Home/Vakken/Musical Encounters and Confrontations: Postcolonial Perspectives on Music
MCRMV160025 ECTSQ2EnglishMaster

Musical Encounters and Confrontations: Postcolonial Perspectives on Music

FaculteitFaculty of Humanities
NiveauMaster
Studiejaar2026-2027

Beschrijving

Course goals

After completing the course, the student:
  • can describe how coloniality relates to music studies;
  • can analyze and critically reflect upon music literature related to race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality;
  • can respectfully present critical research perspectives in both oral and written form;
  • can formulate a research question, locate and interpret sources, and assess the significance of research within the context of current postcolonial debates.

Content

This course is mandatory for the RMA Musicology programme and an elective for MA Applied Musicology. The course is open to students from the RMA programmes MAPS, Gender Studies and Comparative Literary Studies. Students from the RMA programmes Art History, Philosophy, Modern and Contemporary History, and Nederlandse literatuur en cultuur should contact the course coordinator for permission before enrolling. Also, students from MA Arts and Society and MA Contemporary Theatre, Dance and Dramaturgy should contact the course coordinator for permission before enrolling. The entrance requirements for Exchange Students will be checked by International Office and the programme coordinator. You do not have to contact the programme coordinator by yourself.

European colonial domination has played a profound role in shaping the identities and cultures of both the colonizers and the colonized. In this seminar, students critically engage with the enduring effects of colonialism on today’s societies and musical cultures. We will explore how various music practices are impacted by and revolt against the power hierarchies constructed and maintained by coloniality. A main point of departure is working out ways of conceptualizing how racial categories are shaped in music and how they intersect with issues of gender, sexuality, ethnicity and disability.

The course critically explores norms and hegemonies that dominate the field of music across time, place, and space. We identify patterns and systems that benefit people privileged by these norms and examine how dominant systems can misrepresent, appropriate and erase music created by historically oppressed groups of people. At the same time, we also discuss music as a space for identity negotiations that offer counternarratives and alternatives to harmful and damaging representations sustained by the legacy of colonialism. Music is not just a side show, but a force that lies at the heart of the politics of difference. Students are encouraged throughout the course to critically reflect on how their own positionality influences their engagement with music.

The ability to read music notation is not required.
 

Additional information

Career orientation:
Training in written and oral presentation of research; peer review.

Reviews0 reviews

Nog geen reviews voor dit vak. Wees de eerste!

Heb jij dit vak gevolgd?

Deel je ervaring met toekomstige studenten. Inloggen met je Universiteit Utrecht mailadres duurt één minuut.

Schrijf een review