MUS4652 – Music, Technology, and Society
Course description
Course content
This course offers an introduction to the role of technology in music and society. It addresses central themes in the social and cultural study of music technology, and couples these with hands-on experiences.
Learning outcome
On completing this course the student will be able to
- identify main features of the historical and social development of music technology
- describe major conceptual, critical, and political themes in past and present scholarship surrounding technology and music
- ground these critical concepts and methods in practical applications
- implement these skills in writing and verbal articulation
Admission to the course
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.
Recommended previous knowledge
It is recommended that the student has some musical background.
Overlapping courses
- 10 credits overlap with MUS4830 – Music, technology and production (continued).
Teaching
- 8 double lectures
- 4 double periods of seminars, which will be held after the lecture sequence
Compulsory activities
- Qualification assessment: Throughout the course, students are to independently engage creatively or practically with a form of music technology that is new to them. This project will be decided by the student in consultation with those responsible for the course. But examples could include: learning an instrument, building an instrument or effects unit, creating an app, making a recording, and so on. Students should keep a detailed notebook where they reflect on this process in concert with ideas from the lectures and readings. They will then present their project, including their critical thoughts and reflections, in a seminar presentation of 10 minutes. This will be followed by at least 10 minutes of discussion, facilitated by the student.
Information about the assignments and the deadlines will be given during the teaching and in Canvas. You have to hand in the assignments within the deadlines, and you are responsible for familiarising yourself with the requirements for the compulsory activities.
The compulsory activities are only valid within the current semester. All compulsory activities must be approved in order to sit for the exam. Students are responsible to keep track of registered absences and check that everything has been approved.
This is how you apply for a valid absence from compulsory activity/compulsory attendance.
Examination
- Term paper (English or a Scandinavian language) - 10 pages of approximately 2,300 characters (not including spaces).
- The main assessment for this course is a term paper in which the students reflect critically on the practical or creative work done for their qualification assessment. Students should adopt one of the critical perspectives described in the lectures and readings, and they should write about the work of their qualification assessment through this perspective. Such work may be described as a form of reverse engineering, where students are required to break down and understand what drives a particular critical perspective or reading, and then mimic that perspective or reading in relation to their own object of study.
You have to fulfill the requirements of the compulsory activities to sit the exam.
Language of examination
The examination text is given in English. You may submit your response in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.