To what extent can sound or music heal? This interdisciplinary course asks questions about music and healing around the world, drawing on the fields of medical ethnomusicology, medical anthropology, sound studies, and music therapy. Our case studies will be multi-sited, as we interrogate sound-based healings and healing sounds from diverse cross-cultural, global, and historic perspectives. No musical background is needed to interrogate these issues. We begin with the knowledge that the social, cultural, and political contexts where definitions of music and healing are created inform sound and its various and often conflicting interpretations and meanings. This course is currently full for Autumn Quarter MUSIC 22-MUSIC 23 enrollment.
3 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit · GER: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
To what extent can sound or music heal? This interdisciplinary course asks questions about music and healing around the world, drawing on the fields of medical ethnomusicology, medical anthropology, sound studies, and music therapy. Our case studies will be multi-sited, as we interrogate sound-based healings and healing sounds from diverse cross-cultural, global, and historic perspectives. No musical background is needed to interrogate these issues. We begin with the knowledge that the social, cultural, and political contexts where definitions of music and healing are created inform sound and its various and often conflicting interpretations and meanings. This course is currently full for Autumn Quarter 22-23 enrollment.
Offered in Autumn 2026 at Stanford University.