 "Photo: David Fitts/Echo staff photographer")
There is power in music. Melodies can unite people from all over the world and provide platforms for expression in ways that nothing else can.
Oluwafemi “Femi” Faseun, a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence and founding head of the Department of Theatre, Art, and Music at Lagos State University in Nigeria, is now at N.C. Central University.
With a PhD in Ethnomusicology, Faseun has taught music for over 30 years.
Ethnomusicology is the comparative study of themusic of different cultures.
“People relate more with machines here than human beings,” said Faseun, after observing the difference between the American culture and the one he was raised in.
Faseun has taught in Africa as well as in the United States, and has concluded that “teaching here has opened my eyes to so many other things. It has helped me understand American culture better.”
Technology in Nigeria is minimal. A student in Nigeria has difficulty doing their homework with constant power failure and very little access to the Internet.
“People act as individuals here, in my culture you act by considering the reaction of your community because you are a representative of your community,” said Fasuen.
Faseun said that in America, there should be no excuses because everything is provided for you.
All that you need to succeed in learning is right in front of you.
His courses include “Music of Africa,” “Theory and Method of Ethnomusicology,” “African Music and Society,” and “Contemporary Music of Africa.”
This semester, Faseun is teaching a senior seminar, “Ethnomusicology, and African Influences on Music of the Americas.”
He teaches his students to approach music objectively. It’s not just about what you like.
“It’s not about what you like, just because you like a particular music doesn’t mean I will.”
When you focus on the people, that’s when you find the power in music. If you are looking to take Fasuen you will find that he teaches that music is about people.
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