Your assignment is to write up a musical case study that we have not studied in class. You should choose a world music genre that is outside of the mainstream of Western pop-rock, hip-hop, or R&B music.
Your job is to do some research about this genre and find something in it that connects with some of the themes of the course (authenticity, exoticism, race, economics, technology, crossing over, etc.) You might choose to focus on how one particular artist and his or her work exemplify these themes. You could even focus on just one song.
You will have to give some basic description of the genre, but your paper should not be just a Wikipedia-type article. I am asking you to think critically about this genre, to compare and contrast it with genres we have studied, to place it in a larger context, and to make an argument.
You will need to do research for this assignment. If you are writing about a genre that is currently popular, newspapers and blogs are great resources to begin with. If you read the Wikipedia article on the genre or an artist, mine the bibliography for sources to follow up with. Check Google Scholar. You will often be able to find the full-texts of sources through the MSU library website. If you are having difficulty finding resources, talk to your professor or your teaching assistant. We may be able to help point you in the right direction.
This paper should end up being between 1300 and 1700 words, including bibliography. That is not a lot of space, so tell me about the genre, make a couple of points, and wrap up. You should include a formal Works Cited section for anything that you quote.
