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COURSE SCHEDULE
WEEK 1
August 18
Introduction and overview
August 20
Manuel, Peter. "Introduction: The Caribbean Crucible." In Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae. 1-18. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2006.
Discuss: Who are you (name, major, year at UM)? Where were you born and raised? What types of music formed the soundtrack of your youth? What styles of music do you most enjoy now, and why? Which forms of music are you least fond of? What is the primary way you engage with music (perform, compose, engineer, teach, etc.)? Is there anything else you'd like us to know about you?
WEEK 2
August 25
Nettl, Bruno. 2005 [1983]. Ch. 2, “The Art of Combining Tones: The Music Concept,” pp. 16–26, in The Study of Ethnomusicology: Thirty-one Issues and Concepts, Urbana and Chicago: Univ. of Illinois Press.
August 27
Mintz, Sidney and Richard Price, "The Birth of African-American Societies" and “Retentions and Survivals,” pp. 42-60. In The Birth of African American Civilization: An Anthropological Perspective. Boston: Beacon Press, 1976 [1992].
Discuss: Describe at least one issue we've explored thus far this semester and how you think it might help you deepen your understanding of Caribbean music and culture. For example, you could talk about the meaning of "ethnomusicology" as an approach to studying Caribbean music. Or you might discuss the work of Melville Herskovits and why it has been influential. Another option would be to ponder the label "Caribbean music" itself and what some of the debates might be concerning its definition. Or you may choose some other topic/issue you find noteworthy.
WEEK 3
September 1
Ramm, Benjamin. 2017. “The Subversive Power of Calypso Music.” October 11, 2017.
Dudley, Shannon. 2004. “The Man of Words” and “Calypso in the Tent and on the Road,” chapters 2 and 3, pp. 23-52 In Carnival Music in Trinidad: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. Oxford University Press, 2004.
September 3 - Bailey Grogan
Dudley, Shannon. “Dropping the Bomb: Steelband Performance and Meaning in 1960s Trinidad” Ethnomusicology 46, no. 1 (2002): 135-64.
Discuss: In Shannon Dudley's 2004 article, he explains how the experience, style, and function of music changes according to the "performance context" (37) in which it occurs. Why is it important to distinguish the "tent" from the "road" in discussions of calypso in Trinidad and Tobago? To what extent are such distinctions relevant to other musical practices of which you are familiar? How does this topic relate to Thomas Turino's four fields of musical practice?
WEEK 4
September 8
Potter, Amy E. “Voodoo, Zombies, and Mermaids: U.S. Newspaper Coverage of Haiti” Geographical Review, 99, no. 2 (2009), pp. 208-230.
September 10 - Melody Stein
Wilcken, Lois. “The Sacred Music and Dance of Haitian Vodou from Temple to Stage and the Ethics of Representation.” Latin American Perspectives 32, no. 1 (2005): 193-210.
Discuss: What are stereotypes and how do they shape our understanding of Caribbean music? What historical, social, and/or political factors have fueled stereotypes about Haiti and its culture? How would you characterize the relation between your own perceptions of music and your perceptions of the people who create it?
WEEK 5
September 15 - Amy Miller
Averill, Gage. 1994 “Anraje to Angaje: Carnival Politics and Music in Haiti.” Ethnomusicology 38(2):217-247.
September 17
Eldridge, Lauren. “(Re)membering Haiti through Mizik Klasik.” Journal of Haitian Studies, Vol. 21, No. 1 (2015), pp. 186-194.
Recommended - Marti Ann Moreland
McAlister, Elizabeth, "Love, Sex, and Gender Embodied: The Spirits of Haitian Vodou" (2000). Division II Faculty Publications. Paper 14.
Lipsitz, George. “Kalfou Danjere” pp. 3-21 in Dangerous Crossroads: Popular Music, Post- modernism and the Poetics of Place. New York: Verso, 1994.
Discuss: Lauren Eldridge and Gage Averill explore their respective genres of Haitian music from distinct, but perhaps overlapping, perspectives. Eldridge (2015) delves into some of the sociohistorical tensions surrounding expressions of cultural identity through mizik klasik. Averill (1994) focuses on the music of Haitian Carnival and its potential to serve as a vehicle for popular resistance. What connections can you draw between these two articles? More specifically, how does the notion of "intentionally discarded knowledge" (Eldridge, 187) relate to the efforts of some Haitians to "limit symbolic expression and contain popular discontent" (Averill, 244)?
WEEK 6
September 22
Butler, Melvin L. "The Weapons of Our Warfare: Music, Positionality, and Transcendence Among Haitian Pentecostals" Caribbean Studies 36, no. 2 (2008): 23-64.
September 24
Finish Butler (2008)
Recommended - Marcus Grant
Butler, Melvin L. "Haitian Djaz Diplomacy and the Cultural Politics of Musical Collaboration." In Music and Diplomacy from the Early Modern Era to the Present, edited by Rebekah Ahrendt, Mark Ferraguto, and Damien Mahiet, 209-29. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.
McAlister, Elizabeth. “Listening for Geographies: Music as Sonic Compass Pointing towards African and Christian Diasporic Horizons in the Caribbean.” Black Music Research Journal 32, no. 2 (2012): 25-50.
Discuss: What do you find most intriguing, surprising, enlightening, or problematic about Melvin L. Butler's 2008 article, "The Weapons of Our Warfare"? If Butler were to expand this article into a book, which aspects of the topic do you think are most fascinating and merit further elaboration?
WEEK 7
September 29 - Mitso Floor
Guilbault, Jocelyne. "Zouk and the Isles of the Caribes," (3-19); "Zouk as a World Music in the Lesser Antilles." (200-210) In Zouk: World Music in the West Indies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.
October 1 - Haoran Li
Recommended
Berrian, Brenda F. "Creole, Zouk, and Identity in Kassav's Optimistic Songs." (37-68) In Awakening Spaces: French Caribbean Popular Songs, Music, and Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.
Discuss: Jocelyne Guilbault (1993, 201) asks, "How...did zouk, initially almost exclusively ssociated locally with youth, become institutionalized, in the French Antilles in particular, as an element of national identity?" Please address this question and connect it to the author's subsequent assertion that zouk has "raised many fears in the islands" (202).
WEEK 8
October 6 - Alvin Phan
Manuel, Peter. "Jamaica," [with Kenneth Bilby] In Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae. 177-215. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2006
October 8 - Patrick Anderson
Manuel, Peter and Wayne Marshall. “The Riddim Method: Aesthetics, Practice, and Ownership in Jamaican Dancehall” Popular Music 25:3 (2006): 447-470.
****Proposal for Final Project - DUE on OCT. 8 at 11:59****
Discuss: How do you think digital technologies (specifically, but perhaps not exclusively, the riddim method) challenge conventional ideas about what it means to "own" a musical composition or recording? What does the future look like (in your view) in terms of how music will be created, consumed, and commercialized in the digital / global marketplace?
WEEK 9
October 13 - Melanie Ferrabone
Hope, Donna P. "Defining the Dancehall," pp. 25-35. In Inna Di Dancehall: Popular Culture And the Politics of Identity in Jamaica. University of West Indies Press, 2006.
October 15 - NO CLASS
Butler, Melvin L. “Playing with Fire: Dancehall, Gospel Reggae and the Cultural Politics of Performance in Jamaica.” Journal of Religion and Popular Culture (being revised for publication).
Discuss: What do you make of the debates concerning the role of women and men in Jamaican dancehall? More specifically, do you see this genre as exploitaive? Or empowering? Why or why not?
WEEK 10
October 20 - Simone Monroe
Butler, Melvin L. “Playing with Fire: Dancehall, Gospel Reggae and the Cultural Politics of Performance in Jamaica.” Journal of Religion and Popular Culture (being revised for publication).
October 22 - NO CLASS
Butler, Melvin L. Island Gospel: Pentecostal Music and Identity in Jamaica and the United States. University of Illinois Press, 2019. [chapter(s) TBD]
OPTIONAL: Discuss: The floor is open for general reactions to Melvin L. Butler's 2019 book.
WEEK 11
October 27 - Gabriella Martinez & João Felipe da Fraga
Solís, Ted. "You Shake Your Hips Too Much": Diasporic Values and Hawai'i Puerto Rican Dance Culture. Ethnomusicology 49, no. 1 (2005): 75-119.
October 29 - Rosangel Perez
Baker, Jessica. "Black Like Me: Caribbean Tourism and the St. Kitts Music Festival" Ethnomusicology, 60, No. 2 (2016): 263-278
Discuss: What are some pros and cons of tourism and/or foreign investment on the musical development of "island" nations? How might we tie this discussion to debates concerning cultural authenticity?
WEEK 12
November 3
Rivera, Mareia Quintero. Book Review: Merengue: Dominican Music and Dominican Identity by Paul Austerlitz. The World of Music 42, no. 2 (2000): 153-56.
November 5 - Logan Larson
Butler, Melvin L. Recording Review: Water Prayers for Bass Clarinet,The Vodou Horn: Asakivle Meets Austerlitz, and Dr. Merengue by Paul Austerlitz. Ethnomusicology, Fall 2020, Vol. 64, No. 3, p. 553.
Austerlitz, Paul. Marasa Twa: Vodou-Jazz-Merengue (CD Trilogy), 2019
Discuss: The floor is open for general responses to this week's topics.
WEEK 13
November 10
Grad student transcription presentations: Melanie F., Joao F.; Simone M.
November 12
Grad student transcription presentations: Jason C., Rosie P.; Marcus G., Haoran Li
WEEK 14
November 17
Grad student transcription presentations: Bailey G., Marti M., Gabriella M.; Mitso F.
November 19
Grad student transcription presentations: Logan L.; Amy M.; Melody S.; Alvin P.
COURSE SCHEDULE
WEEK 1
August 18
Introduction and overview
August 20
Manuel, Peter. "Introduction: The Caribbean Crucible." In Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae. 1-18. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2006.
Discuss: Who are you (name, major, year at UM)? Where were you born and raised? What types of music formed the soundtrack of your youth? What styles of music do you most enjoy now, and why? Which forms of music are you least fond of? What is the primary way you engage with music (perform, compose, engineer, teach, etc.)? Is there anything else you'd like us to know about you?
WEEK 2
August 25
Nettl, Bruno. 2005 [1983]. Ch. 2, “The Art of Combining Tones: The Music Concept,” pp. 16–26, in The Study of Ethnomusicology: Thirty-one Issues and Concepts, Urbana and Chicago: Univ. of Illinois Press.
August 27
Mintz, Sidney and Richard Price, "The Birth of African-American Societies" and “Retentions and Survivals,” pp. 42-60. In The Birth of African American Civilization: An Anthropological Perspective. Boston: Beacon Press, 1976 [1992].
Discuss: Describe at least one issue we've explored thus far this semester and how you think it might help you deepen your understanding of Caribbean music and culture. For example, you could talk about the meaning of "ethnomusicology" as an approach to studying Caribbean music. Or you might discuss the work of Melville Herskovits and why it has been influential. Another option would be to ponder the label "Caribbean music" itself and what some of the debates might be concerning its definition. Or you may choose some other topic/issue you find noteworthy.
WEEK 3
September 1
Ramm, Benjamin. 2017. “The Subversive Power of Calypso Music.” October 11, 2017.
Dudley, Shannon. 2004. “The Man of Words” and “Calypso in the Tent and on the Road,” chapters 2 and 3, pp. 23-52 In Carnival Music in Trinidad: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. Oxford University Press, 2004.
September 3 - Bailey Grogan
Dudley, Shannon. “Dropping the Bomb: Steelband Performance and Meaning in 1960s Trinidad” Ethnomusicology 46, no. 1 (2002): 135-64.
Discuss: In Shannon Dudley's 2004 article, he explains how the experience, style, and function of music changes according to the "performance context" (37) in which it occurs. Why is it important to distinguish the "tent" from the "road" in discussions of calypso in Trinidad and Tobago? To what extent are such distinctions relevant to other musical practices of which you are familiar? How does this topic relate to Thomas Turino's four fields of musical practice?
WEEK 4
September 8
Potter, Amy E. “Voodoo, Zombies, and Mermaids: U.S. Newspaper Coverage of Haiti” Geographical Review, 99, no. 2 (2009), pp. 208-230.
September 10 - Melody Stein
Wilcken, Lois. “The Sacred Music and Dance of Haitian Vodou from Temple to Stage and the Ethics of Representation.” Latin American Perspectives 32, no. 1 (2005): 193-210.
Discuss: What are stereotypes and how do they shape our understanding of Caribbean music? What historical, social, and/or political factors have fueled stereotypes about Haiti and its culture? How would you characterize the relation between your own perceptions of music and your perceptions of the people who create it?
WEEK 5
September 15 - Amy Miller
Averill, Gage. 1994 “Anraje to Angaje: Carnival Politics and Music in Haiti.” Ethnomusicology 38(2):217-247.
September 17
Eldridge, Lauren. “(Re)membering Haiti through Mizik Klasik.” Journal of Haitian Studies, Vol. 21, No. 1 (2015), pp. 186-194.
Recommended - Marti Ann Moreland
McAlister, Elizabeth, "Love, Sex, and Gender Embodied: The Spirits of Haitian Vodou" (2000). Division II Faculty Publications. Paper 14.
Lipsitz, George. “Kalfou Danjere” pp. 3-21 in Dangerous Crossroads: Popular Music, Post- modernism and the Poetics of Place. New York: Verso, 1994.
Discuss: Lauren Eldridge and Gage Averill explore their respective genres of Haitian music from distinct, but perhaps overlapping, perspectives. Eldridge (2015) delves into some of the sociohistorical tensions surrounding expressions of cultural identity through mizik klasik. Averill (1994) focuses on the music of Haitian Carnival and its potential to serve as a vehicle for popular resistance. What connections can you draw between these two articles? More specifically, how does the notion of "intentionally discarded knowledge" (Eldridge, 187) relate to the efforts of some Haitians to "limit symbolic expression and contain popular discontent" (Averill, 244)?
WEEK 6
September 22
Butler, Melvin L. "The Weapons of Our Warfare: Music, Positionality, and Transcendence Among Haitian Pentecostals" Caribbean Studies 36, no. 2 (2008): 23-64.
September 24
Finish Butler (2008)
Recommended - Marcus Grant
Butler, Melvin L. "Haitian Djaz Diplomacy and the Cultural Politics of Musical Collaboration." In Music and Diplomacy from the Early Modern Era to the Present, edited by Rebekah Ahrendt, Mark Ferraguto, and Damien Mahiet, 209-29. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.
McAlister, Elizabeth. “Listening for Geographies: Music as Sonic Compass Pointing towards African and Christian Diasporic Horizons in the Caribbean.” Black Music Research Journal 32, no. 2 (2012): 25-50.
Discuss: What do you find most intriguing, surprising, enlightening, or problematic about Melvin L. Butler's 2008 article, "The Weapons of Our Warfare"? If Butler were to expand this article into a book, which aspects of the topic do you think are most fascinating and merit further elaboration?
WEEK 7
September 29 - Mitso Floor
Guilbault, Jocelyne. "Zouk and the Isles of the Caribes," (3-19); "Zouk as a World Music in the Lesser Antilles." (200-210) In Zouk: World Music in the West Indies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.
October 1 - Haoran Li
Recommended
Berrian, Brenda F. "Creole, Zouk, and Identity in Kassav's Optimistic Songs." (37-68) In Awakening Spaces: French Caribbean Popular Songs, Music, and Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.
Discuss: Jocelyne Guilbault (1993, 201) asks, "How...did zouk, initially almost exclusively ssociated locally with youth, become institutionalized, in the French Antilles in particular, as an element of national identity?" Please address this question and connect it to the author's subsequent assertion that zouk has "raised many fears in the islands" (202).
WEEK 8
October 6 - Alvin Phan
Manuel, Peter. "Jamaica," [with Kenneth Bilby] In Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae. 177-215. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2006
October 8 - Patrick Anderson
Manuel, Peter and Wayne Marshall. “The Riddim Method: Aesthetics, Practice, and Ownership in Jamaican Dancehall” Popular Music 25:3 (2006): 447-470.
****Proposal for Final Project - DUE on OCT. 8 at 11:59****
Discuss: How do you think digital technologies (specifically, but perhaps not exclusively, the riddim method) challenge conventional ideas about what it means to "own" a musical composition or recording? What does the future look like (in your view) in terms of how music will be created, consumed, and commercialized in the digital / global marketplace?
WEEK 9
October 13 - Melanie Ferrabone
Hope, Donna P. "Defining the Dancehall," pp. 25-35. In Inna Di Dancehall: Popular Culture And the Politics of Identity in Jamaica. University of West Indies Press, 2006.
October 15 - NO CLASS
Butler, Melvin L. “Playing with Fire: Dancehall, Gospel Reggae and the Cultural Politics of Performance in Jamaica.” Journal of Religion and Popular Culture (being revised for publication).
Discuss: What do you make of the debates concerning the role of women and men in Jamaican dancehall? More specifically, do you see this genre as exploitaive? Or empowering? Why or why not?
WEEK 10
October 20 - Simone Monroe
Butler, Melvin L. “Playing with Fire: Dancehall, Gospel Reggae and the Cultural Politics of Performance in Jamaica.” Journal of Religion and Popular Culture (being revised for publication).
October 22 - NO CLASS
Butler, Melvin L. Island Gospel: Pentecostal Music and Identity in Jamaica and the United States. University of Illinois Press, 2019. [chapter(s) TBD]
OPTIONAL: Discuss: The floor is open for general reactions to Melvin L. Butler's 2019 book.
WEEK 11
October 27 - Gabriella Martinez & João Felipe da Fraga
Solís, Ted. "You Shake Your Hips Too Much": Diasporic Values and Hawai'i Puerto Rican Dance Culture. Ethnomusicology 49, no. 1 (2005): 75-119.
October 29 - Rosangel Perez
Baker, Jessica. "Black Like Me: Caribbean Tourism and the St. Kitts Music Festival" Ethnomusicology, 60, No. 2 (2016): 263-278
Discuss: What are some pros and cons of tourism and/or foreign investment on the musical development of "island" nations? How might we tie this discussion to debates concerning cultural authenticity?
WEEK 12
November 3
Rivera, Mareia Quintero. Book Review: Merengue: Dominican Music and Dominican Identity by Paul Austerlitz. The World of Music 42, no. 2 (2000): 153-56.
November 5 - Logan Larson
Butler, Melvin L. Recording Review: Water Prayers for Bass Clarinet,The Vodou Horn: Asakivle Meets Austerlitz, and Dr. Merengue by Paul Austerlitz. Ethnomusicology, Fall 2020, Vol. 64, No. 3, p. 553.
Austerlitz, Paul. Marasa Twa: Vodou-Jazz-Merengue (CD Trilogy), 2019
Discuss: The floor is open for general responses to this week's topics.
WEEK 13
November 10
Grad student transcription presentations: Melanie F., Joao F.; Simone M.
November 12
Grad student transcription presentations: Jason C., Rosie P.; Marcus G., Haoran Li
WEEK 14
November 17
Grad student transcription presentations: Bailey G., Marti M., Gabriella M.; Mitso F.
November 19
Grad student transcription presentations: Logan L.; Amy M.; Melody S.; Alvin P.