Faculty Directory

Interview with Sean Williams

Teaching History
The Expression of Self, West to East; 2001-2002
Irish Spring: Living in Rural Ireland; Spring 2001
Awakening Ireland; Fall 2000 - Winter 2001
Performing Arts and Culture; Fall 1999 - Winter 2000
Envisioning Home: Finding Your Place Through Art and Music; 1998-99
Studies in Ethnomusicology and Ethnopoetics; Spring 1998
Perspectives on Ireland; Fall 1997 - Winter 1998
Foundations of Performing Arts; 1996-97
Irish Experience; 1994-95
Music Cultures of the World; 1993-94
Popular Art and Culture; 1992-93
Introduction to the Performing Arts; 1991-92

Recent and Current Areas of Interest

One of my main interests is looking at aspects of the performing arts as determinates of cultural identity. I am fascinated by seeing how something from a musical genre or an individual song or dance style can represent for a group of people exactly who they are. The questions of how, why, under what circumstances, and who is performing combine to produce a sense of identity for people are at the center of my work. These kinds of question apply to all music. For example, in my own research I am interested in how a particular song that blends aspects of nature with the identity of the ancestors can speak to someone who is an urbanite in west Java. I am interested in issues of identity and how those issues are set up or constructed by particular pieces, songs, dances or plays. Most of my research work focuses on Indonesia and on Ireland. In both cases I am interested in music generally, and particularly song.

Are there particular authors/artists/thinkers whose work you interested and which you often ask students to examine?

One of the major thinkers in my field of ethnomusicology is Bruno Nettl. His main point is that if you want to really study music in a cultural context you have to go there and be a part of it yourself. You can't just listen to the notes or let someone be a translator. This has transformed my way of thinking about what I know and teach. When I have direct experience with something I feel I can really teach with confidence. In all my work I have tried to really be a participant observer in the music and culture. Alan Merriam, in The Anthropology of Music, writes that we don't just study the notes, we study sound, the behavior that produces sound, and the concepts that lead to the behavior. Two of my teachers at the University of Washington, Ter Ellingson and Christopher Waterman, have helped me think about questions about music and philosophy, religion, patronage, economics and the interplay of the individual performing arts. These four people are rich influences on the way I study and understand ethnomusicology. Music is a whole package of culture and sound, not simply notes on paper.

Specific Skills, Competence, Techniques:

I'm a good writing teacher. I focus carefully on grammar and organization. Students are often quite surprised by the extent of my comments and attention. I help people focus their ideas as opposed to summarizing something someone else has said. I like them to figure out what they want to say before they turn their paper in. I also fight against procrastination by providing clear schedules and expectations. I teach songwriting and composition at a basic level. I teach Gamelan from the beginning level in the fall to performance by spring quarter. I teach traditional Irish singing.

In some circumstances, especially when students are doing study abroad, I focus on ethnographic field work. I try to keep students from making the most serious blunders. I stress that oftentimes the actual notes are the last thing they need to study.

What are key qualities you look for and techniques you use to assess and help students assess their work?

I look for a student who takes him or herself seriously. Some students are so self-deprecating that they can't rise to the occasion. Students have to believe in their ability to do outstanding work. The quality I look for is someone who believes in her/him self and the ability to find out something interesting. I am always challenging students to do their best. I have high expectations and make sure that I constantly ask students to do the best work they can do.

I am aware of cultural openness versus superiority. I look for hints of students seeing music from the inside rather than as a superior outsider. I want students to be aware of themselves as products of their own culture with its own rituals and judgements.

Teaching Style:
How would you characterize yourself as a teacher?

I speak on several different levels at once. I try to reach as many different students as possible. I use humor and try to be dynamic and keep things moving. I use concrete examples and tell stories to help students create a picture of what I am talking about. I am a demanding teacher about writing and attendance. I get insulted when students don't show up or fall asleep. I am quite generous about participation in seminar. I have students bring response papers to each seminar. I am a supportive teacher and believe that I am a good counselor. I am highly organized and hard working. I tend to be the person who controls the paper work. It is one obsessive way of guaranteeing I don't have programs from hell. I find that tight organization allows me to focus on content. I see myself as very personable and I like students to know more than just me as Sean Williams, Ph.D. - students will hear about my family. I often feel close to my students and become good friends with them after they are no longer in my class. The faculty-student barrier isn't that impermeable.

What types of students tend to do well with you?

Students who believe in themselves, but not to excess. Students who trust me to guide them. Students who are both culturally open, but can apply a grain of salt. I don't like students to think that everyone else is culturally brilliant and we’re just a bunch of stupid Americans. Students need to recognize that all cultures have both their good points and bad points. I like students who are willing to rewrite, in order to produce better work. It doesn't matter too much whether they are beginning or advanced, average or brilliant. It is the desire, belief in themselves, and cultural awareness that makes the difference.

What types of students have a hard time with you?

Students who are overly cynical, students who have sense of musical superiority, students who refuse to make connections, and students who believe that the world began with themselves, will all have a hard time with me. Finally students who don't take themselves seriously, for how can I take them seriously?

What do your student evaluations say about the way you come across to students?

Student evals say that I am passionate, enthusiastic, know a lot, harsh on student writing, that I make time for students, and that I adore my subject. Students say it is hard not to get excited about the things I am teaching.

Students sometimes complain about my opinion coming into my lectures. Sometimes students feel that I come across so authoritatively that they feel they can't respond. Sometimes students call me intimidating either on the basis of authority or because I am so enthusiastic that students don't dare disagree.

Expectations about Contracts, Internships, and Evaluation:
What qualities do you look for in a student who comes to you for work in a contract?

In the summer when contracts are relatively easy to come by I think they are good for exploration. But for school-year contracts (when I am really busy) the contracts need to be in subjects that I see as preparation for graduate school. Or I might support something that just doesn't and won't show up in the Evergreen curriculum. I love contracts which set up a student for how graduate work is done. I enjoy intensive research, interviews, field study - that type of work. I like supporting contracts if I can learn something, too.

Internships in the music industry are important vehicles for entry into that industry. I support radio internships, artist management internships: performing arts industry work as opposed to performing itself. I support them because they can lead to real work.

What information do you want to see when a person comes to look for a contract?

I want to see a written proposal. Often times I want a recommendation from another faculty member. Of course if I have worked with a student for some time previously, I am much more likely to sponsor a contract for that student. In contract proposals I want to see more than casual study. I want a specific plan for a paper or presentation. I want a specific set of books and activities, e.g., lessons they plan to undertake.

When writing evaluations what are the key qualities or attributes of student work you assess?

I assess students' overall presence in the program. Are they merely credit-seekers or did they dive in and work. What I look for is change. I look for discovery in each student. I write about their major work and then their writing. I try to be very specific and descriptive in what I say about the work. I want a future reader to know something about how the student's brain works. Finally I attend to the mechanics of the skill developed.

Interviewer: Matt Smith