MUS1011 : Introduction to Ethnomusicology
- Offered for Year: 2025/26
- 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 | |
Aims
- To introduce students to the ethnographic study of music
- To introduce core methods and ideas from ethnomusicology
- To support students to undertake their own first experiences of ethnography in musical cultures
- To provoke analytical thinking about both familiar and unfamiliar styles of music and their cultural and social values
- To promote an ethical understanding of people making music
- To equip students with a fundamental set of skills to enable them to undertake ethnography in music
- To provide the intellectual framework for further development of ethnomusicological investigation at more advanced stages of the undergraduate curricula in music.
Outline Of Syllabus
The syllabus introduces the core methods and ideas in the ethnographic study of people making music. The module does this in two key ways: 1) through lectures and seminar discussions on core methodological and case study examples from ethnomusicology, and; 2) through supporting students to undertake their own first ethnographic project in music during the year. The syllabus therefore examines the following core topics drawing on the professional research of ethnomusicological staff in music: Ethnography; music and fieldwork; generalizability; Self and Other(s) in music cultures; Thick Description; emic-etic knowledge; digital ethnomusicology; encountering difference through music; musical performance as a fieldwork technique; ethics in ethnomusicology; models of fieldwork from immersion to multi-site ethnographies; applied ethnomusicology, and social change; and; small-scale surveys and survey design in musical communities.
During the first semester, we will challenge preconceptions of what music and ethnography are by examining concepts and functions of ethnomusicology, music-making practices across different cultures and ways to study those practices. We ask what is ethnomusicology? What is ethnography? What is ‘the field’? In answering those questions, we explore some of the strategies for analysing Self and Other in music cultures.
Students will be asked to undertake a small self-designated ethnographic project in second semester, and will be supported on such possible topics as writing fieldnotes, conducting original research in the community, participant observation, preparing for and conducting interviews and creating research questions. The goal of second semester is for students to put their ethnomusicological field methods to use; to show the effectiveness of a research design; to analyse original data; and to present findings within a final essay.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 10 | 2:00 | 20:00 | N/A |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 6 | 2:00 | 12:00 | N/A |
| Structured Guided Learning | Structured research and reading activities | 40 | 2:00 | 80:00 | Student directed reading & written responses to lecture ideas building to Sem 1 portfolio submission |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Drop-in/surgery | 1 | 1:00 | 1:00 | N/A |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 87 | 1:00 | 87:00 | Independent research, fieldwork & writing on students’ own ethnographic research project. |
| Total | 200:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
Encourages students to engage with the materials individually as well as part of a group, within a variety of learning contexts.
The combination of teaching activities allows students to receive a thorough grounding in core concepts via lectures which are then unpacked in greater detail in small group seminars, which additionally work to support the incorporation of these ideas into their individual projects. The weighting of the seminars in semester 2 allows students to take the core materials and concepts from semester 1 and develop them on an individual basis in their own projects through independent research.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 1 | A | 40 | 1,200-1,500 words |
| Essay | 2 | A | 60 | Field research project, 2,500 words. |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
Essay 1 (1,200-1,500 words, Semester 1) - Each class period you will be asked to come to class prepared to discuss a particular set of questions based on assigned readings or videos (listed in the Handbook, and also available on Canvas). For this essay, you are asked to expand upon one of the discussion questions for lectures and/or seminars.
Essay 2 (Field research project, 2,500 words) - You are asked to conduct a final, onsite research project on a musical community in Newcastle. Your approach to analysing your musical community should be similar to how case studies discussed in Semester 1 are approached (i.e., frame your analysis with ethno-theory). This assignment will be discussed at length throughout Semester 2: writing seminars, class discussions and strategies for onsite research will be provided.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- MUS1011's Timetable