ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part focuses on singing and cultural understanding report studies that speak to the issue of whether singing in its relation to culture can improve the wellbeing of individuals and societies. It explores the effect of teaching children songs of a different culture on the attitudes toward the children of those cultures. The preservation of singing traditions, as examples of intangible expressions of culture, is a growing concern of individuals, governments, and nongovernmental organizations in the face of globalization and rapid economic, social, and political change. Singing together offers the opportunity for shared synchronous experience, but simply learning to sing the songs of another culture in that cultural context might also have benefits in increasing positive attitudes toward an out-group. The part discusses the words singing and song to the study of the relation between intercultural understanding and wellbeing.
