South Asia is the most densely populated region of the world, home to one-fifth of the people on this planet. “South Asia” as a geopolitical region is a modern concept, however, there are strong cultural and political-economic relationships across its various geographies throughout history that shape the “unity in diversity” of this world civilization. This course weaves together social themes and historical processes for introductory acquaintance with the people of South Asia through the lens of musical performance and its allied arts. While our main focus is on the Indian Subcontinent, which largely falls into the nation-state of India, we will also thematically explore case studies from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. This course does not aim for coverage of all regions in South Asia, but rather introduces key concepts that can be applied to open up a window to understanding contemporary South Asian society and its diaspora. Over the twentieth century, the most famous exports of South Asian music for global audiences have been the “classical” music and dance traditions of north and south India, Bollywood movie soundtracks, and ecstatic devotional singing such as qawwali and kirtan. This course will engage students in not just learning to appreciate these performances as sophisticated art forms, plus habituate our ears to a diverse range of folk and popular genres, but also delve into the historical and social processes that shape them into the way their exponents and audiences understand them today. We will examine how contemporary performers reenact theorization from ancient treatises, how colonialism, nationalism, and migration reconfigured people’s engagements with musical performing arts, and how social groupings such as caste, class, religion, gender, and sexuality shape the way people make and listen to music across different localities in South Asia. *Note: this class will take place in the “Future Classroom” in Boya Rm.406, we will utilize the classroom design to facilitate our listening and discussions!

1) To gain basic familiarity with South Asian society, cultivate cross-cultural understanding and tolerance in social diversity. 2) To develop embodied skills of listening, reciting, singing, and movement, to gain intellectual, aesthetic, and emotional understanding of South Asian performance traditions, including (but not limited to) Hindustani music, Karnatak music, Kathak dance, bhangra, qawwali, kirtan, and Bollywood song. 3) To apply a sociocultural perspective on the study of music and develop critical thinking skills for examining a diverse range of musical genres in relation to social organization, aesthetics, entertainment, religious practice, politics, and identity formation.

1) Listening discussion: no previous knowledge of any form of music is required for this course. However, students should read designated chapters before class, actively engage with the listening material during lectures, to discuss in groups during class. These listening discussions will form the basis for describing musical items in the mid-term exam and shared "musical example database" assignments. 2) Reading and discussion: students will form groups to report on chapters from the book "Everyday life in South Asia" on designated weeks. 3) Writing for cross-cultural understanding: learning will build on three types of assignments that increase in complexity: a) between weeks 2-6, students will choose one term learnt from class to contribute to the "shared glossary; b) between weeks 10-14, students will select one musical example from class each week to contribute to the shared “musical example database;” c) students will write three reflection Q&A entries to synthesize what they learnt in each of the three cross-week modules 4) Capstone project: students will form groups to focus on a social theme from W10-14, analyze recent news from 3 countries in South Asia (or its diaspora) related to the theme, and introduce a new musical example connected to the theme. Final written presentations must be free from spelling errors and follow the Chicago Manual of Style code for citation. Plagiarism will not be tolerated in any form.

W2-3 The Natyasastra: English Translation with Critical Notes, New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 1996 W4-6 Music in North India: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture, New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004 Music in South India: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture, New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004 W10-14 chapters from: Everyday life in South Asia, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2010

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