Courses |
Music and Prayer in the Jewish Tradition Department of Music |
This course will examine the role and function of music in Jewish worship. We will consider the ways that music is used strategically by men and women as they define, present and maintain their religious and cultural identity. The course will focus on the Kabbalat Shabbat (Friday evening) service and consider such topics as participation vs. performance in worship, music and historical authenticity in prayer, music and religious experience, the invention and preservation of tradition and how liturgical music is used to negotiate issues of dual culturalism in the American Jewish community. Co-listed with CR 98, MUS 98. |
Graduate Fieldwork Seminar in Ethnomusicology |
In this seminar, we will addresses a range of theoretical and practical issues encountered in ethnographic fieldwork: defining “the field,” preparing for fieldwork, finding informants, participant observation, the use of a fieldwork journal and negotiating our relationships with our informants. We will pay special attention to the psychological and emotional aspects of fieldwork. We will examine interviewing approach and technique, interview transcription and the process of writing from ethnographic interviews. We will address field recording technology and practice and the challenges of transcribing music and text. Practical skills will be developed in the course of an assigned fieldwork project. |
Introduction to the Talmud |
We will study selected passages from the Talmud in English and examine how rabbinical literature (Mishna, Gemara, and commentaries) developed from the text of the Hebrew Bible. We will concentrate on passages that have relevance to contemporary moral and ethical issues such as responsibilities between parents and children, the value of human life, business ethics and Jewish medical ethics. No prerequisites. |