LIBERAL ARTS INTELLECTUAL ABILITIES DEVELOPED IN THIS COURSE

Aesthetic Judgment-- the ability to understand and appreciate creative responses to the world and to develop one's own modes of creative expression). The discrimination of subtle differences between musical examples will develop aesthetic judgment, and intellectual skill gained from active listening, analyzing both the music itself and one's own listening experience. In the course you will encounter music cultures with aesthetic values foreign to your own. The music you listen to will reflect a culture's worldview and belief systems about music, and will challenge you to evaluate the music as creative expression within the context of each culture.

Communication -- the ability to express one's thoughts and feelings coherently and persuasively through written and oral communication and to work effectively in collaboration with others. Because the musical experience is notoriously difficult to communicate accurately, we will devote conscious attention to learning how to speak and write about it. Through aural analysis, written essays, and discussion, we will attempt to make the experience more tangible in order to communicate it to others. Much of this course is about understanding, and about understanding how our own culture's perspective may be entirely foreign to that of another culture. IF THE MUSICAL EXPERIENCE IS DIFFICULT TO COMMUNICATE TO OTHERS IN OUR OWN CULTURE, HOW MUCH MORE DIFFICULT IS IT TO COMMUNICATE TO SOMEONE FROM ANOTHER?

Global and Multicultural Awareness -- the ability to understand an appreciate a variety of social and cultural perspectives. This course takes as its point of departure the ideal of "multicultural awareness," applying it to the musical experience. The concepts of "globalization" and "hybridity" frame the course, and you will be asked to judge their effects, both positive and negative, on music and the world we live in.

Historical Consciousness -- the ability to understand the achievements, problems, and challenges of the contemporary world with the perspectives gained from a study of the past. In this course, the study of traditional musics will require us to see them as historical antecedents of more recent music. Throughout the course, we will consider the meaning and relevance of traditional musics to contemporary music styles.

Reasoning -- the ability to think logically and reflectively, to analyze material critically and constructively. In the Core courses at Millsaps writing assignments serve to help sharpen your critical thinking and reasoning skills. In this course we will also do something we might call "musical reasoning." Our challenge will be to find ways to make your listening experience concrete and tangible, whether through the use of listening charts, reflective writings, or open discussion. As we try to imagine how each music culture hears its own music as ideal music, we will hopefully question our own perceptions and listening prejudices.