Where Can I Study Mento Music Academically?
Where Can I Study Mento Music Academically? Studying mento music in an academic context requires engagement with Jamaican institutions, ethnomusicology programs, and cultural research centers that center the genre as both heritage and scholarly inquiry—offering pathways for cultural preservation, performance study, and critical analysis.
Introduction
Mento, often overshadowed by its musical descendants like reggae and dancehall, remains foundational to Jamaican cultural identity. Yet, its academic footprint has been limited, scattered across folklore, musicology, and Caribbean studies programs. As Jamaica and the wider Caribbean continue to assert control over their intellectual and cultural capital, the study of mento in formal education settings is expanding—slowly, but critically. This article provides a scholarly map of where and how mento music is being studied today.
1. Jamaican Universities and Academic Institutions
a. The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus
- Institute of Caribbean Studies (ICS): Offers courses that explore mento as part of Caribbean music traditions, oral history, and performance culture.
- CARIMAC (Caribbean School of Media and Communication): Occasionally engages mento in multimedia projects and archival research.
- UWI also hosts public lectures, graduate theses, and archival initiatives tied to Jamaican folk music (Lewin, 2000).
b. Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts
- Home to Jamaica’s most intensive formal music education.
- The School of Music incorporates mento into:
- Traditional Jamaican music classes,
- Ensemble performance workshops,
- Curriculum on Afro-Caribbean rhythmic structures.
- Faculty research includes documentation and revival of mento styles.
c. Northern Caribbean University (NCU)
- Music education department sometimes introduces mento in Jamaican history, culture, and performance-based studies, though offerings vary by semester.
2. International Ethnomusicology and Caribbean Studies Programs
Globally, mento appears in programs that focus on world music, postcolonial studies, or ethnomusicology.
a. Indiana University – Archives of Traditional Music
- Hosts recordings and research on mento collected during the Allan Lomax Caribbean expedition.
b. SOAS, University of London
- Courses in Caribbean popular music and global music history often include mento within units on colonial and postcolonial resistance.
c. University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
- Ethnomusicology program with fieldwork options in the Caribbean.
- Includes mento music in discussions of diaspora, performance, and cultural nationalism.
3. Graduate Research and Independent Study Options
- Mento remains a rich topic for theses and dissertations in disciplines like:
- Cultural studies,
- Music education,
- Linguistics and folklore,
- Caribbean history.
Students can develop custom research tracks through:
- UWI’s MPhil/PhD in Cultural Studies,
- Edna Manley’s postgraduate diplomas in music education or performance.
4. Archival and Public Scholarship Institutions
a. Jamaica Memory Bank (via JIS or Ministry of Culture)
- Houses oral histories and folk music recordings, including mento.
b. Jamaica Music Museum (JaMM)
- Curates materials, research projects, and exhibitions that support mento scholarship.
c. African Caribbean Institute of Jamaica (ACIJ)
- Publishes resources and maintains archives valuable for research in mento and broader Afro-Jamaican traditions.
5. Opportunities for Field Study and Cultural Immersion
- Academic programs increasingly emphasize fieldwork and immersion, encouraging students to engage with:
- Living mento bands like The Jolly Boys or Blue Glaze Mento Band,
- Rural communities where oral transmission of mento still thrives,
- Workshops at cultural festivals like the Maroon Festival or Rebel Salute’s cultural village.
These experiences often lead to ethnographic papers, recordings, and community-based research.
Conclusion
While mento may not yet have a dedicated academic department, its study is embedded across interdisciplinary programs, Jamaican cultural institutions, and international music schools. From performance to preservation, mento lives on as a subject of academic value and cultural urgency. As the demand for indigenous knowledge systems grows, mento’s academic future looks more promising than ever.
References
- Lewin, O. (2000). Rock It Come Over: The Folk Music of Jamaica. University of the West Indies Press.
- Manuel, P., & Bilby, K. (2006). Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae. Temple University Press.
- Alleyne, M. (1988). Roots of Jamaican Culture. Pluto Press.
- Stolzoff, N. C. (2000). Wake the Town and Tell the People. Duke University Press.
- Bilby, K. (2016). Words of Our Mouth, Meditations of Our Heart: Pioneering Musicians of Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae and Dancehall. Wesleyan University Press.