Is birdsong a form of music? This seminar explores how approaches to this question from different perspectives reveal the boundaries of the concepts of “music” and “birdsong.” We will consider what it means to listen to avian song in various contexts, incorporating historical and indigenous perspectives from around the world alongside contemporary academic approaches from various disciplines in the arts and sciences.

We will also analyze how musicians in diverse traditions have engaged with birdsong, discovering a wide range of human-avian encounters in sound. We will ground our intellectual work in the emplaced activity of listening to birds sing. Individually and collectively, students will conduct regular fieldwork throughout the seminar, through which they will come to recognize by sight and by ear an array of avian species who make their home year-round in and around Seattle.

Interested and eligible students may apply this course towards a Interdisciplinary Honors Program requirement. For details, you may speak with Professor Rodgers or contact the UW Honors program: https://honors.uw.edu/about/contact-us/

This course is taught by:

Assistant Teaching Professor Mark Rodgers, Music History, UW School of Music