Undergraduate - UnitATS3926 - Gongs, punks and shadow plays

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music
Offered	Clayton Second semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Jonathan McIntosh

Synopsis

The unit explores the diverse musical practices of Southeast Asia, while investigating regional commonalities and variations concerning the predominance of gongs and bamboo instruments, spirit practices, dance forms, shadow puppetry, colonial influences and popular musics. By examining the geopolitical impact of hills, forests, plains and coasts, the unit also addresses the interplay of tradition and modernity; the impact of war, migration and diaspora on expressive cultures; the relationship between performance practice and musical meaning; and, the role of music in the construction of ethnic, regional and national identities. In addition, students participate in a gamelan ensemble (an Indonesian percussion orchestra) as part of the unit.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the unit, students are able to:

Distinguish between selected musical practices of dominant lowland and marginalised upland peoples, as well as 'traditional' and 'popular' musics of Southeast Asia;
Outline selected theoretical perspectives relating to community, modernisation and globalisation, and how these are applicable to the study of Southeast Asian musical practices; and,
Demonstrate critical reflective practice skills through the keeping of a learning journal and the writing of a summative learning report.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 100%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Jonathan McIntosh

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Music
Indonesian studies

Prohibitions

ATS2926