The course has introduced you to some of the core methods and current paradigms in the field of ethnomusicology, where music is culture. Methods you’ve discussed and practiced include ethnographic fieldwork and transcription. Paradigms include perspectives from feminist and queer studies; decolonization; and intersections of scholarship and activism to show how the production of new work in the field can grow and change as humanistic inquiry does the same.

The objective of the position paper is to have you further engage with a current paradigm (larger theme or model) in ethnomusicological study. Examples of paradigms include all of the topics in your course from Week 8 onward (see the course syllabus), as well as others that do similar work.