グローバル教養科目（Music and Justice）

While music is often touted as a “universal language” and thought of in terms of its positive functions—e.g., tool of aesthetic, spiritual, and/or intellectual expressions; formation of personal identities; building relationships and communities; mobilizing spirits and promoting actions; healing and rehabilitation; enhancing ambience and environment—it also involves various forms of inequity, exclusion, and exploitation in its creation, circulation, and consumption. This course examines the issues of diversity, equity, and inclusivity in musical practice and explores what it means to pursue justice in/through music. Through discussions of key concepts and assigned readings, field observations, and group projects, we will explore such topics as: class, race, and gender in musical practice; ability, productivity, and creativity in music; music and representation; advocacy and activism in/through music.

Through the course, students will:
- learn to think of music as not only as an artistic but also a social practice
- understand various forms of exclusion, marginalization, and exploitation that occurs in musical practice
- learn about examples of advocacy and activism for social justice in/through music
- learn interdisciplinary approaches to the study of music, including American studies, cultural studies, ethnography, ethnomusicology, history, musicology, and sociology
- engage music as an embodied social practice and analytically reflect on the experience