Musical Interludes and Teaching Laboratory: Learning and Student Engagement in an Economic Anthropology Classroom

Abstract

We report on two exercises, musical interludes and the teaching laboratory, we developed for use in Economic Anthropology courses. The Musical Interlude asks students to present a song to the class (typically using a music video) and responding to a series of questions, summarizing the ways it reflects course themes. For the teaching laboratory, students are organized into working groups and collectively analyse and present their selections during the last week of class, addressing specific themes including altruism and selfishness. These assignments embrace the concept of musicking introduced by Christopher Small (1998), as students capture what he describes as music’s social value in understanding ourselves and others.