College of Music
University of Colorado-Boulder
Seminar in
Musicology
(MUSC 7832-001)
Ethnography
in
Ethnomusicology
Spring 2006
Instructor:
Dr. Kwasi Ampene
Office:
N134
Meeting Time: Weds 4-7pm
Location:
N285
Tel: 303-492-6439
Office Hrs: M 1-2:30pm/Thurs
1-2 or by appointment
E-mail: kwasi.ampene@colorado.edu
Website:
spot.colorado.edu/~ampene
Ethnography
in
Ethnomusicology
Course
Description
Ethnography
of Music
is the
descriptive approach to the study
of music that goes beyond writing down of sounds to the broader issues
of how
sounds are conceived, made, and
appreciated as lived experience. Using a multi-disciplinary approach,
the
seminar shall interrogate different techniques, methodologies, and
ideologies
associated with ethnography by engaging in the three main components of
field
research: 1) Preparation-research design and grantsmanship, 2)
Fieldwork-studying and documenting expressive culture on site, 3)
Ethnography-analytical interpretation or description of the field
experience.
Participants will carry out these three phases of fieldwork throughout
the
semester after choosing a performing group on campus or in the Boulder
and
surrounding communities. Your final project (a seminar paper or
ethnography,
and a separate oral presentation) will be based on your sustained
contact with
and documentation of the performance group. Additional topics include
ethics of
representation and gender issues.
Participants
will also develop practical skills ranging from writing grant proposals
to
using audio-visual recording equipment for data collection. The course
will
benefit from my personal experiences in field research, as well as my
audio-visual materials from the field. Lectures will be supplemented
with, when
possible, guest speakers/artists, and demonstrations.
