Shasha Seminar to Focus on Music and Public Life Theme Nov. 8-9

The 11th Annual Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns, featuring keynote speaker, ethnomusicologist Anthony Seeger, will be held on Nov. 8-9. Endowed by James J. Shasha ’50 P’82, the seminar is an educational forum for Wesleyan alumni, students, faculty and friends that provides an opportunity to explore issues of global concern in a small seminar environment.

The focus of this year’s seminar is Music and Public Life. It is part of a year-long celebration of Music and Public Life taking place at Wesleyan over the 2012-13 academic year. The full schedule is online here.

Seeger’s keynote address, to be delivered at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 8, is called, “Can We Safeguard Disappearing Musical Traditions? And If We Can, Should We?” Seeger is distinguished professor of ethnomusicology, emeritus, at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and director emeritus of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings at the Smithsonian Institution. His books and published articles have focused on issues of land use and human rights for Brazilian Indians, issues of archiving and intellectual property, and ethnomusicology theory and method. He was executive producer of all recordings issued on the Smithsonian Folkways label between 1988 and 2000, a total of about 250 audio and video recordings.

Seminar participants also will be treated to concerts and will participate in musical workshops. On Nov. 9, two discussion sessions will be held on local music and national/transnational music.

Wesleyan’s Winslow-Kaplan Professor of Music Mark Slobin will facilitate the seminar. He is author and editor of many books on Afghanistan and Central Asia, eastern European Jewish music, and ethnomusicology theory.

The registration fee is $100 per person, and includes all sessions, receptions, meals and conference materials. Seating is limited; register online here. Contact Kathy Macko at kmacko@wesleyan.edu or 860-685-2737 for information on scholarship assistance.