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The Humanities Program at the Barenboim-Said Akademie is based on our founders Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said’s lifelong commitment to the profound relationship between music and humanism. It reflects our conviction that classical musicians who receive a broad education – rather than narrowly specialized training – will become better situated in the cultural contexts in which they live and work and will grow as artists, human beings, and global citizens. Our mission is to sustain and nourish this growth by offering a liberal arts curriculum that complements our music studies, and that strives to instill habits of intellectual openness and meaningful engagement with others.
The humanities curriculum centers on philosophy, history, and literature, with required courses in these three subjects taught at the basic and advanced level throughout the first three years of the four-year Bachelor of Music curriculum.
The Basic Module, taught in Semesters 1-3, seeks to provide a foundation in each field. Classes balance the study of key texts, events, and methods within established disciplines with a recurring critical confrontation by non-canonical texts, themes, and voices. Both in content and in form, classes are designed to encourage lively participation, engaging each student’s artistic and cultural background, and to foster the development of intellectual skills and depth.
The Advanced Module, taught in Semesters 4-6, completes the required core of Humanities classes. The Advanced Module invites students to consciously and expansively apply the tools of inquiry acquired in previous courses to concrete questions of pressing global concern. We teach competencies in analytical skills, independent presentation, and classification of the learned material in their historical, political, social, and cultural contexts. At the same time, students learn to develop their own interpretations of complex issues as well as their structured presentation to prepare the writing of the final project thesis.
In the last year of study, the program culminates with a final project: an individually conceived thesis, carried out in parallel to the music curriculum and the final instrumental recitals.
Alongside the core program, our Electives Module offers a range of courses in the humanities, encouraging continued curiosity for new areas of study as well as sustained reflection within familiar fields. Our Writing Center offers focused individual guidance in the written practices of academic life, teaching students to use writing as a tool for critical thinking and compelling argumentation. Humanities courses and tutorials are also required as electives in the first three semesters of the four-semester Master of Music program.
Teaching in the humanities is highly interactive and designed to improve communication, analytic precision, and critical reflection as well as promote the adoption of broad systemic perspectives. Through collaborative work, presentations and active listening to teachers and peers, these classes seek to deepen the learning experience and expand our students’ horizons in thought and in action.
The Akademie-Forum invites you to participate in the intellectual life of the Barenboim-Said Akademie. It is a space for reflection and debate addressing topics of contemporary significance. Every semester, a series of talks, readings, and discussions features guests from the humanities and social sciences, including philosophers, authors, historians, and public intellectuals. Each talk is paired with a musical performance by a student of the Barenboim-Said Akademie.
The events will take place in the Foyer or the Mozart Auditorium of the Barenboim-Said Akademie.
Registration is required; admission is free.
© Peter Adamik
© Peter Adamik
© Peter Adamik
© Peter Adamik
© Peter Adamik