This course is a conceptual and thematic exploration of the music of the African Diaspora in Latin America. The semester will be divided into two main modules. The first module will delve into the scholarly debates surrounding the concept of the African Diaspora in recent decades. The second module will explore the theoretical implications of the African Diaspora concept to study the historical and social context in which the people of African descent in Latin America and the Caribbean express their life experiences through music. We will listen to and study folkloric, traditional, and popular music from the Caribbean and Latin America that has been a vehicle of negotiation and affirmation of Afro-diasporic identities in the past and present.
The first section of the second module will examine the African Diaspora's music in the region from a historical perspective. In the second section of Module 2, we will inquire about globalization and transnationalism as social and economic factors in creating, producing, and disseminating the Caribbean and Latin America's contemporary black music. Overall, the course aims to give the students a deeper appreciation of music's role in creating the African Diaspora in Latin America.
Credit: Angel Viera Vargas
Credit: Angel Viera Vargas
Credit: Angel Viera Vargas
Objectives
Explain the theoretical implications of the concept of the African Diaspora to the study of African descent music in Latin America and the Caribbean
Identify the major scholarly debates about the African Diaspora
Analyze the major social and historical processes that has contributed to the emergence of the African Diaspora in Latin American and the Caribbean
Recognize selected African descent musical genres throughout Latin America and the Caribbean
Value the aesthetic and social significance of African-Diasporic music in Latin America and the Caribbean
