Reflection:
I selected these ten pieces based on cultural diversity, emotional expression, and multimodal representation of human experience. Each piece reflects a different way of communicating identity through sound—from the meditative serenity of Kuan P’ing-hu’s “Flowing Streams” to the soulful lament of Blind Willie Johnson’s “Dark Was the Night.” My choices intentionally balance Western art traditions (Beethoven, Armstrong) with non-Western musical heritages (China, India, Japan, Java, and Peru), reflecting an understanding of multiliteracies as outlined by the New London Group (1996), where meaning is shaped through diverse cultural modes.
These tracks embody the idea that music is a universal semiotic system, carrying stories, emotions, and ideologies that transcend language. For instance, “Jaat Kahan Ho” conveys spiritual devotion through improvisational structure, while “Izlel je Delyo Hagdutin” captures the strength of national and personal identity through the human voice. Collectively, these selections highlight how sound technologies preserve lived experiences and challenge cultural hierarchies in global communication. As someone entering a profession grounded in care and empathy, this curation reinforces my belief that inclusivity and representation in all forms of communication- aural, textual, or visual- can cultivate deeper understanding across difference.
References and Disclaimer:
New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60–92.
Music from Earth. (n.d.). NASA.
Taylor, D. (Host). (2019, April). Voyager golden recordLinks to an external site. [Audio podcast episode]. In Twenty thousand hertz. Defacto Sound.
OpenAI. (n.d.). ChatGPT. https://chatgpt.com/
The content of this work has been refined with the assistance of ChatGPT, an AI language model, to improve sentence structure and clarity. The ideas, research, and analysis presented are based on my own knowledge and skills.