ID:
508075
Duration (hours):
36
CFU:
6
SSD:
ETNOMUSICOLOGIA
Located in:
CREMONA
Year:
2025
Overview
Date/time interval
Secondo Semestre (02/03/2026 - 12/06/2026)
Syllabus
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, students will be able to: • Analyze music as an aspect of history and culture; • Understand key topics in the discipline related to musical sustainability and acoustic ecology; • Place the course within the broader field of ecomusicology, including environmental issues, music production, and activist engagement; • Approach the soundscape with greater awareness; • Be familiar with European and international regulations concerning cultural diversity and intangible heritage.
Course Prerequisites
No prerequisites are required. However, having taken the Cultural Anthropology exam may facilitate the understanding of the theoretical and methodological framework.
Teaching Methods
The course is primarily structured around lectures in which the instructor will present key studies related to musical sustainability, acoustic ecology, and acoustemology using audio and video examples and PowerPoint presentations. Another focus will be the concept of safeguarding, as introduced by international and European policies regarding cultural diversity and intangible heritage. A more interactive portion of the course will involve collective discussions of specific case studies assigned in advance, sometimes with guest lectures by leading scholars. During these sessions, students will be invited to discuss selected articles based on a set of guiding questions: • Objectives: What is the article trying to achieve? • Topic: What is the central subject? • Hypotheses: Are there specific hypotheses? • Method: What methods are used to test them? • Theory: Is there an explicit theoretical framework? If not, are there important theoretical assumptions? • Concepts: What are the key concepts? Are they clearly defined? • Style: How clear is the author’s language/style/expression? • Contribution: To what extent does the work advance our understanding of the topic? • Evidence: Is evidence provided? How adequate is it? • Values: Are the author’s value positions clear or implicit? Some classes will coincide with the "From Local to Global" series, allowing students to engage directly with oral-tradition musicians selected based on the course theme. Participation in the documentation of the Carnival in Cegni (PV)—an example of the resilience of a deep musical tradition—is optional and subject to selection.
Assessment Methods
Assessment will consist of a written assignment and an oral examination. The written assignment (agreed upon with the instructor and submitted at least 10 working days before the exam) may take the form of either a critical essay of approximately 3,000 words or the production of a podcast. In the first case, the essay should offer a critical reflection—based on the literature covered in the course—on a specific case study (musical repertoire, music production, public performance, festival, protest, or safeguarding practice), developed through either direct data collection (including, optionally, on the Cegni Carnival) or indirect data (e.g. ethnographic materials from the Tras Archive of the Department or from existing literature). In the second case, the student will be involved in the production of the Altrovequi podcast (www.altrovequi.eu
Texts
Allen A. S. and K. Dawe (eds), 2016, Current directions in ecomusicology: music, culture, nature. New York; London: Routledge, (CAPITOLI 1, 3, 6)
Billeri F., 2022 “The Adaptation of Khmer Traditional Wedding and Theatre Genres to New Performance Contexts”, in Patterns of Change in the Traditional Music of Southeast Asia, a cura di G. Giuriati. Nota, Udine, pp. 94-121
Bonanzinga S., 2021, “Dall’antropologia della musica all’acustemologia” in S. Feld, Il mondo dei Bosavi, 2021, pp. 17-30
Cooley T. J., 2019, Cultural Sustainabilities: Music, Media, Language, Advocacy , Edited by Timothy J. Cooley, University of Illinois Press, (Foreword, Introduction e cap. 6)
Dettmann C., 2020, “The Calf of the Wild: Sound, Embodiment, and Oral Poetry among Cattle Herders in Southwestern Angola” in Musiculture vol. 46 n° 2: 33-61
Dillane A., T. Langlois, M. J. Power and O. Nī Bhriain, 2015, “Urban soundscapes and critical citizenship: Explorations in activating a ‘sonic turn’ in urban cultural studies”, in Journal of Urban Cultural Studies, vol.2, nn. 1&2: 89-105
Facci S., “Funziona? Valori e usi della musica nella contemporaneità̀”, in L’etnomusicologia e le musiche contemporanee, a cura di F. Giannattasio e S. Facci, Venezia, Fondazione G. Cini, 2009
Feld, Steven, 2015, ‘On Post-Ethnomusicology Alternatives: Acoustemology’, Francesco Giannattasio and Giovanni Giuriati (eds), Perspectives on a 21st Century Comparative Musicology: Ethnomusicology or Transcultural Musicology? (Udine: Nota), 82-98.
Ferlaino C. Engaging creatively with a traditional soundscape goat bells from landscape to performance
Grant, Catherine, Ruth Opara and Kirsten Dyck (2024). “Inverse relationships between cultural sustainability and human rights: The counterintuitive cases of Nigerian Avu Udu dance and white-power music”. International Journal of Cultural Policy
Hachmeyer S., 2025, The omitted variable: musical bamboos, environmental sustainability, and the ecological implications of an intangible cultural heritage in the Bolivian Andes. International Journal Of Heritage Studies, Vol. 31, NO. 2, 178–191
Kaur I. N., 2020, “A Multisensorial Affective Ecology of Sonic Worship: The Sikh Sacred Song Culture” in Musiculture vol. 46 n° 2: 109-133
Ochoa Gautier, Ana María (2016) ‘Acoustic Multinaturalism, the Value of Nature, and the Nature of Music in Ecomusicology’. boundary 2. 43 (1), 107-141.
Opara Ruth, 2022, “Music and the African Girl Child: Gender-Based Violence, Resistance, and Sustainability in Pot Drum Dance”, International Journal of Traditional Arts, Issue 4, 2022
Renzi N. “Variazioni sul vento. Storie di ascolto ed ecologie musicali dai territori indigeni dell’artico europeo”, in Baratti e Cestino (a cura) Suono e Luogo, Mimesis 10, pp. 121-162
Schippers H. and C. Grant (a cura), 2016, Sustainable Futures for Music Cultures: An Ecological Perspective,by H. Schippers and Catherin Grant (eds), Oxford University Press (CAPITOLI 1 e 12)
Shippers H.and A. Seeger (a cura), 2022. Music, Communities, Sustainability: Developing Policies and Practices, Oxford University Press (CAPITOLI 1, 8, 12,
Titon, Jeff Todd, 2010. "Music and Sustainability: An Ecological Viewpoint", The World of Music, 52 (1/3): 702-720
Titon, Jeff Todd, 2020, Ethnomusicology as the Study of People Making Music”, in Titon (ed), Toward a Sound Ecology: New and Selected Essays, Indiana University Press, pp. 27-37
Turino Thomas, 2009, “Four Fields of Music Making and Sustainable Living” The World of Music Vol. 51, No. 1, Music and Sustainability (2009), pp. 95-117
Weintraub Andrew N. – “The Act of Singing: Women, Music, and the Politics of Truth and Reconciliation in Indonesia” (Yearbook for Traditional Music, 2021)
Wiggins Trevor, 2015, “Education, and Sustainability”, The World of Music , Vol. 4, No. 1, Sound Futures: Exploring Contexts for Music Sustainability, pp. 35-44
Billeri F., 2022 “The Adaptation of Khmer Traditional Wedding and Theatre Genres to New Performance Contexts”, in Patterns of Change in the Traditional Music of Southeast Asia, a cura di G. Giuriati. Nota, Udine, pp. 94-121
Bonanzinga S., 2021, “Dall’antropologia della musica all’acustemologia” in S. Feld, Il mondo dei Bosavi, 2021, pp. 17-30
Cooley T. J., 2019, Cultural Sustainabilities: Music, Media, Language, Advocacy , Edited by Timothy J. Cooley, University of Illinois Press, (Foreword, Introduction e cap. 6)
Dettmann C., 2020, “The Calf of the Wild: Sound, Embodiment, and Oral Poetry among Cattle Herders in Southwestern Angola” in Musiculture vol. 46 n° 2: 33-61
Dillane A., T. Langlois, M. J. Power and O. Nī Bhriain, 2015, “Urban soundscapes and critical citizenship: Explorations in activating a ‘sonic turn’ in urban cultural studies”, in Journal of Urban Cultural Studies, vol.2, nn. 1&2: 89-105
Facci S., “Funziona? Valori e usi della musica nella contemporaneità̀”, in L’etnomusicologia e le musiche contemporanee, a cura di F. Giannattasio e S. Facci, Venezia, Fondazione G. Cini, 2009
Feld, Steven, 2015, ‘On Post-Ethnomusicology Alternatives: Acoustemology’, Francesco Giannattasio and Giovanni Giuriati (eds), Perspectives on a 21st Century Comparative Musicology: Ethnomusicology or Transcultural Musicology? (Udine: Nota), 82-98.
Ferlaino C. Engaging creatively with a traditional soundscape goat bells from landscape to performance
Grant, Catherine, Ruth Opara and Kirsten Dyck (2024). “Inverse relationships between cultural sustainability and human rights: The counterintuitive cases of Nigerian Avu Udu dance and white-power music”. International Journal of Cultural Policy
Hachmeyer S., 2025, The omitted variable: musical bamboos, environmental sustainability, and the ecological implications of an intangible cultural heritage in the Bolivian Andes. International Journal Of Heritage Studies, Vol. 31, NO. 2, 178–191
Kaur I. N., 2020, “A Multisensorial Affective Ecology of Sonic Worship: The Sikh Sacred Song Culture” in Musiculture vol. 46 n° 2: 109-133
Ochoa Gautier, Ana María (2016) ‘Acoustic Multinaturalism, the Value of Nature, and the Nature of Music in Ecomusicology’. boundary 2. 43 (1), 107-141.
Opara Ruth, 2022, “Music and the African Girl Child: Gender-Based Violence, Resistance, and Sustainability in Pot Drum Dance”, International Journal of Traditional Arts, Issue 4, 2022
Renzi N. “Variazioni sul vento. Storie di ascolto ed ecologie musicali dai territori indigeni dell’artico europeo”, in Baratti e Cestino (a cura) Suono e Luogo, Mimesis 10, pp. 121-162
Schippers H. and C. Grant (a cura), 2016, Sustainable Futures for Music Cultures: An Ecological Perspective,by H. Schippers and Catherin Grant (eds), Oxford University Press (CAPITOLI 1 e 12)
Shippers H.and A. Seeger (a cura), 2022. Music, Communities, Sustainability: Developing Policies and Practices, Oxford University Press (CAPITOLI 1, 8, 12,
Titon, Jeff Todd, 2010. "Music and Sustainability: An Ecological Viewpoint", The World of Music, 52 (1/3): 702-720
Titon, Jeff Todd, 2020, Ethnomusicology as the Study of People Making Music”, in Titon (ed), Toward a Sound Ecology: New and Selected Essays, Indiana University Press, pp. 27-37
Turino Thomas, 2009, “Four Fields of Music Making and Sustainable Living” The World of Music Vol. 51, No. 1, Music and Sustainability (2009), pp. 95-117
Weintraub Andrew N. – “The Act of Singing: Women, Music, and the Politics of Truth and Reconciliation in Indonesia” (Yearbook for Traditional Music, 2021)
Wiggins Trevor, 2015, “Education, and Sustainability”, The World of Music , Vol. 4, No. 1, Sound Futures: Exploring Contexts for Music Sustainability, pp. 35-44
Contents
The imitation of natural sounds is central to many Indigenous musical cultures, just as music serves as a powerful tool of protest in movements against environmental and cultural destruction. Between these two poles lies an infinite range of possibilities in articulating the relationship between sound and nature and our knowledge of it. The course offers an overview of sustainability and acoustic ecology, also from a postcolonial perspective, exploring the relevant ethnomusicological literature and analyzing specific case studies. Ethnomusicology has long explored how sound and music express different ways of being in the world, of knowing it, and of communicating across species. A more recent and growing body of literature also considers musical phenomena as part of a cultural and economic ecosystem, as well as a natural one.
Course Language
Italian
More information
Students are strongly encouraged to attend the tutoring sessions.
The mandatory reading material for exam preparation, if not available online or through the library, will be made available by the professor on the Kiro platform.
Should you face serious obstacles in accessing the library, please contact the professor at the following email address: fulvia.caruso@unipv.it.
Students who are entitled to special educational arrangements (or inclusive teaching methods) are kindly asked to contact the professor at the beginning of the course to evaluate the suitability of the materials.
The mandatory reading material for exam preparation, if not available online or through the library, will be made available by the professor on the Kiro platform.
Should you face serious obstacles in accessing the library, please contact the professor at the following email address: fulvia.caruso@unipv.it.
Students who are entitled to special educational arrangements (or inclusive teaching methods) are kindly asked to contact the professor at the beginning of the course to evaluate the suitability of the materials.
Degrees
Degrees
MUSICOLOGY
Master’s Degree
2 years
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