MUSC 350 - North America, Race and Roots Musics (4)

Explores the many so-called “roots musics” of North America. It also serves as an introduction to basic concepts of ethnomusicology—the study of the interactive relationship between musical and cultural practices. The concept of race as an analytical, expressive, and interpretive, and analytical cultural category is foregrounded. Case studies in Native American vocal and instrumental performance and in Mexican border balladry illustrate the establishment and contestation of racial identity and activism. In Appalachian musical traditions, the dynamic genre called “the Blues” will explore the concept of the “invention of tradition” in all its cultural, historical and political complexity. A sustained ethnographic project will engage a living musical community in the local Western North Carolina region. Odd years Spring.