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Past courses for Teachers

Smithsonian Folkways certificate course in World Music Pedagogy

July 3 – 7, 2017
University of St. Thomas
St. Paul, Minnesota

Audio, video, print, electronic, and human resources will be sampled in this intensive course, with the aim of learning as well as developing and understanding of ways to teach music of the world's cultures. Attention will be given to learning culture through songs, movement and dance experiences, instrumental music, and contextualized cultural components. Participants will be guided through recordings and curricular materials from the Smithsonian Folkways archives that fit the needs of students in knowing music (and knowing culture through music). Musical experiences will be tailored for use at various levels, including in classes for children, youth and adults in university and community settings, with occasional small group sessions to decipher and discuss applications for particular teaching contexts and aims. Enrolled participants will join together to share particular means of teaching world music, and will receive a certificate from the Smithsonian Institution in World Music Pedagogy.

Course instructors:

  • Nyssa Brown (American School of The Hague, The Netherlands) – South African Singing Games
  • Dr. Christopher Roberts (University of Washington) – Turkish Folk Music Nirmala Rajasekar – Indian Carnatic Music
  • Lyz Jaakola (Fon du Lac Reservation) – Anishaabe Ojibwe Music
  • Jayanthi Kyle – African-American Heritage Songs, Black Lives Matter Music
  • Joko Sutrisno (University of St. Thomas) – Indonesian Javanese Gamelan
  • Ira Witherspoon – Brazilian Capoeira
  • Dr. Karen Howard (University of St. Thomas) - Ghanaian Recreational Music, Balkan Singing Traditions, Afro-Peruvian Cajon
  • Others TBD

For more information, please contact Dr. Karen Howard: karen.howard@stthomas.edu

To view the course listing, please visit online.

Enrollment will open later in 2017.