Dimapur, Feb. 29 (EMN): The Naga Scholars’ Association (NSA) hosted a discussion on the topic of ethnomusicology as a means of understanding people in the past. The event was conducted on February 28 at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, a press release from the organisation on Saturday informed.
The speaker for the event was Dr. Peter D’Sena from the University of Hertfordshire in the UK who is also a senior research fellow at the University of London, the updates stated.
The session was presided over by Dr. Susmita Dasgupta, chief economist at Joint Planning Commission, ministry of Steel.
The speaker, Dr. D’Sena, discussed issues such as migration and music, environment and music, and music as pedagogy. He said ethnomusicology is the study of music in relation to the society and culture in which it was created, and is one of the keys for unlocking the values, perceptions and histories of people in the past.
D’Sena said ethnomusicology is also important in reconstructing the histories of the people who left very few written records. He used examples from 18th century Britain and 20th century America to point out how ethnomusicology enhanced the understanding of people in the past with respect to issues such as gender, crime, racism, and sexuality, the press release stated.
“Using multiple examples from his research findings, Dr. Peter also mentioned that ethnomusicology can be applied as a progressive educational strategy or tool for making student interested in teaching-learning and engaging them to be a part of studying history in order to understand the present. He also suggests that ethnomusicology can be used as a methodology for relearning history,” the NSA stated.
The main focus of the talk was to find and adopt ‘new methods of teaching-learning, assessment and research by facilitators across disciplines,’ the NSA stated.
Further, D’Sena explained “the new strategy for teaching-learning through the medium of discipline of history,” according to the press release. He was stated to have pointed out the significance of “approaching history through the medium of decoding music,” for instance in folk songs as an interesting way of engaging students so as to understand notions of gender and political legitimacy, among others, in a particular period of time.
‘In an era when commercialisation of education is a growing phenomenon, this approach shall prove to be very useful for teachers to impart values in the students’ community. This shall further prove to be useful for children engaged in the working sector and involve them in the curriculum paradigm,’ the press release stated.
It was informed that faculty members and research scholars from different disciplines and universities in Delhi attended the event. The talk was followed by a lively question and answer session and discussions during which the audience shared with the speaker their experiences of music, folklore, communal harmony, and migration in the Naga context with respect to music, the updates stated.