Module Catalogue 2024/25

MUS3038 : Music and Identity in the Caribbean (Inactive)

MUS3038 : Music and Identity in the Caribbean (Inactive)

  • Inactive for Year: 2024/25
  • Module Leader(s): Professor Nanette De Jong
  • Owning School: Arts & Cultures
  • Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Semester 1 Credit Value: 10
Semester 2 Credit Value: 10
ECTS Credits: 10.0
European Credit Transfer System
Pre-requisite

Modules you must have done previously to study this module

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co-Requisite

Modules you need to take at the same time

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

•       To build on existing practical experience of world music
•       To provide a non-pressurised context for learning (i.e. not staking everything on a final performance)

•       To provide complimentary skills and knowledge valuable to students in their future professional careers, e.g. as creative practitioners, or teachers

•       To encourage cultural understanding though practical encounter, and thus …

•       To provide a practical compliment to the academic study of ethnomusicology and world music

•       To enable familiarisation with the specific characteristics of a selection of musical styles and systems across the Caribbean
•       To acquire knowledge and appreciation of the diverse forms of musical expressions found in varied parts of the Caribbean
•       To acquire a further understanding of the importance and relevance of considering music and music-making in relation to their cultural and social contexts
•       To provoke thought and understanding of Caribbean music traditions, including their differences and similarities as well as how (and why) they arise and develop
•       To instil appreciation regarding the ways music and musical participation provide mediums into understanding world cultures in genera
•       To explore the link between music and identity in reference to the Caribbean
•       To explore how colonial politics impact the early developments of cultures and musical societies in the Caribbean
•       To provide a basic understanding of how music can be used as a tool for re-piecing lost or forgotten histories

Outline Of Syllabus

In the Caribbean, a land distinguished by migration and displacement, the concept of nation and identity assumes tremendous importance. Music and Identity in the Caribbean will examine invented and reinvented identities and traditions as celebrated in the music of the Caribbean people, uncovering a Caribbean ethos based on the generation of new myths and revisions of old, with music revealed as primary indicator for both. The general purpose of this course is to introduce students to the scholarly study of traditional, popular, and classical musics from around the Caribbean through in-depth reading, close listening to assigned sound recordings, available online, and performance. The first half of the module is based around lectures and seminars, where students will be introduced to a range of scholarly approaches to the Caribbean, grounded in a number of specific case studies. The second half of the module is based around learning about Caribbean music by ‘doing it.’ Apart from providing a practical introduction to Caribbean music, this second half will also help students develop a range of general musical skills valuable to their existing musical practice(s) – e.g. improved listening, rhythmic and ensemble sense, intonation, ability to improvise. No prior experience of playing in world music ensembles is necessary.

Tuition will take place weekly, and will be supplemented with small sectionals.

Learning Outcomes

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

•       Knowledge and understanding of a range of musical expressions and performance contexts
•       Knowledge and understanding of how musical performance is constructed and enacted in performance
•       Knowledge of a range of terms and concepts essential to specific world music practice
•       Knowledge of key facts about Caribbean music musical learning cultures
•       Knowledge about the wider repertoires in Caribbean music
•       Understanding issues raised in encountering the music of other cultures or music outside usual practice

Intended Skill Outcomes

•       An improved ability to analyse and discuss varying world approaches to music and music-making
•       An ability to critically engage with Caribbean music
•       Improved critical, analytical and self-reflexive skills
•       Improved written and bibliographical skills
•       Advanced research skills
•       Greater skill in assessing and applying ethnomusicological and cultural-theoretical perspectives to the study and the performance of music
•       A basic foundation in practical music performance study
•       Experience of working with others
•       Organisation of self and others
•       Ability to reflect productivity on practical experiences and cultural and musical encounters

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities
Category Activity Number Length Student Hours Comment
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesLecture152:0030:00Seminar-based work on world music performance techniques, transcription, arrangement, composition
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesPractical42:008:00Dress rehearsals (in preparation for performances)
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesPractical152:0030:00Ensemble rehearsals and small group rehearsals
Guided Independent StudyDirected research and reading156:0056:00Wider reading and listening, developing knowledge of source materials
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesPractical45:0020:00Performances (including required sound-checks, setting up stage, taking down stage and performance)
Guided Independent StudySkills practice156:0056:00Private practice
Total200:00
Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Ensemble and sectional teaching provides the core of students’ practical learning. Seminars provide fora in which students learn performance, transcription, arranging and composition skills and exchange ideas on wider issues of interpretation and performance practice.

Lectures provide a forum for discussing critical concepts regarding Caribbean music. Lectures will focus on relevant analytical skills, and demand independent learning that includes listening, reading and reflecting on key sources and texts, which helps to develop and enrich knowledge of global popular music repertory and scholarly perspectives on the role of Caribbean music across a variety of island societies.

Reading Lists

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Exams
Description Length Semester When Set Percentage Comment
Performance302A40N/A
Other Assessment
Description Semester When Set Percentage Comment
Essay2A602,500 words
Assessment Rationale And Relationship

•       The combination of essays, exam, and collaborative project will provide opportunities to apply critical and analytical strategies within different contexts
•       The literature review encourages students to engage in primary materials from womanist perspectives, rarely afforded in standard Caribbean readings
•       The collaborative performance project enables students to engage in materials as part of group, culminating in an informal end-of-term showing of material
•       The final essay enables students to apply concepts examined in the course to an original research topic, reflecting, on a grand scale, their understanding of those concepts.

Timetable

Past Exam Papers

General Notes

Original Handbook text:

Welcome to Newcastle University Module Catalogue

This is where you will be able to find all key information about modules on your programme of study. It will help you make an informed decision on the options available to you within your programme.

You may have some queries about the modules available to you. Your school office will be able to signpost you to someone who will support you with any queries.

Disclaimer

The information contained within the Module Catalogue relates to the 2024 academic year.

In accordance with University Terms and Conditions, the University makes all reasonable efforts to deliver the modules as described.

Modules may be amended on an annual basis to take account of changing staff expertise, developments in the discipline, the requirements of external bodies and partners, and student feedback. Module information for the 2025/26 entry will be published here in early-April 2025. Queries about information in the Module Catalogue should in the first instance be addressed to your School Office.