This seminar does not require any previous musical knowledge or expertise, but instead uses music as a lens through which to view post-Eurocentric historical thought in action. In approaching a global history of music and its relationship to European colonialism and Christian missionizing, students are encouraged to look beyond a singular narrative about the world’s musical pasts, to a complex dialogue of different voices. An understanding of these transnational networks is explored in this seminar through a series of case studies ranging from the early modern imperial courts and trading ports of South and East Asia, to the reducciones of South America and beyond. Weekly readings and class discussion will revolve around the role of music in early intercultural encounters, processes of syncretism, and the emergence of new musical cultures through the analysis of documentary evidence and secondary literature. The introductory section of this seminar (Weeks 1–4) will explore foundations of methodology and key theoretical debates in ethnomusicology, musicology, and anthropology, as they relate to a global history of music and power. Weeks 5–11 will explore different geographical case studies (India, the Philippines, China, Japan, Mexico, the reducciones of South America, and Kenya), with the allocated readings directed toward thinking through concepts of empire, music, and power, and how they assist us in understanding the nature of asymmetrical relationships. Weeks 12 and 13 turn to the representation of cultural “others” in European musical composition from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, with a focus on historical and contemporary discourses of Orientalism, and what the implications are for the performance of such repertories today. Following two sessions for student presentations, the seminar will conclude with an open discussion of music and global history – after considering our wide range of case studies over space and time, can we see any networks that reveal trends invisible at the regional level? This seminar encourages students to think interdisciplinarily, taking music as path by which we can historicize the phenomenon of globalization and globalize our approach to history. close