4 semester hoursUndergraduateLectureNUpath EXNUpath SI
Examines the ways in which music festivals shape and are shaped by the human desire to gather and celebrate. Through texts, guest lectures, class discussions, festival attendance (as ethnographic researchers), and service-learning alongside festival professionals, offers students an opportunity to learn how organizers make artistic, financial, and administrative decisions to deliver a unique festival experience. Explores the significance, widespread presence, and complex impacts of music festivals. Topics include how festivals shape musical life; what needs and desires festivals meet for producers and attendees; how festivals impact local communities and the natural environment; who defines the social, cultural, economic, and aesthetic values of the festival experience; and what festivals reveal about our history, present circumstances, and future potential.