Digital Commons Network^™

Componiendo El Núcleo: Una Exploración De La Bomba Y La Identidad Afroecuatoriana En El Valle De Chota, Ethan Guok

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este proyecto se centra en la bomba, una tradición musical y de danza afroecuatoriana que se practica en el valle del Chota, situado entre las provincias de Imbabura y Carchi, pero también más ampliamente en el Territorio Ancestral que comprende el valle del Chota, La Concepción, Salinas y Guallupe. Históricamente y en la actualidad, la bomba ha desempeñado un papel importante en la creación de comunidad y la preservación de la identidad cultural afrochoteña, y el conocimiento de cómo tocar la bomba se ha transmitido intergeneracionalmente a través de la tradición oral. Sin embargo, como tradición negra y oral, la …

(Alte)Rnative Realities In Ghana; An Africanfuturist Travelogue Into The World Buildings Of Contemporary Ghanaian Female Alte Musicians, Agasarokeza Natasha Naomi

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In this research paper, I will use Africanfuturism as a lens through which I explore Ghanaian female alte musicians’ contributions to the growing Africanfuturistic imaginaries. Overall, this research aims to contribute to the growing body of knowledge on Ghanaian female Alte musicians and highlight their significance in shaping alternative realities. I will employ a qualitative research methodology, including interviews with two Ghanaian female alte musicians, and content analysis of their music videos, lyrics, and musical productions. By delving into their personal experiences and artistic expressions, the paper seeks to uncover how these artists challenge traditional gender roles, explore cultural identities, …

The Headbangers Of The Himalaya: An Investigation Of Nepal’S Rock And Metal Scene, Samuel White

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The goal of this research endeavor was to generate findings which unveil information about the culture, the bands, and the lives of the musicians and fans who make up the Nepali rock and metal scene. The community is rather esoteric and information regarding certain bands and their musicians’ background is limited to broad, outdated articles published online. Thus, most of the information regarding the scene can only be obtained if one truly immerses themselves within it. I was fortunate enough to make friends which granted me a firsthand look into the Nepali rock and metal scene. The general questions which …

Contemporary Legacies Of Morocco’S Gnawa Music Communities, Luke Sheppard

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Despite existing literature about Gnawa music and culture, there remains many discrepancies and holes a part of current understandings about the subject. This paper examines the existing literature in comparison with two site visits to different Gnawa music houses in Tangier and Khamlia Morocco. These visits including three interviews with musicians inform an understanding of the history, tourism, spirituality, performance aspects, and changing culture among the two distinct communities. The paper will draw upon these findings to evaluate what it currently means to be Gnawa, perform Gnawa, and spectate Gnawa performance in Morocco. Additionally, Gnawa music within the black Moroccan …

Changes In Identity: How Mongolian Musicians And Performers Have Responded To Geopolitical Transition, Heather Cook

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

During Mongolia’s socialist period, traditional forms of Mongolian music were deliberately altered as the government, heavily influenced by the Soviet Union, attempted to modernize Mongolian culture. Throughout this period, traditional instruments were modified, the types of music that could be performed were strictly censored, and the structure of performances was set to strictly mimic those of Western orchestras. After Mongolia’s Democratic Revolution of 1990, the artistic freedom of Mongolian musicians has greatly increased, but even now, socialist cultural policies are deeply intertwined with Mongolian musical culture. Why is this the case? What is the common perception among performers about the …

A Study Of Stambeli In Digital Media, Nneka Mogbo

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research paper explores stambeli, a traditional spiritual music in Tunisia, by understanding its musical and spiritual components then identifying ways it is presented in digital media. Stambeli is shaped by pre-Islamic West African animist beliefs, spiritual healing and trances. The genre arrived in Tunisia when sub-Saharan Africans arrived in the north through slavery, migration or trade from present-day countries like Mauritania, Mali and Chad. Today, it is a geographic and cultural intersection of sub-Saharan, North and West African influences.

La Preservación Y Evolución De La Música Tradicional Andina Y Una Modernización De La Identidad Indígena, Evan Tannenbaum

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

La música es una componente clave de la cultura, y en los andes la música siempre ha constituido un gran identificador y definidor del espíritu indígena y autóctona. Pero la música no es estática: es un ser vivo que cambia en conjunto con la sociedad que se representa. Por lo tanto, por estudiar la música, podemos aprender sobre la cultura y como ha cambiado—como ha transformado, modernizando con una globalización de la identidad. Entonces, en esta investigación, exploro la música indígena en los andes, hablando con músicos y musicólogos, además de leyendo y estudiando sobre la música para aprender cómo …

From Organ To Gamelan: Javanese Catholic Musical Traditions In Yogyakarta, Central Java, Elizabeth Hamilton

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

B-Boy And Buuz: A Study Of Mongolian Hip-Hop Culture, Quinn Graham Wallace

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

When walking down the streets of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, passersby will find countless material traits of hip-hop culture surrounding them, including snapback hats, skateboards, and tattoos. A powerful combination of urban growth, democracy, and a booming market economy has invited and stimulated contemporary forms of hip-hop, creating an active but unorganized Mongolian hip-hop sub-culture and community. In this explorative and analytical paper, I examine what Mongolian hiphop artists express about present-day Mongolia through hip-hop mediums and why they are a unique critical voice. While there are several facets of hip-hop, I focus on three modes of traditional hip-hop culture: oral (rapping), …

Waste Management And Environmental Initiatives In Accra, Ghana, Aoife Genevieve Duna

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Title: Waste Management and Environmental Initiatives in Accra, Ghana

Author: Aoife Genevieve Duna ([email protected]; Middlebury College, Anthropology and Dance major)

Objective: The objective of this project was fourfold: • To study the current waste management practices by government and private waste companies • To observe the perspectives of residents on waste disposal • To explore environmental initiatives by citizens, NGOs, and student groups • To investigate the potential projects that could reduce waste

Methodology: For my project, I conducted interviews, made observations, participated in daily personal waste management, visited a landfill, and visited a composting project.

Findings: Waste collection is …

Singing With A Sanxian: A Study Of The Principal Instrument In Bai Musical Tradition , Christian Stanbrook

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Bai people, a minority group in the People’s Republic of China numbering at least 1.8 million, are heavily concentrated in Yunnan Province’s Dali Autonomous Prefecture. Music has historically been a significant part of Bai culture, as Bai musicians across the region enjoy performing Baizu diao, or popular Bai folk tunes, in the form of singing or on various instruments. These diao, or melodies, often describe the lifestyle of Bai people and the region in which they live in and are commonly performed on a threestringed member of the lute family called a sanxian. This study uncovers both the history …

“Bëggel Sa Réew :” Negotiating Contestation And Citizenship Through Hip Hop Production In Guédiawaye, Dakar, Dylan Mcdonnell

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Hip hop cultural production has flourished in Senegal since the early-1980s, especially in Dakar, the administrative and economic capital, since the early 1980s as both a medium of engagement with “global” flows of musical influence and a localized platform for socio-political and contestation and organization. In the past ten years, high-profile rap and hip hop personalities based in communities centered in the banlieues (the disfavored, often impoverished neighborhoods surrounding Dakar) have begun to realize formal structures of professionalization and education in the elements of “urban culture.” This paper focuses on research done at Guédiawaye Hip Hop Center and Association, an …

My Forays Into The World Of The Tablā, Madeline Longacre

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper focuses on the historical and social aspects of the Indian tablā, as well as the practical aspects involved in actually playing one. In order to acquaint the reader with this topic, a description of the parts of a tablā, as well as the basic knowledge of how to play the tablā, is given. The paper then discusses the history of Varanasi and its significance to tablā playing through the Banaras Gharana. The disputed history of the tablā and its surrounding theories are then addressed, followed by the social context within which tablā players function. In this paper I …

Study Of Nagara Drum In Pushkar, Rajasthan, Kathleen Toomey

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper examines the history and present functions of the pair of kettledrums called Nagara in Rajasthan, India. The location of study was centered in Pushkar. Library research, informants, and lessons on the drums make up the basis for the study. This essay focuses on the contemporary use of the ancient drum in traditional and performance contexts. Informants included Nagara players as well as supporters of Rajasthani folk music. The study focuses mainly on one family of drummers in Pushkar, the Solanki family. The drum has been adapted to many different contexts, and remained in use for traditional, religious and …

Adapting & Appropriating Art From Afar: Negotiating A Global Identity Through Popular Culture, A Study Of Salsa In The Senegalese Context, Elizabeth Bockenfeld

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The following study is essentially an attempt to explore cross-cultural exchange and the resulting (re)creation of different forms of cultural expression. In its broadest sense it aims to explore the quotidian, cultural sides of globalization. It takes for its focus the re-appropriation of salsa music in Dakar, Senegal. Through interviews and participant observation in a number of salsa venues, I explore the various meanings Senegalese salseros put into salsa music and dance. Senegalese salsa is rooted in a very concrete historical background, while also holding meaning for the present. In short, the appropriation of salsa into the Senegalese context serves …

Tibetan Guozhuang In Diqing Autonomous Prefecture: A Comparative Musical Analysis, Christina Du Breuil

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The song and dance traditions of the Tibetan peoples of Diqing Prefecture are numerous and varied. Of these traditions, Guozhuang is cited as one of the oldest and most centrally traditional pieces of folk heritage. However, Guozhuang varies even within Diqing Prefecture. This paper addresses the basic form and structure of Guozhuang as well as variations between Benzilan and Shangri-la Guozhuang, two places separated not only by geographical distance but also the encroachment of development on traditional culture.

The ‘Narod’ In Narodnjaci: Perceptions Of Turbo Folk In Contemporary Sarajevo, Uchechi Esonu

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Turbo Folk is often associated with the ultranationalism and violence of the Wars of Yugoslav Succession in the nineties. Working from the perspective of people who enjoy this music and/or frequent establishments where Turbo Folk is played in contemporary Sarajevo, I investigate the narratives employed by both listeners and detractors of Turbo Folk. What attributes or values are projected on the genre, in present day Sarajevo? Have these values changed from how the genre was perceived during the war in the 1990s? Is Turbo Folk political or politicized? Based on ethnographic field research conducted over the course of one month …

New Representations Of The “Golden Lineage”: The Mongolian Folk Rock Of Altan Urag, Jonathan Heins

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project will examine the ways in which the self-proclaimed Mongolian “folk rock” band, Altan Urag, combines elements of both traditional Mongolian and Western music and culture in order to recast and recreate Mongolian tradition. These new representations of Mongolian tradition occur within the context of a young and rapidly developing democratic nation which looks both deeply into its own past to construct a strong national sense of identity and looks increasingly outward to the international community with aspirations of establishing itself as a recognized and respected member of that community. Altan Urag’s new representations of Mongolian national heritage are …

“Los Huaynos Me Recuerdan A Mi Tierra”: La Música Radial De Cusco Y La Formación De Identidades Migrantes”, Violet Cavicchi

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

La experiencia migratoria de muchos peruanos de comunidades con identidades andinas marcadas que se mudan a la ciudad de Cusco crea un conflicto identitario que es distinto. Estas personas se enfrentan con nuevas influencias que complican su conceptualización de una identidad propia. Este estudio considera la manera en que un foro especifico de la música radial funciona como un espacio para trabajar estas influencias solapadas y construir un entendimiento de identidad regional en este nuevo contexto. El artículo empieza con un análisis del contexto histórico que establece este fenómeno y que explica la importancia de la radio y su música …

The Barzakh Of Flamenco: Tracing The Spirituality, Locality And Musicality Of Flamenco From South Of The Strait Of Gibraltar, Tania Flores

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Flamenco performance – which scholars often describe in terms of the three dimensions of cante, or singing, baile, or dance, and toque, or instrumentation – is a complex synthesis of cultural influences across several centuries. In discussing the evolution of flamenco, scholars typically begin with the history of the gitanos, the subgroup of the Romani or Gypsy people that settled in Spain. Drawing upon a large body of ethnographic, historic and scientific evidence, scholars agree that the gitanos originated in the northwestern regions of contemporary India and

Pakistan – specifically, Rajasthan and the Punjab region (Iovita 275; …

Soul Medicine: The Role Of Traditional Senegalese Music In A Therapeutic Context, Alexa K. Dorris

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this study was to discover the role of traditional Senegalese music used in therapeutic contexts. Specifically, I sought to discover its uses and understand the ideologies and cultural significance behind its usage. I collected data using participant observation, interviewing, and archival research in Dakar and Ngoundiame, a Serrere village, Senegal. I found that music was used for cathartic and healing purposes in two primary schools in Dakar and in the traditional ndepp ceremony, respectively. These usages of music reflected larger themes in Senegalese culture. In conclusion, I recommended that music be integrated into mental health treatment through …

Like The Roar Of A Thousand Thunders: Instrumental Music And Creativity In Tibetan Buddhist Ritual, Eben Yonnetti

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Tibetan Buddhism has numerous detailed and diverse traditions of ritual music that play an integral part in religious practices. Despite the prominence of such performances in Tibetan Buddhist life, spectators and researchers alike have frequently misunderstood them based purely on physical observation. As a religion that focuses on the cultivation and development of the mind, any analysis focusing only on physical description is significantly flawed. Music in Buddhist practice is at a base level a sound offering. On a higher level, however, it is much more. If done with the proper motivation, musical performance during ritual is a method to …

Music In Its Social Context: Fiji In A Microcosm, Alexander Greene

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The music of Fiji flows throughout the country as rich as the food and as omnipresent as the kava. Music touches all aspects of the Fijian way of life. Whether one is Indo-Fijian, Indigenous Fijian, from another pacific island, kylomo, or a kavailagi, there is no escaping music while in Fiji. This paper looks to explore the different social settings and context that music is created and then in turn listened to, and how the social setting of Fiji has shaped what music is created here. This paper also attempts to gather in a cohesive manner, what music is being …

“Fusion” Musics And Tunisian Identity In The Age Of The Global Stereo, Rachel Colwell

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Introduction (excerpt)

In this paper I will explore how contemporary Tunisian musicians have engaged with and adopted various “foreign” or “external” musics by melded them in myriad intricate and often controversial ways with the tunes, rhythms, and symbolic meanings of their own historically local musics. Equally, or perhaps more importantly, I will address how audiences throughout Tunisia have received these musical “fusion” projects and movements and will touch upon the responses of Tunisian diasporic communities and cosmopolitan cultural formations within and beyond the borders of the country.

I will present two case studies, the work of Anouar Brahem and the …

On Est Ensemble: A Participatory Study Of The Jembe Tradition As Preserved By The Griots Of West Africa, Joel Rowe

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In this study, I examine how a culture’s values are reflected in a specific pedagogical process through participant observation; in essence, I endeavor to examine first-hand the anthropology of pedagogy. The jembe, in truth, is comparable to a window into both the teaching model of a Senegalese master drummer and the cultural values reflected in his pedagogical method. In learning to play the parts of seven jembe rhythms with fluidity and recording their cultural significances, I discover the elements of criticism and sacrifice deeply inlaid in the tradition of this instrument. Relative to the communal setting of the griot family …

The Musician Is The Messenger: Islam And Jaliya In Mandinka Music, Blake Walker

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper explores the complex dynamics at play surrounding jalis, or professional praisesingers, in the culture of the Mandinka people of West Africa. Jalis, almost certainly present among the Mandinka prior to the arrival of Islam in the area, remain one of the strongest reminders of pre-Islamic culture in Mandinka society. However, the art and social roles of the jali have undergone numerous transformations in adapting, conforming to, and sometimes challenging Muslim cultural norms. This paper explores some of the means by which the two cultural fountainheads of Islam and West Africa are reconciled by jalis and other members of …

Kaya Hip-Hop In Coastal Kenya: The Urban Poetry Of Ukoo Flani, Divinity Lashelle Barkley

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the global world of the 21st Century, music is one of the few things that has the ability to cross physical as well as cultural borders, which is why my Independent Study Project (ISP) focuses on the role of hip-hop music in the youth culture in Kenya’s largest coastal city, Mombasa. Throughout history, music has proven its artistic power; inspiring people to resist oppression, challenge inequality, and even claim salvation.

This enduring characteristic of music is central to my ISP which explores the emergence of hip-hop in Kenya as well as the evolution of Ukoo Flani, one of the …

A Place In The World: Mh2o’S Construction Of A Peripheral Identity, Ryan Schutt

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Hip Hop and, more specifically, Rap music, has been a culture rooted in the notion of the social periphery, the section of society excluded from mainstream, capitalist, bourgeois society. It has historically been a way for this voiceless, disenfranchised, and alienated population to criticize, question, and protest its societal position. The Movimento do Hip-Hop Organizado uses this medium as a way of politicizing and mobilizing the excluded members of Brazilian society. Using Hip-Hop, the organization constructs a socially informed, politically aware, and critically conscious community that is united through their common identification with Hip-Hop culture and MH2O. The case is …

The Music Of Senegal: A Way Of Life In West Africa, Lucien Delabruere

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

“Music is in the veins and blood of the Senegalese people” (Bakayoko 2007). This paper aims to take a look into the reason for why this is. By examining the historical and present context of music in Senegal, one can better understand the social aspects of its music. In addition, analyses concerning the rhythmic and pedagogical importance will help provide a better picture for how we, as Westerners, can try to comprehend this rather undocumented subject.

Peace Through Music: Music And Multiculturalism In Fiji, Felice Carey

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The music of Fiji is as diverse as its population, and acts as both a mirror and catalyst to the culture. Indo-Fijians and indigenous Fijians have been the main players in Fiji’s multiculturalism, and are therefore focused upon. This paper explores the ways in which music is used to extol the benefits and cope with the problems of Fiji’s multiculturalism through cross-cultural listening (viewed from a perspective of radio) and fusion music. Fusion between Indo-Fijian and indigenous Fijian music is especially important – although extremely rare, it is in many ways a metaphor for attempts at racial reconciliation in Fiji.. …