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  3. Latin American Music and Culture

Latin American Music and Culture (MUSI20236)

Undergraduate level 2Points: 12.5Not available in 2026

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Overview

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This subject explores the musical traditions of Spanish-speaking Latin America, focusing on the intersections of music, culture and language. A number of selected musical traditions will be examined including expressions from the Caribbean, Andean and River Plate regions such as Cuban son, Argentine tango, protest song and art music, among others.

These repertoires will be approached from a twofold perspective, concentrating on the different musical genres and their original cultural contexts, as well as critically examining their representations in mainstream Western culture through an analysis of the presence of Latin American music in media.

Delivery

This subject is co-delivered with MUSI40090 Latin American Music and Culture.

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of this subject, students should be able to:

  • aurally analyse different expressions of Latin American music according to their musical characteristics and be able to situate them in their socio-historical context;
  • discriminate between different Latin American musical traditions and be able to support your opinion with relevant musical evidence;
  • articulate historical, social and musical data in coherent narratives applying an adequate technical and scholarly vocabulary;
  • evaluate and criticise mainstream representations of Latin American music;
  • engage critically with the relevant literature in the field of Latin American music studies.

Generic skills

On completion of this subject students should be able to:

  • demonstrate an enhanced capacity to value the music of different cultures;
  • apply critical thinking and analytical skills to unfamiliar challenges;
  • seek out, organise and evaluate relevant information;
  • communicate effectively in oral and written forms;
  • collaborate effectively with others;
  • demonstrate a capacity for independent, self-reflective and critical enquiry;
  • apply appropriate critical skills to evaluate diverse musical and cultural phenomena;
  • communicate specific musical content in an academic context both in oral and written form.

Last updated: 6 November 2025