SlugAtlasUC Santa Cruz

MUSC 253DIssues in the Ethnography of Music

5 creditsGraduateStudent Option

Explores ethnography—the description of culture—as it relates to musicology and ethnomusicology, particularly where culture and cultural production are historically dynamic and geographically porous. Examines music with sensitivity to such complexities of context, and the disciplinary points of reference from which cultural difference is calculated. Considers the ideological imprint of methodology on cultural analysis: how to study an unfamiliar music in a way that transcends the measure of difference from the familiar, and, conversely, how to conduct an objective study of a familiar music.

Prerequisites

Enrollment is restricted to graduate students; advanced undergraduates may enroll with permission of the instructor.

Find a section and add it to your scheduleLive seat counts, time-conflict checks and the walk from your previous class.

When it runs

Winter 2026Open Winter 2026

SectionTypeWhenWhereInstructorSeats
01Seminar
Tue 9:00am–12:00pm
Music Center 245R. C. RodriguezOpen 4/8

Who teaches it

InstructorRatingDifficultyWould take againReviews
Russell Rodriguez3.7 / 52.6 / 560%11

From RateMyProfessors, which is student-submitted and not a survey. Small review counts move a long way on one bad quarter.

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