<p>Hello LRockinLDN,</p>
<p>I am a current sophomore at Sarah Lawrence and I am a student who both takes classes in the Music Department and concentrates in Africana Studies! </p>
<p>In reply to Music at Sarah Lawrence-- SLC has a very strong music department in which you study as a ‘Music Third’ with a combination of components (courses), structured to create a seasoned course of study where theory meets practice. This third (5 credits) is one of the three courses (which altogether make up 15 credits) you take in any given semester. When registered as a Music third, one is required to take a minimum of four courses (which meet less frequently than an academic seminar or lecture)-- Individual Instruction (instrumental, performance, composition, or voice), Music theory/history, a Performance Ensemble, and attendance of various on campus concerts. Although I am registered as a Theatre third, which allows me to take classes in Music and Dance (and as a Music third you may also take Theatre and Dance classes), my experience of studying voice individually with a professor has been extremely valuable and tailored to my specific needs as a singer. From the many friends I have in the music department, they are extremely excited by the course offerings and their ability to create a program for themselves with structure, allowing them to become diversely informed musicians. Since you are interested in Africana Studies, it is worthwhile to note that the department offers classes in Ethnomusicology, where you can bridge music theory and performance with critical ethnographic studies of music among various Native American populations, various West African ethnic groups, the Caribbean, Ancient Greece, various Latin American cultures, and more. </p>
<p>In reply to Africana Studies at Sarah Lawrence-- it is certainly a popular area of study at Sarah Lawrence, which is reflected by the broad selection of courses offered. Africana Studies is not one department at SLC, but considered a cluster, where various fields of study (History, Psychology, Sociology, Literature, Language, Geography, Anthropology, Music, and Politics, among others) come together to create understanding from multiple perspectives. Through a combination of multiple fields of study, one really comes to understand the intricacies of the African diaspora not only in the US and African nations, but also in the contexts of the Caribbean and Latin America. Through the selection of courses that I have undertaken, I have become deeply interrogative of the historical roots of contemporary systems of class and racial inequality in the US, the constructions of racialized social structure (in the US and other nations too), and education in various African ethnic groups (in my case, combined with my passion for Theatre). Through your conference work, too, you can delve further into class materials or explore a topic tangential to the course that piques your fascination. For example, in my Gender, Education, and Opportunity in Africa course this semester, I am looking at post-colonial cultural reclamation through theatre, which is a vital part of many African cultures. This is one of many routes that one can take, allowing students to come away with a well-rounded understanding of African cultures and diaspora.</p>