What are the musical cultures outside of Colby College and what are the communities making this music? The students in this course engage this question through direct interaction and observation of Maine’s diverse communities.
Students learn ethnographic field methods and take field trips throughout the semester to conduct interviews at sites that make up the rich tapestry of Maine’s soundscape, including local Waterville establishments and within the Penobscot, Lebanese, Somali, Russian, and French-Canadian communities (the group under study rotates).
The culminating project of this course is a short documentary film based on material students gathered in their fieldwork.
As a part of this class, we discuss and consider issues of representation and of going out into the field. We consider it important to recognize that our fieldwork represents an opportunity to build bridges with the communities we study.