Exploring the In-Between: Liminality, Music, and Media

Liminality is the state of in-betweenness; adolescence, being an immigrant, shape-shifting in mythology and literature, moving from dreaming to awakeness, and many other states connect with this idea. In this program, students will explore what it means to be in the threshold state—whether as human beings or in the natural world. Weekly lectures and seminars will focus on elements of transformation and the many ways in which music, media, and other expressive cultures can facilitate one's ability to be in between one state of being and another. Everyone will be engaged in hands-on learning in both media and musical practice. Analog media can shift between moving images and aspects of the visual arts, including animation, alternative process photography, and handmade printmaking media. In music, we move from listening to playing to understanding how people from different backgrounds work with sound. This is not a psychology program; instead, it leans closely on existing traditions and practices. We will explore the ways in which performing and analog media artists have engaged with the experience of the in-between.

This program is coordinated with Greener Foundations for first-year students. Greener Foundations is Evergreen’s in-person 2-quarter introductory student success course sequence, which provides first-year students with the skills and knowledge they need to thrive at Evergreen. Students expected to take Greener Foundations should use CRN 10210 to register for a 2-credit Greener Foundations course in addition to this 14-credit program. 

First-year students who are not expected to take Greener Foundations or have been granted an exemption should use CRN 10029 to register for this program. Find more details about who isn't expected to take Greener Foundations on the Greener Foundations website.

Anticipated Credit Equivalencies: 

2 – Expository Writing

4 – Music in Theory and Practice

4 – Analog Media in Theory and Practice

4 – Liminality Studies