“Listening and Singing Gurbānī Kīrtan as a Way of Learning. A Decolonized and Collaborative Approach to Teaching Sikh Musical Literature, History, and Philosophy”

This paper presents a creative, interdisciplinary, and collaborative approach to teaching Gurbānī Sangīt (the music of Sikh scriptural hymns) at a North American college, as part of the efforts to decolonize Liberal Arts education. The study of Sikh musical literature, heritage, and practices is a relatively new field that emerged in Indian and Western academia, beginning with the Sikh ‘renaissance’ in the last decade of the 20th century (Khalsa 2014, Linden 2011). However, significant differences in the contexts of teaching Gurbānī Sangīt at Indian and Western institutions lead to varying goals, theoretical frameworks, and pedagogical strategies. Introduced in the United States only in the early 21st century with the establishment of an endowed Chair in Sikh Musicology, Gurbānī Sangīt courses are part of the ongoing decolonization of the Music History and Literature curriculum. These classes are intended for students pursuing interdisciplinary studies encompassing Music, Anthropology, Global Studies, South Asian Studies, Religion, and Eastern Philosophies. Grounded in the decolonial notion of ‘listening as a way of knowing’ (Feld 2024; Becker 2004), the courses emphasize practical engagement with the pluriversal vision enshrined in the body of songs transmitted in the Sikh Scripture and Gurbānī oral literature, that have preserved a pre-colonial ‘ecology of knowledges’ (Santos 2014) inclusive of the Bhakti and Sufi voices. On one hand, this aural and oral approach to Sikh musical heritage is a recognition of the Sikh tradition’s critical position in the pre-modern history of music and religion of the Indian subcontinent. On the other hand, it provides a direct way to reflect on the role that sung poetry had, and still has, in the transmission of spiritual knowledges from the Global South (Lorea 2022, Hess 2015). Reviving this pre-colonial pedagogy, by way of listening and learning heritage songs, Gurbānī Sangīt classes offer an opportunity to explore Sikh history and philosophy while allowing students to experience firsthand the rāga and tāla system and the use of traditional instruments to accompany kīrtan performances based on the singing of Sikh scriptural hymns. This experiential knowledge is corroborated by active collaboration with local Sikh communities. Students regularly participate in events at the gurdwāras and contribute to community life through performances of heritage songs (śabad rīts) learned in class. To reinforce the interdisciplinary foundation of the courses in Gurbānī Sangīt, senior students enrolled in the Sikh Studies program at the same institution also play a significant role in the music classes as teaching assistants and liaisons in the organization of community events. To discuss their role, a former TA in the Gurbānī Sangīt class and current Sikh Studies student will -possibly - join this presentation to share their personal perspective.