The Cultural Brain

In all known cultures around the world and throughout human history, there has been music. Today, most people spend a lot of time and resources listening to music, or they make music themselves, such as singing or playing an instrument. Such activities may bring us joy and satisfaction, but we also know that musical commitment affects us in many different ways, such as our mental and physical health. In this seminar, we will investigate how music and music making may affect our brain in terms of health, quality of life, and learning.

Questions that may be addressed include: Can music make us healthier? Can music make us smarter? How does music affect us throughout life? How does music affect our health? How important is it to be given access to music? What happens if we are not given access to music?

Musicology is an umbrella term that usually includes historical studies, musical work studies, cultural studies, and music theory. In recent years, however, the field of study has further begun to look at people's use of (or lack of use of) music in everyday life and the role of music in human life, regardless of learned skills. Through this, musicology has opened up to several other disciplines, including pedagogy, biology, psychology, sociology and health therapy. This seminar will be in dialogue with these various subject areas to investigate how music affects us in different ways.

Knowledge:
An examinee with a completed qualification in MUSV3130
- has critical understanding of the social, cultural and political significance for the use and perception of the term “the cultural brain”.
- has knowledge of different academic disciplines that can relate to the term “the cultural brain”, including examples such as music psychology, pedagogy, sociology, therapy and ethnology.
- has knowledge of these academic disciplines’ different research methodologies
- has a broad understanding of how, and to what extent people engage with music in different ways throughout life, and what effect this has on different aspects of our health, quality of life and learning.

Skills:
An examinee with a completed qualification in MUSV3130
- has the ability to analyse critically and discuss the place of music in human life
- has the ability to make his or her own, independent, reflections on the bases of and in extension of the acquired knowledge
- has the ability to present knowledge and critical insight in a coherent and convincing form both orally and in writing
- can apply acquired knowledge and understanding in their own work
- can apply acquired knowledge of research methodology on materials that are new and unknown for the candidate

Lectures and seminars. Compulsory assignments: Participation in two quizzes.