Musical Research in the Contemporary Urban Environment
Code: 40829 ECTS Credits: 10| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Musicology, Musical Education and Interpretation of Early Music | OT | 0 |
Contact
- Name:
- Carles Badal Perez-Alarcon
- Email:
- carles.badal@uab.cat
Teachers
- Gabrielle Kaufman
- Diego Alonso Tomás
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
None
Objectives and Contextualisation
By the end of the course, students should:
- Have a general understanding of the potential applications of technologies related to data visualization and analysis.
- Possess basic vocabulary in the field of digital humanities and data management.
- Be able to search, read, and summarize research findings on music from other academic disciplines.
- Have an overview of the role of music in different areas of scientific research.
- Be familiar with the main lines of debate in contemporary research on musical practices in urban spaces.
- Understand the theoretical and methodological approaches of the so-called "New Musicology" and its developments in recent decades.
- Be able to apply different musicological analysis perspectives focused on issues of gender, identity, and social class.
Competences
- Analyze music according to cultural areas and according to the social contexts in which they arise and develop by applying it to research and interpretive projects.
- Applying critical projects musicological research and interpretive projects.
- Consider innovative projects musicological research and interpretive projects.
- Develop the capacity to assess sex and gender inequalities in order to design solutions to them.
- Distinguish and apply different methodologies musicological research and research in music education-oriented projects.
- To analyze the different contexts (social, economic, historical, artistic) involved in the music profession to develop appropriate research work.
Learning Outcomes
- Adapt the results of contextual analysis of the study of contemporary urban environment where different social realities involved
- Apply critical capacity in musicological research projects and interpretive projects.
- Apply research methodologies prior to every type of music research project in the contemporary urban environment.
- Compare methodological procedures developed in the last three decades in the study of complex musical activity of contemporary societies, and especially in urban environments.
- Develop the capacity to assess sex and gender inequalities in order to design solutions to them.
- Discuss contemporary socio-musical contexts from the perspective of gender studies.
- Distinguish the distinctive characteristics of the various musical cultures of the contemporary urban environment
- Mastering historiographical analysis tools adapted to the study of urban music
- Propose innovative projects proposed in musicological research and interpretive projects.
- Recognise the contributions of gender studies to the topics being researched.
- Relate contemporary music systems with their contexts of production and reception
Content
The module is organized into three thematic blocks:
Block 1: Musicology and Digital Humanities (professor: Carles Badal)
- History of digital humanities: where we are and where we come from
- Basic concepts in digital humanities and data environments
- Data formats and analysis: file types and data management
Block 2: Music Research in Natural and Social Sciences (professor: Gabrielle Kaufman)
- Introduction to methodologies, tools and applications of music research in natural and social sciences
Block 3: New Musicology (professor: Diego Alonso)
- "New Musicology" and its recent developments: identity, gender and social class as analytical categories in current musicological research
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Seminars with in-class participation (in-person or virtual) | 40 | 1.6 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Case studies | 30 | 1.2 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Work on mandatory readings | 30 | 1.2 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11 |
| Writing and editing critical papers on course content | 60 | 2.4 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11 |
This module follows a hybrid format, combining theoretical lectures delivered by the instructor and in-class collaborative work on practical case studies. These sessions will deepen the understanding of theoretical aspects and key concepts from the syllabus.
This seminar-style approach and learning methodology actively engage students. Course content will be acquired primarily through:
-
Reading and discussing selected texts.
- Analyzing and debating proposed audiovisual materials.
Active participation requires personal commitment to prepare assigned readings and viewings beforehand to contribute meaningfully to in-class discussions.
As a postgraduate course, independent work plays a significant role in the methodology. Tasks will be completed both individually and in collaborative groups. Students will also participate in peer assessment of materials generated during seminars.
The module has a dedicated Moodle classroom, where the activity schedule and teaching materials will be published.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment 1.1 (papers, presentations, and/or exams) | 24% | 15 | 0.6 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 |
| Assessment 1.2 (papers, presentations, and/or exams) | 24% | 15 | 0.6 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 |
| Assessment 2.1 (papers, presentations, and/or exams) | 12% | 10 | 0.4 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 |
| Assessment 3.1 (papers, presentations, and/or exams) | 12% | 10 | 0.4 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 |
| Participation in work sessions | 20% | 40 | 1.6 | 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 11 |
Each teacher may evaluate students through one or multiple assessment methods (written assignment, presentation, or exam) that will be specified at the beginning of the course. The overall grade for each block (Participation + Assessments) will contribute to the final grade according to the same percentage as the teaching sessions:
- Digital Humanities and Musicology (60%)
- Music Research in Natural and Social Sciences (20%)
- New Musicology: Gender and Social Class Identities (20%)
If assessments cannot be conducted in person, their format will be adapted (while maintaining the same weighting) using the virtual tools available at UAB. Homework, activities, and class participation will take place through forums, wikis, and/or exercise discussions via Teams, etc. The instructor will ensure students can access these or will provide alternative means within their capabilities.
The submission of any assignment or attendance at any written test will count as an 'in-person' activity for the course. Therefore, only students who have not completed any assessment throughout the course may be classified as "non-assessable."
SINGLE ASSESSMENT OPTION:
- For the single assessment option, four pieces of evidence will be considered (two for the first block, one for each of the other two block), with at least two different assessment types (written assignment, presentation, or exam).
- Each instructor will specify the requirements for their block's assessment at the beginning of the course.
- The weight of each assessment in the final grade will be 30%, 30%, 20% and 20%.
For this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted exclusively for support tasks, such as bibliographic or information searches, text correction, translations, and other similar uses that the teaching staff may expressly authorize. In any written activity, students must clearly identify which parts were developed using AI technology and specify the tools employed. Failure to disclose the use of AI in an assessable activity will be considered a breach of academic integrity and may result in partial or total grade penalties.
If a student commits any irregularity that may lead to significant variation in an assessment grade, that assessment will be graded 0, regardless of any disciplinary processthat mayfollow. If multiple irregularities occur in assessments for the same course, the final grade for the course will be 0.
Bibliography
Beard, David and Gloag, Kenneth (ed.). Musicology: The Key Concepts. New York and London: Routledge, 2005.
Burdick, Anne; Drucker, Johanna; Lunenfeld, Peter; Presner, Todd ; Schnapp, Jeffrey. Digital_humanities. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2012. (https://archive.org/details/DigitalHumanities_201701)
D'Angelo, Robin. Fragilidad blanca. Ediciones del Oriente y del Mediterráneo, 2021.
Manchado, Marisa (ed.). Música y mujeres: Género y poder. Ménades Editorial, 2019.
Marín, Miguel Angel. “Challenging the Listener: How to Change Trends in Classical Music Programming”. Resonancias, vol. 22, n° 42, 115-130, 2018. (https://investigacion.unirioja.es/documentos/5cf121312999525b985d0461)
Mikutta, C.A.; G. Maissen, A. Altorfer W. Strik i T. Koenig. “Professional musicians listen differently to music”. Neuroscience. 268, 102-111, 2014. (https://www.ibroneuroscience.org/article/S0306-4522(14)00213-9/abstract)
Müllensiefen, D.; B. Gingras, J. Musil i L. Stewart. “The Musicality of Non-Musicians: An Index for Assessing Musical Sophistication in the General Population.” PLoS ONE 9(2), 2014. (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0089642)
National Endowment for the Arts. Officeof Research and Analysis. Why we Engage: Attending, Creating, and Performing Art. Sept 2020. (https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/Why-We-Engage-0920_0.pdf)
Ramos, Pilar. Feminismo y música: Introducción crítica. Narcea Ediciones, 2003.
Sloboda, J. i O’Neill, S. “Emotions in everyday listening to music”. In: Music and emotion: Theory and researched, ed. per J. Sloboda i P.N Juslin. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. 415-429.
Williamon, A.; J. Ginsborg, R. Perkins, i G. Waddell. Performing Music Research: Methods in Music Education, Psychology, and Performance Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021.
Software
LIBRE OFFICE
Free and open-source office software will be used, specifically the Base (relational database manager) and Calc (spreadsheet) applications.
https://es.libreoffice.org/descarga/libreoffice/
GEPHI
Free and open-source software for graph and network visualization.
https://gephi.org/
VOYANT
Free and open-source software for text analysis and visualization.
https://voyant-tools.org/
Groups and Languages
Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (TEm) Theory (master) | 1 | Catalan/Spanish | first semester | afternoon |