Sociomusicology: Multiculturalism in Music and Education

6/15/08

Multiculturalism in Music and Education

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To what extent do musical experiences open windows to intercultural understanding?

For the past few decades the effects of multiculturalism have been seen in the field of music education within North America, Europe and elsewhere. While many contributions in this area have been effective and inspiring for a new generation of music students, others have reinforced stereotypes and given “multiculturalism” a poor image. Although the ideals of multiculturalism may now seem to be rather widely shared, there is actually little agreement regarding finite connotations of the term and the motivations of those who would advocate it as a component of educational philosophy. “Multiculturalism” is no longer the popular concept in educational discourse that it had been in the 1980s and 90s, and in many nations there is less interest in recognizing the cultures of minority peoples than in attaining a unified and patriotic national identity. Why is this so? Is multiculturalism no longer relevant? How have the meanings of "multiculturalism" changed in the domains of music and education? More research and scholarship are sorely needed in this field.

Recommended Links to Related Websites:

Center for Multicultural Education (University of Washington)
http://depts.washington.edu/centerme/home.htm

Globalization and Education (University of Illinois)
http://globalizationandeducation.ed.uiuc.edu/Teaching/index.html

Cultural Diversity in Music Education (CDIME)
http://www.cdime-network.com/

International Society for Music Education
http://isme.org/

Current Activities in this Area:

* I authored the chapter on “Jazz and Rock” and co-authored the chapter on “World Beat” for the third edition of Multicultural Perspectives in Music Education (Rowman-Littlefield/MENC).

[2012-UPDATE: See

Finnish Journal of Music Education, Vol.13, No.1

Also, here is a webpage with individual links to several of my publications on this topic:

http://hib.academia.edu/DavidHebert/Papers

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Welcome to Sociomusicology

For a decade (since 2007), this website has offered musings on contemporary society and its music by David G. Hebert, PhD. He is a sociomusicologist specializing in global music education who has held academic positions with universities on five continents. Dr. Hebert is now a tenured full Professor with Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen. There he leads the Grieg Academy Music Education (GAME) research group and manages the multinational government-funded Nordic Network for Music Education, which organizes annual intensive Master courses and exchange of teachers and students across eight countries. He is also a Visiting Professor in Sweden with the Malmo Academy of Music (Lund University), and an Honorary Professor in China with the Education University of Hong Kong.

Professor Hebert's research applies an international-comparative perspective to issues of pluralism, identity, and cultural relevance in music education, as well as processes by which new music traditions emerge and change - both sonically and socially - as they are adopted into institutions. Born in the 1970s, he is among the most widely-published and globally-active music scholars of his generation (h-index:20; i10-index:28), with professional activities in an average of 8 countries per year across the past decade (2008-2020).