Oxford University Might Scrap ‘Colonialist’ Musical Notation From Curriculum: Report
Professors at Oxford University are reportedly considering removing “colonialist” Western musical notation from the curriculum in an attempt to purge “white hegemony” from the oldest English-speaking university in the world.
“Academics are deconstructing the university’s music offering after facing pressure to ‘decolonise’ the curriculum following the Black Lives Matter protests,” according internal documents obtained by The Telegraph. Black Lives Matter protests spread to the United Kingdom after engulfing the United States following the death of George Floyd last May.
Professors reportedly claimed that the classical repertoire Oxford teaches, encompassing works from composers such as Mozart and Beethoven, is overly focused on “white European music from the slave period.”
The development of Western music predates the Atlantic slave trade.
“Teaching notation which has not ‘shaken off its connection to its colonial past’ would be a ‘slap in the face’ for some students, documents state, and music-writing studies have been earmarked for rebranding to be more inclusive,” the Telegraph further reported regarding the professors’ discussions.
The academics reportedly further argued that learning musical skills, which has formed a key part of a well-rounded liberal arts education since the Middle Ages, should no longer be compulsory because it “structurally centres white European music,” which causes “students of colour great distress,” the Telegraph said.
A spokesperson for Oxford maintained in a statement to the Washington Examiner, however, that “there is no truth in the ‘sheet music’ claim” and that such reports emerged from the musings of just one professor:
While retaining (and in no way diminishing) our traditional excellence in the critical analysis, history and performance of the broad range of western art music, we are exploring ways to enhance our students’ opportunities to study a wider range of non-western and popular music from across the world than is currently on offer, as well as music composition, the psychology and sociology of music, music education, conducting, and much more. We look forward to sharing our curriculum in the coming months.
British author Douglas Murray, who attended Oxford’s Magdalen College, recently spoke to Fox News host Tucker Carlson on his new show “Tucker Carlson Today” regarding the politicization of everything.
“The whole sense of what is important in our society has changed radically and in an ugly direction,” said Murray. “It makes everything political. It wants to politicize everything. It wants to politicize art. It wants to politicize poetry. All of the things that were meaningful in our lives have been picked up and spun through this cycle of politics.”
“And it’s boring, it’s ugly, and I think it’s the job of any sensible person to say, ‘I refute this. I refuse to join in this game. I refuse to have this vision of life. I have a better vision of life and how it should be lived.’ And we should assert that,” he added.
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