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Last modified: 11 Jun 2026 14:16
The Artist as an Agent for Change explores the power music has to create and strengthen communities through activist approaches to social change. This interactive, activity-based course will bring together the academic and practical approaches to the field of Community Music through engagement with research, practical workshops and reflective dialogues.
This is an interactive, activity-based course that merges the academic and practical studies of Community Music.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | Second Term | Credit Points | 15 credits (7.5 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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Through interdisciplinary reading, practical workshops and reflective dialogue students will explore the power music has to create and strengthen communities, whilst striving for equality, equity and social justice through activist approaches to social change.
The course will use case studies from diverse global contexts including the Craigmillar Festival Society and People’s Festival, the Spitalfields Festival, approaches to music as a tool for peacebuilding internationally (with a focus on the Middle East), and the impact of music in the cultural acceptance and treatment of HIV/AIDS in Uganda and Kenya.
Practical workshops will focus on the use of stimuli to empower participants to respond to specific needs within their community contexts. Workshops are designed from a modelling standpoint, therefore students will engage as participants in community music workshops before analysing the pedagogical approaches and techniques used.
The specific teaching methodologies used within this course are based on educational concepts developed to enable students to secure ownership of their learning. This is done through a focus on scaffolded educational dialogues and challenges that highlight the transactions between knowledge and experience whilst enabling students to undertake a journey in search of their own truth.
This can be further articulated succinctly using the writing of Chris Watkins:
“From the stance ‘learning = building knowledge together with others’, a self-directed learner is seen to:
The course is further underpinned by the principles of reflective and reflexive practices, which are built on the work of Brookfield, Gibbs, Kolb and Schon.
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 40 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 32 | Feedback Weeks | 35 | |
| Feedback |
Write a 1000-word essay that presents your academic stance on ‘what community music is and can be’. This is a personal and reflective assessment that requires you to bring forward your own thoughts and opinions, however, it is vital that you use class content and discussion, as well as academic literature and additional sources to support this. Written feedback will be provided on both assessments via MyAberdeen. |
Word Count | 1000 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Factual | Understand | Demonstrate and work with an understanding of the scope and defining features of the Community Music field and a foundational knowledge of its main areas and boundaries. |
| Procedural | Apply | Demonstrate how the Community Musician applies a critical understanding of theories, concepts and principles in a range of community settings. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 60 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 42 | Feedback Weeks | 44 | |
| Feedback |
‘‘Every community musician believes they invented community music’ (Imry 2013 cited in Camlin 2015) Create a 15-minute presentation that gives a statement on what Community Music means to you and how this understanding will influence your future approaches to musicking (regardless of field). This presentation should explore a range of perspectives drawn from your Summative Assessment Part A submission, class content and discussion, academic literature and other sources. Note: This presentation should make reference to your perceptions of the Community Musician’s potential influence in regard to cultural, social and/or political change within community contexts. Written feedback will be provided on both assessments via MyAberdeen. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Apply | Apply knowledge, skills and understanding by using a range of the practices associated with the field of community music through the use of routine methods of enquiry and research. |
| Reflection | Analyse | To demonstrate autonomy in the articulation of their understanding of defining features of this course’s content within the development of their own understanding of their future practice. |
There are no assessments for this course.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 40 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Write a 1000-word essay that presents your academic stance on ‘what community music is and can be’. This is a personal and reflective assessment that requires you to bring forward your own thoughts and opinions, however, it is vital that you use class content and discussion, as well as academic literature and additional sources to support this. Written feedback will be provided via MyAberdeen. |
Word Count | 1000 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
|
|
||
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 60 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
‘‘Every community musician believes they invented community music’ (Imry 2013 cited in Camlin 2015) Create a 15-minute presentation, recorded on Panopto, that gives a statement on what Community Music means to you and how this understanding will influence your future approaches to musicking (regardless of field). This presentation should explore a range of perspectives drawn from your Summative Assessment Part A submission, class content and discussion, academic literature and other sources. Note: This presentation should make reference to your perceptions of the Community Musician’s potential influence in regard to cultural, social and/or political change within community contexts. Written feedback will be provided via MyAberdeen. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
|
|
||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Apply | Demonstrate how the Community Musician applies a critical understanding of theories, concepts and principles in a range of community settings. |
| Factual | Understand | Demonstrate and work with an understanding of the scope and defining features of the Community Music field and a foundational knowledge of its main areas and boundaries. |
| Procedural | Apply | Apply knowledge, skills and understanding by using a range of the practices associated with the field of community music through the use of routine methods of enquiry and research. |
| Reflection | Analyse | To demonstrate autonomy in the articulation of their understanding of defining features of this course’s content within the development of their own understanding of their future practice. |
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