The Online Program of events for the SEM 2024 Annual Meeting appears below. This program is subject to change. The final program will be published in early October.
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1F: Teaching Palestine through Music, Dance, and the Arts
Time:
Thursday, 17/Oct/2024:
10:00am - 12:00pm
Sponsored by the Society for Arab Music Research (SAMR)
Presentations
Teaching Palestine through Music, Dance, and the Arts
Organizer(s): David McDonald (Indiana University,), Shayna Silverstein (Northwestern University), Anne Elise Thomas (Virginia Tech University), Hanna Salmon (University of Texas), Nili Belkind (Hebrew University), Andrea Shaheen Espinosa (Arizona State University)
Chair(s): David McDonald (Indiana University)
Despite widespread public interest in learning more about the Palestinian crisis, many college-level educators do not include Palestine in their syllabi for fear that the topic is too politically sensitive, complex, or difficult to manage. With the conviction that college classrooms must remain crucial sites of unrestrained inquiry and expression, and that expressive cultural practices offer essential opportunities to explore and engage diverse perspectives, this roundtable aims to empower college-level educators with the content, strategies, and resources necessary to teach Palestine through music, dance, and the arts. Short presentations will be followed by moderated discussion on the following topics: Trauma-Aware Pedagogy; Sample Lesson Plans and Topics; Essential Teaching Resources; Tips and Strategies, and Musical Repertoire and Performance. Participants will be provided with detailed lesson plans, sample assignments, readings, and multimedia resources. Roundtable speakers will further present specific case studies that address larger issues such as violence, cultural erasure, censorship, and media bias. The roundtable will then shift to teaching strategies and public outreach. Finally, the roundtable will present strategies for including Palestinian music and dance in college-level ensembles. Throughout the roundtable there will be ample time allotted for in-depth conversation following each presentation. Ultimately, this roundtable proceeds from the belief that incorporating Palestine into an ethnomusicology curriculum provides students with essential opportunities to critically engage aspects of the Palestinian crisis beyond mainstream narratives while mobilizing ethnomusicological coursework toward justice-oriented destinations.