“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 and interdisciplinary approach to teaching Gurbānī Sangīt (the music of Sikh scriptural hymns) at a North American college as part of efforts to decolonize Liberal Arts education. 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 songs transmitted in Sikh Scripture and Gurbānī oral literature, as an ecology of knowledges (Santos 2014) inclusive of Bhakti and Sufi voices. This experiential approach provides an avenue to reflect on the role that kīrtan, or the singing of devotional poetry, had - and still has - in transmitting spiritual knowledges from the Global South. Additionally, by reviving the pre-colonial pedagogy, Gurbānī Sangīt classes create opportunities to explore Sikh history, philosophy, and practices while learning firsthand the rāga and tāla system, along with traditional instruments to perform kīrtan’s heritage compositions.