This course explores the various ways auditive phenomena (sound, silence, noise, music) are conceived, produced, perceived, and organized by humans into meaningful (and often musical) forms and events. Beginning with basic concepts in the physical acoustics of sound, the class will then discuss how the ear functions and humans hear and perceive sound; the relationship and interaction of sounds with the environment (soundscapes); the musicalization of natural and man-made sounds; the social and cultural foundations of music (ideas about music and how these are manifested in certain musical practices); music’s transformative and persuasive power such as its use in advertising, propaganda, and as “sonic wallpaper”; culminating in case studies of music from two different regions of the students’ choice.