Timothy. 2014. Ethnomusicology: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Stock, Jonathan. 1996. World Sound Matters. London: Schott Educational Publications.
- Washabagugh, W. (ed.) (1998) The Passion of Music and Dance: Body, Gender and Sexuality. Bloomsbury Academic.
- Dridd, W. (2004) Anthropology and the Dance. University of Illinois Press.

 
ADDITIONAL NOTES Please note that due to similarity in content students should not enroll in this study-unit and MSP2164

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture and Fieldwork

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Fieldwork No 30%
Assignment Yes 70%

 
LECTURER/S Jean-Paul Baldacchino
Philip Ciantar
Michael Pio Deguara
Ranier Fsadni

 

 
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The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit