Borns Jewish Studies Program

Where do we draw the boundaries between the music of one religious group and that of the peoples with whom they share geographies and histories? How does music lend nuance to seemingly self-explanatory distinctions between identity groups, allowing us to reimagine history? What is the sound of Jewishness? Who decides what a Jew sounds like?

In this course we will look at the ways in which music helps define group identity and blurs distinctions between majority and minority cultures. Through a perusal of historical essays, musicological analysis, primary sources and extensive listening and singing we will delve into the musical cultures of the Jewish diaspora. Exploring Jewish music practices will provide insight into ideas concerning borderlands, cultural mixing, communal preservation and change, and the role of longing in shaping musical practice. Dividing up the semester into three sections, we will begin with an introduction to conceptual Keywords that will drive our study of Jewish musics. Next we will delve into Area Studies and drink deep from a variety of musical genres from across a sampling of important geographical and cultural settings. Finally, we will introduce the idea of Musical Modernity, and think through the ways in which musical forms emerging from marginalized communities can express political and social participation in and resistance to the life of modern nation states. Over the course of the semester, important contemporary voices in Jewish music will be invited to speak to students to lend depth and texture to our study of scholarly and archival sources.