I’m five weeks into teaching a new upper-level musicology course at CWRU and am loving the way it’s proceeding. Let me tell you about it:
These last few years at CWRU I learned that many of our brilliant graduate students hadn’t been exposed to the methodological predecessors to contemporary “New Musicology,” nor did they have exposure to much of the aesthetic-cum-epistemological assumptions that had animated it. That sort of methodological meta-criticism is my bread and butter and I’ve always been excited to pick at (productively, I hope) the hoary ideals of aesthetic autonomy (etc.) that still hang out, helping to keep that old “imaginary museum of musical works” populated with idealist musical “objects.” Musicology has moved on – mostly – and many folks in contemporary musicology seemed to implicitly agree with the interventions of the new musicology but be a bit fuzzy on just what they were criticizing/modulating, the present state of methodological affairs just feeling so obvious and useful.
Also noting that the postmodern moment has passed and a new structure of feeling is rising in dominance (I’m partial to the “metamodern” formulation), I’m interested to help students wrestle with some of that “new musicology,” but then ask what comes next. What methods and ways of knowing production will help us make sense of changing aesthetics, political economies, the strange “what it feels like” of the present, and new modes of media?
Enter this syllabus: “MUHI 390/450: Engaging (Post)Postmodern Music(ology). This ambitious upper-level seminar poses more questions that it answers, but so far it’s been a lot of fun. We’re burning through A LOT of lit and ideas (readings available HERE) which have me doing the Charlie “Pepe Salvia” thing a lot. But, then, that’s largely my teaching style, I suppose.
We’re using Discord to carry on some conversation and share ideas/resources outside of class meetings, too, which I like. Feels like having a Zoom chat conversation happening alongside the more formal course obligations. I’m lucky to have a supportive department that encourages such a fun and challenging use of our resources as well as curious and ambitious student body. So far, so good!
AJ Kluth 