Echoes of Exile: Genocide and Displacement Studies in the Undergraduate Music Curriculum

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of several assignments and activities used to align academic- and performance-based music curricula with the “Echoes of Exile” concert offered as part of the 2016–2017 National Endowment for the Humanities/Kupferberg Holocaust Center (NEH/KHC) Colloquium Series, “Fleeing Genocide: Displacement, Exile and the Refugee.” The concert featured exile-inspired works (including a new commission), traced genocide and refugee experiences through multiple generations, and highlighted the human dimension of displacement. Through various creative assignments that resulted in performances and written artifacts, students were invited to listen and think critically and in context; engage with a wide range of musical testimonies; mediate between the self and “the other”; more fully experience historical events; and examine the tradition and the inherent fluidity of all music, which parallels the refugee experience.

Appendix: Class CD and Liner Notes Assignment

This assignment aligns with the 2016–2017 NEH/KHC Colloquium Series, “Fleeing Genocide: Displacement, Exile and the Refugee.” The goal of the assignment is to create a class compilation of music dealing with displacement, exile, and refugees, accompanied by detailed liner notes for each selection.

Assignment Description

Each student is asked to select two pieces or songs that deal with or are inspired by the themes of exile, displacement, and refugee life, and to write CD liner notes for the two selections. These can be in any language and any musical style, and can be drawn from the music you already know or be new discoveries.

Guidelines

STEP 1. Find two musical compositions/songs written on or inspired by the themes of exile, displacement, or refugee life. Note the title, composer, lyricist, and date of composition or release.

STEP 2. Provide an Internet link or an mp3 file (emailed to me) for the selected pieces. If your selections are songs, include the text/lyrics. In case of texts in languages other than English, provide both the original and the translation. Texts and lyrics do not count toward the four-page (two-page per piece) minimum.

STEP 3. Research the background of the pieces and their creators. You are looking for information that is significant in terms of the message/content of the piece. Keep in mind that everything you write must be in your own words and that all your sources should be listed in a separate bibliography page (not counted in the required number of pages). The bibliography page should follow the Chicago Manual of Style format.

STEP 4. Listen to the music many times, and comment on the relationship between music and text. In your commentary, describe how the composer achieves certain emotional effects or how the music gets the intended message across. Consider different elements of the music, such as: mood/character; structure/form; mode (major/minor); rhythmic/melodic/harmonic characteristics; instrumentation; texture; dynamics; range/register; and tempi.

STEP 5. Combine information from steps 1–4 in the format of liner notes (about two pages per composition). The lyrics and bibliography page should appear after the liner notes for each selection. You can use the sample liner notes provided on Blackboard for inspiration and as a guide.