ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes that the phenomenon of transnational education (TNE) provides a useful testing ground to consider how the postcolonial condition of Western classical music in India can inform the development of critical approaches to learning and teaching. It draws on the experience of teaching Western music history in TNE programs in India between 2012 and 2015, and argues that learning about historical cross-cultural musical encounters provides students with the opportunity to develop critical perspectives on the Western music tradition. KMMC has a particularly distinctive profile given that Chennai is South India’s cultural capital and a center for the region’s tradition of Carnatic music, which is not offered at the Conservatory. The partnership with Middlesex enables the Conservatory to offer students an internationally recognized standard of music education leading to recognized qualifications. The global expansion of transnational education creates fresh opportunities for redefining how the boundaries of Western musicology are experienced in the classroom.
