SEMESTER AT SEA COURSE SYLLABUS University of Virginia, Academic Sponsor Voyage: Fall 2014 Discipline: Music MUSI 2570-102: Music Cultures: Musical Performance in Africa and the Afro-Atlantic Lower Division Faculty Name: Professor Michelle Kisliuk Credit Hours: 3; Contact Hours: 38 Pre-requisites: None (no formal musical experience is required, although a sense of musicality is preferred). Some background in humanities/arts and/or social sciences is advised. COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course explores musical performance in Africa (especially Ghana, Senegal, the Central African Republic, and Morocco) and the African Atlantic (especially Brazil and Cuba) through reading, discussion, audio and video examples, and significant hands-on practice in music and dance. We will learn about African and diasporic music/dance styles (and their historical interconnections because of the trans-atlantic slave trade), their sociomusical circumstances and processes, as well as performed resistances and responses to the colonial and post/neo-colonial encounter. In addition, we will address the politics and processes involved in translating performance practices from one cultural context to another (we will consider the secret African cities in several of our European ports of call, including France, Spain, and Portugal), as well as some issues raised by tourist productions (especially in Brazil and Cuba, and also Barbados). Each student's personal relationship to the material/experience will be integrated into study and shared in discussion. Our major field lab (drumming and dancing workshop and performance) will take place in Ghana (port of Tema), and much of our practical work in class will be focused on preparing for this lab by learning Ghanaian (Ewe) drumming, dancing, and singing. Readings, discussions, and written work will focus heavily on topics and issues related to the main music/dance traditions that we are learning to perform, as well as others we are likely to encounter in ports of call, though we may venture beyond those areas from time to time. The course will explore both "traditional" and "popular" styles, leading us to question those categories. There will be several writing assignments, including ongoing responses to readings and field experiences, a miniautobiography, a field lab response essay, and a final paper addressing in-depth an aspect (chosen by each student) of the course material/field lab, and/or other field experiences (approx. 7-10 pages -- and including a 2-page oral presentation version of this material). COURSE OBJECTIVES: In-depth exposure to African and Afro-Atlantic performance practices through hands-on experience and through reading, viewing/listening, and discussion. Consideration of issues including the interrelationship of aesthetics and politics in particular cultural contexts (and in particular ports of call) will be integrated throughout the course. 1
REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS AUTHOR: John Miller Chernoff TITLE: African Rhythm and African Sensibility PUBLISHER: Chicago ISBN #: 0-226-10345-5 (paper) DATE/EDITION: 1979 AUTHOR: Barbara Browning TITLE: Samba: Resistance in Motion PUBLISHER: Indiana ISBN #: 0-25320956-0 (paper) DATE/EDITION: 1995 AUTHOR: Ketherine Hagedorn TITLE: Divine Utterances: The Performance of Afro-Cuban Santeria PUBLISHER: Smithsonian ISBN #: 978-156098947 (paper) DATE/EDITION: 1995 TOPICAL OUTLINE OF COURSE NOTE THIS CALENDAR WILL BE REVISED AS WE GO ALONG<-- AND ELECTRONIC RESERVE READINGS WILL BE ADDED and/or MOVED AS WE GO Depart Southampton- August 23: A1- August 25: Introduction Overview of course topics, assignments, and approach, getting to know one another Practicum: Introduction to Ewe drumming, singing, and dancing View: Listening to the Silence in class (15 mins) Read for next class: Stone, Profile of Africa in Garland Handbook of African Music (electronic reserve) pp. 2-13 And Chernoff: Preface and Introduction: Scholarship and Participation in African Rhythm and African Sensibility A2-August 27: Ghana: Ewe social and musical aesthetics Discussion and practicum Read for next class: Chernoff, Chapter 1: The Study of Music in Africa and Russia and Race: Being African in St Petersburg electronic reserve (1 pg) Question to ponder while in port: what kinds of diversity or lack thereof do you notice in this city. Might there be hidden diversities that are not at first apparent? 2
African Restaurant in St. Petersberg: Zhukovskogo St, House 57, St. Petersburg, Russia St. Petersburg: August 29- September 2 A3- September 3: Ghana/Ewe continued Discussion of Chernoff (and Africans in diaspora) and continuation of practicum in drumming/singing/dancing. Prepare mini-autobiography for next class Read Wiki on Afro Germans (electronic reserve) Gdansk Poland: September 5-7 Rostok Germany Sept 8-9 A4- September 10: Share mini autobios Continue with practicum Read for next class: Chernoff, Chapters Two: and Three: Music in Africa and Style in Africa A5- September 12: Ghana continued Discussion of Chernoff Practicum Film: Le Havre dir. Aki Kaurismäki Readblog: An African in Antwerp: http://juskosave.blogspot.com/2008/12/african-in-antwerp-residents-story.html (on electronic reserve) Mata Mata and Pili Pili Hoogstraat 44, Antwerp 2000, Belgium Antwerp: September 14-16 Le Havre: September 17-19 A6-September 20: Ghana continued Discussion and practicum For next class finish Chernofff (Chapter 4 Values in Africa ) 3
A7- September 22: Chernoff reading collage Practicum http://www.yale.edu/glc/tangledroots/barbadosed.htm Recommended: 3sixty5 Restaurant Dublin (Friday night!) 15/16 Sampson Lane Off Moore Street Dublin 1 Dublin: September 24-27 A8- September 28: Read: Locke: Drum Gahu part 1 (electronic reserve) Practicum A9- September 30: http://www.torontosun.com/travel/international/2008/08/31/6622766-sun.html Lisbon: October 1-2 In transit: October 3 Cadiz: October 4-5 A10- October 7: Kapchan, selections from Traveling Spirit Masters Casablanca: October 8-11 A11-October 13: Senegal Read: Selections from Patricia Tang Masters of the Sabar A12- October 15: Senegalese hip-hop Dakar: October 16-19 A13- October 21: - October 29: Intensive practicum in Ewe Drumming, dancing, singing in preparation for field lab. Read for next class: Locke, Drum Gahu pp 4
A14- October 23: Intensive practicum in Ewe Drumming, dancing, and singing Takoradi: October 25-26 Tema: October 27-28 FIELD STUDY DAY A15 Response to and evaluation of field lab 3-4 pages of written response to field experience due next class. Be sure to integrate/contrast with ideas from class and readings. Ghana quiz: Information and practicum Introduction to Brazil Begin Browning, Samba (pages tba) A16- October 31: Continue readimg Browning, Samba Study Day: November 2 A17-November 3: Continue readimg Browning, Samba A18- November 5: Finish Browning, Samba Rio de Janeiro: November 7-9 In-transit: November 10-11 Salvador: November 12-14 A19- November 15: Brazil quiz and Intro Cuba Read for next class Hagedorn Introduction and Chapter 1 A20- November 17: Discuss Hagedorn For next class Hagedorn Chapters 2 and 3 Study Day: November 19 A21-November 20: 5
Discuss Hagedorn, integrate info on Barbados Hagedorn, Chapter 4 Practicum Bridgetown: November 22-24 A22-November 25: Barbados discussion, Practicum (BaAka music) Complete Hagedorn for next class A23- November 27: Overview of Cuban popular musics Selections from Robin Moore Havana: November 29- December 2: Study Day- December 3 A24-December 4 (A Day Finals): Oral presentations of final projects. 6
FIELD WORK Field lab attendance is mandatory for all students enrolled in this course. Please do not book individual travel plans or a Semester at Sea sponsored trip on the day of our field lab. The field lab for this course will be in Tema, Ghana on Tuesday, 28 October. This will be an intensive ewe drumming/dancing/singing master class and performance event with master drummer Emmanual Agbeli of the Dagbe Cultural Center in Kopeia, Ghana. Ewe Drumming, Dancing, Singing: Intensive Workshop and Evening Ceremony/Performance Emmanuel Agbeli will lead students in an intensive training workshop in Ewe drumming, dancing, and singing (for which the class will prepare during the voyage). Emmanuel directs the Dagbe Cultural Institute in Volta Region, Ghana, and is a world class teacher of Ewe traditions, from a family of famous drummers and dancers. Dinner will be local Ghanain food. In the evening we will attend a traditional event or ceremony that includes Ewe drumming, dancing, and singing. Academic Objectives: 1. Intensive first-hand experience in African learning context 2. Intensive first-hand experience in African performance context 3. Intense interaction with local cultural experts and members of community in the context of traditional culture You will keep a field journal throughout the voyage, and integrate into your weekly reading response a related response to your field experience in each port, including explorations of secret African cities. Each response/resport will be graded on a three-point scale ( 3 = outstanding, 2 = adequate, 1= handed in something but inadequate 0 = not handed in). METHODS OF EVALUATION / GRADING RUBRIC Ensemble learning and overall participation %35 (this refers to quality of attention during practicum labs as well as success in learning rhythms, movements and songs). Attendance at all class meetings/practica is mandatory. Term project %30 All other written assignments including reading/field journal %35 Essays. Typed/printout double spaced. Be sure to edit/refine and proofread all essays. 7
RESERVE LIBRARY LIST AUTHOR: Patricia Tang TITLE: Masters of the Sabar PUBLISHER: Temple ISBN #: 978-1-59213-420-5 DATE/EDITION: 200 ELECTRONIC COURSE MATERIALS Podcasts: Afropop Worldwide (PRI) Many readings currently on UVA Collab will be provided by instructor. AUTHOR: HONOR CODE Semester at Sea students enroll in an academic program administered by the University of Virginia, and thus bind themselves to the University s honor code. The code prohibits all acts of lying, cheating, and stealing. Please consult the Voyager s Handbook for further explanation of what constitutes an honor offense. Each written assignment for this course must be pledged by the student as follows: On my honor as a student, I pledge that I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment. The pledge must be signed, or, in the case of an electronic file, signed [signed]. 8