Valuing Music Lecture Series (June 27-29)

This year’s topic: Valuing Music, feathering Timothy Taylor, professor of ethnomusicology and musicology at the University of Los Angeles (UCLA). In a series of three public lectures held on three subsequent days, Dr. Taylor will explore questions of value with respect to music as a form of cultural production.

Questions of value have concerned anthropologists for generations. However, only recently there have been concerted attempts to try to formulate a more general theory of value that can encompass both Marx’s and Mauss’s seminal writings. Linking up to this recent work—by David Graeber, Michael Lambek, Fred Myers, Anna Tsing, and others—the lectures explore questions of value with respect to music as a form of cultural production. The lecture series is public.

Master Class (June 27-30)

The Master Class provides young researchers with the opportunity to present their work, discuss it with leading exponents of their field (Dr. Taylor among them) and relate it to recent developments and debates. We therefore invited researchers with academic backgrounds in anthropology, musicology, sociology or related fields (preferably PhD and postdoc level) to apply for the Master Class. While there are no restrictions in regard to the region of study or to the kind of music or sound explored, the Master Class directly relates to the topic of the lecture series and thus will focus on questions of value and music. The Application is closed.