MUS10270

In his book Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, renowned neurologist Oliver Sacks recognised the centrality of music to human experience. “Music can lift us out of depression or move us to tears - it is a remedy, a tonic, orange juice for the ear… it can provide access to movement, to speech, to life. Music is not a luxury, but a necessity. [It] is part of being human.” In this module, we start from this premise, and investigate the place of music in human life, asking how and why music emerges across cultures, how it shapes experience, and what it reveals about being human. Drawing on insights from ethnomusicology and related disciplines, we explore music as a social and sensory force: something people do, feel, think with, and live through. Using a broad range of examples from diverse times and places, we will engage with musical practices ranging from ancient traditions to digital sound cultures, from ritual performance to everyday playlists. Through case studies, listening, and discussion, we’ll examine how music interacts with the body, memory, emotion, technology, time, and the environment.

This module invites students to think critically and curiously about music, not only as an art form, but also as a fundamental aspect of human life. No prior musical training is required (but be prepared to listen and to think!).