Unit name | Readings In Musicology |
---|---|
Unit code | MUSIM0036 |
Credit points | 40 |
Level of study | M/7 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
Unit director | Professor. Fairclough |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
none |
Co-requisites |
none |
School/department | Department of Music |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Readings in Musicology identifies areas of musicological research which demonstrate the chances and challenges of disciplinary self-awareness: key categories of thinking about music, such as autonomy, context, and modernity; the thorny relationship between history and aesthetics; the appropriation of ideas from other disciplines (philosophy, critical theory, literary theory); the discussion of musics or aspects of music ignored or suppressed by traditional musicology (gender, non-Western music, popular and functional music). Such investigations help to understand how and why musicology developed the way it did, the reasons behind and the nature of current debates, and crucially for postgraduate students perspectives on the future of the discipline.
Aims:
Readings in Musicology identifies areas of musicological research which demonstrate the chances and challenges of disciplinary self-awareness: key categories of thinking about music, such as autonomy, context, and modernity; the thorny relationship between history and aesthetics; the appropriation of ideas from other disciplines (philosophy, critical theory, literary theory); the discussion of musics or aspects of music ignored or suppressed by traditional musicology (gender, non-Western music, popular and functional music). Such investigations help to understand how and why musicology developed the way it did, the reasons behind and the nature of current debates, and – crucially for postgraduate students – perspectives on the future of the discipline.
By the end of the unit a successful student will:
(1) demonstrate knowledge and understanding of older as well as recent musicological literature
(2) be able critically to synthesise important recent and current debates in musicology, orally and in writing
(3) be able to apply the critical tools, concepts and vocabularies acquired in the unit independently to topics and questions identified in consultation with the tutors.
Teaching will be delivered through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous sessions, including seminars, tutorials, and self-directed exercises.
Two essays, each 3000 words, on topics explored in class (2x50%, summative) Individual 10-min presentation on a musicological topic (formative).