How do people use sound and music to access alternate states of consciousness and otherworldly realms? This course explores the connection between music, sacred soundscapes, and spiritual perception across a range of musical practices and belief systems. Through different case studies from around the world, we will investigate the essential role of sound and melody in conjuring mystical and extrasensory states of being across social and regional contexts. Our study will include environmental-based sound explorations, where we explore techniques involving deep listening and sound painting. We will contextualize sacred and spiritual soundscapes within religious and cultural frameworks: exploring trance, possession, and intoxication from a musical perspective. Various sensorial exercises will heighten our awareness of sound and space – including breath, silence, and movement. By illuminating how sound moves within and across human bodies, we will explore how music enables transcendent experiences of ecstatic and otherworldly realms. Meets the Critical Learning: CP requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: SHB requirement.

Degree requirement — Critical Learning: CP, Critical Learning: SHB

1 unit — Carrizo

Offerings

Term	Block	Title	Instructor	Location	Student Limit/Available	Updated
Fall 2024	Block 4	Music, the Supernatural, and Otherworldly Realms	Liliana Carrizo	Packard Hall 9	15 / 0	12/22/2024