This elective aims at providing a space to think critically about one’s own practice and positionality within the artistic field. For a big part the organization of the sessions will be student led. Having questions and tackling them together is the aim of this course as well as thinking, reading, and making/playing/writing together (focusing on decolonial queer feminist practices and discourses in the arts/music.). This subject focuses on collaborative learning rather than learning from an “expert”.

Over the course of the year four evening sessions will be scheduled. These evening sessions are coached. On top of that three self-organised meetings will be carried out independently.

The focus lies on three main topics:
1) ART and its definition:
- Definition of art.
- Relationship of music and other art forms.
2) ARTISTIC PERSONALITY, especially in relation with music industry, own creativity and self-perception:
- Music industry.
- Goals and achievements, creativity and flow.
3) MUSIC AND COMMUNICATION, focusing e.g. on political art/music and the connection between artist and audience:
- Artist – audience relation.
- Political art/music (e.g. privilege of making art).

Possible topics could be:
Music Theory and White Supremacy;
Music Journalism;
Women in jazz history/electronic music history/…;
Critically looking at labelling music as “serious” or “entertainment” music (U and E music in German, “lichte muziek” in Dutch) and possible stakes;
Critically looking at the Jazz Jam session;
The European and USA Avantgarde scenes in jazz – collaborations, conflicts, social justice;
Neotraditionalism and Wynton Marsalis;
Cultural and musical appropriation in jazz and pop;
Jazz as aural practice vs jazz at the conservatory;
Discourses around the terms “jazz” and “bebop”;
Classism in Jazz;
Canon formation: Who is “important” and who is “not”? Who gets to decide? What are the consequences? How are different social categories connected to this? (like race, class, gender, sexuality, dis/ability, …);
Critically examining the concept of tradition.

The elective ends with a final, public presentation.

4 guided meetings.
3 self – organised meetings (exchange, excursion, documentary, final presentation).

Possible sources: Angela Davis, George Lewis, Sherry Tucker, Tammy Kernodle, Amiri Baraka and Ben Sidran.

Participation, preparation.

Examination and assessment

Attendance plus handing in a written evaluation.

Active attendance is an explicit pass criterion.

The student has completed this module if they are graded "satisfactory".

Attendance is being registered.
Evaluations are handed in.

See the Education and Assessment Plan.

Module summary

Music and Society

Form / content / level

Examination and assessment

Module summary