MUSC/ANTH 324 fulfills three general education requirements: Humanities; Visual and Performing Arts; and International and Cultural Diversity. As such the goals of this project are:

Goal 1. To provide undergraduate students with a high-impact educational experience through ethnographic research and performance-as-research opportunities. Students will be introduced to:

• Ethics of Research with Human Subjects
• IRB Procedures and Ethical Training Requirements
• The Emic/Etic Dichotomy
• Designing a Research Project & Writing a Research Proposal
• Participant-Observation Research Methods and Techniques
• Writing a Field Note Report
• Using Field Notes as Primary Source Data in Analytical Writing

Goal 2. To enhance appreciation of music and the performing arts. Students will be asked to:

• Explore how different cultures define music in relation to poetry, dance, religious chanting, and a variety of additional forms of cultural expression
• Examine how aesthetic preference (musical taste) varies from culture to culture
• Evaluate the motivations behind performance
• Expand individual understanding of music and the arts to include music’s ability to reflect and inform culture

Goal 3. To encourage diversity awareness between Aggies and their local, national, and international community. Students will leave this class having:

• Experienced the cultural diversity of the Bryan/College Station area
• Engaged in cross-cultural dialogue with a member of a culture outside of their own
• Served as a liaison between Texas A&M and the broader community and built bridges for future collaboration
• Helped showcase the musical and cultural diversity of Bryan/College Station
• Contributed to a forum for members of the local community to learn more about cultural diversity in the area