Entry requirements

The course is open to students admitted to the faculty Master programme and courses, or to students with a Bachelor's degree.

Learning outcomes

At the conclusion of the course, the student is expected to be able to

- account for different perspectives in cultural theory and aesthetics, and the relevance, compatibility and value of the same in the study of music.

- critically evaluate and discuss theoretical approaches and perspectives from different fields of literature in the humanities, and an ability to independently apply the same to the field of music.

- be able to identify and formulate research questions, in an independent manner, which shed light on different types of musical objects of study, with the aid of different cultural, sociological and aesthetical modes of theory and interpretation.

Content

This course approach music as a cultural phenomenon from anthropological, historical and sociological premises. Different ways to grasp and understand musical processes, activities and practices are elucidated by a rich literature of cultural theories and perspectives, as well as different asthetical and critical positions.

Central perspectives in the course include:

- questions concerning the production of meaning in music by way of language.

- the elucidation and observation of codes for status, politics, power and matters of identity in music.

- theoretical framing of mediated and live music as cultural phenomenon, locally and globally.

- the study of different degrees and varieties of well-founded assumptions, positions, myths and canonizations in music.

Instruction

Lectures and seminars.

Assessment

Written coursework assignments and active participation in seminars.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.