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MUS31510

Academic Year 2026/2027

Music & Place (MUS31510)

Subject:
Music
College:
Arts & Humanities
School:
Music
Level:
3 (Degree)
Credits:
10
Module Coordinator:
Dr Abigail Lindo
Trimester:
Autumn
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This course will be taught by Dr Abigail Lindo.

Music communicates ideas of place, transmitting geographic and location-specific information that informs how individuals listen to and contextualize sound. In this module, we will explore, analyze, and problematize the various spatial realities understood through sound to understand music’s capacity for embedded cartographic and sociocultural meanings and applications. With this knowledge, we can better explain how the mapping of sounds also reflects the mapping of individuals and understandings of bodies. Therefore, music communicates place through the flesh—in sounding relations to different aspects of identity. Through examination of popular musics of the 20th and 21st centuries as social and historical texts, alongside the analysis of relevant literature, students gain insights to develop a critically informed ear and support their personal listening, academic analyses, and interdisciplinary research aims. This module includes the use of digital media and the creation of digital audio projects to further experiential learning in and beyond the classroom setting.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this module students will be able to:
1. Understand music as a social text communicating spatial and bodily knowledge
2. Evaluate the contextual information communicated through sound recordings in
studio and live music settings
3. Critically listen to and analyze popular musics from diverse international settings
4. Discuss sound as a historical and social text for analysis and the generation of new
musical understandings
5. Confidently critique existing literature, multimedia, and in-class collaborative labors
to demonstrate understanding of sounds and the information they are capable of
transmitting

Indicative Module Content:

Indicative Module Content:
 Popular Music as Placeless
 Sounding Geography as Human
 Popular Sounds and Bodies in Time
 How Music Challenges Place and Time
 How Music in Place Communicates Identity

The United Nations identified seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as core to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and UCD contributes in general to SDG 4 Quality Education. Further SDGs explored within this module if relevant are listed below. A scale of 1 - 5 indicates the extent to which the SDG is covered.


 

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Specified Learning Activities

100
Autonomous Student Learning

80
Lectures

20
Total

200

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
The teaching and learning approaches support the development of individual knowledge and
completion of assessments throughout the module. Lectures, media engagement, course
readings, and discussions provide the foundational knowledge needed for individual student
exploration and the completion of assessments. Students develop their understanding
individually, with instructor support, in small groups (with peer collaboration), through
discussion, and with a diversity of assessments throughout the module. Individual student
exploration is supported by reflexive learning, with multiple opportunities for reflection and
evaluation.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Portfolio: Classwork assignments used to build upon assigned readings through collaborative engagement Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11 Standard conversion grade scale 40% Yes
40
 Yes
Assignment(Including Essay): Final StoryMap Development, Creation, and Presentation Week 10, Week 11 Standard conversion grade scale 40% Yes
25
 Yes
Reflective Assignment: Journals and Projects/Rationales Week 2, Week 4, Week 6, Week 8 Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
35
 No

As part of UCD's student support, under the Additional Consideration policy, extensions may be available for the following assessments in the module: Assignment (including essay/poster), Portfolio, Reflective Assignment, Report(s), and Individual Project.


Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Peer review activities
• Self-assessment activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback will be delivered with the submission of formative assessments throughout the course, which include individual and collaborative journal responses, the completion of multimedia tasks, and critical textural annotations. Summative assessment will build upon the feedback received from these assignments, taking the form of thoughtful comments and audio recordings.

Stahl, Geoff, and J. Mark Percival, eds. The Bloomsbury Handbook of Popular Music, Space and Place. Bloomsbury Academic, 2022.

Additional required and supplemental readings will be provided online for student use and convenience. The readings for the first two weeks of the course will be provided online as a courtesy.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Autumn Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Mon 11:00 - 11:50
Autumn Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Wed 11:00 - 12:50
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