National Anthem Project

The National Anthem Project was launched in 2005, during United States military activity in Iraq and Central Asia by MENC: The National Association for Music Education as the result of a 3-year initiative. According to the original description on its official website, "MENC is sponsoring The National Anthem Project to revive America's patriotism by educating Americans about the importance of The Star-Spangled Banner-both the flag and the song". In recent months the project has used a less explicit slogan that appears to convey greater emphasis on music than patriotism: "The campaign to restore America's voice through music education". However, some music education organizations and mass media in Texas and other states continue to openly describe the project as an effective way of promoting patriotism in the United States. Chaired by First Lady Laura Bush, and sponsored by the American military, various corporations, and educational organizations, the National Anthem Project is among the largest arts education partnership projects ever devised.

Controversy

The National Anthem Project has been warmly received by many American school music teachers, yet a number of leading music education professors in the USA and abroad have expressed concerns regarding its implications. To date, critical questions regarding the National Anthem Project have been raised by music education scholars at the Asia-Pacific Symposium for Music Education (2005), the MayDay Group (2005 & 2006), and even MENC’s own Philosophy Special Research Interest Group (2006). These concerns surround the issue of whether American public school music teachers should lead students during wartime in an unprecedented plethora of activities involving The Star Spangled Banner and its lyrics (e.g. "conquer we must, when our cause it is just"). The project's emphasis on a single militaristic song appears to some experts to offer limited musical benefits to music students and may run counter to key concepts in the education field, such as multiculturalism and international education (See UNESCO's 2006 statement below). Some even believe the National Anthem Project may qualify as a mild form of war-time propaganda (psychological operations), militarism, or at the very least, selling out within public education. In terms of positive effects, it remains to be seen whether the considerable investment of time and money into the National Anthem Project will result in either a higher quality of music education for American music students, or improved working conditions and job opportunities for American music teachers. In other words, the project may have very little to do with the raison d'etre or stated objectives of music education organizations. Still, some American school music teachers remain convinced that this project will offer benefits of some kind to their programs, and continue to offer it their enthusiastic support.

External links

• The National Anthem Project
• The New Citizenship Project
• Project for the New American Century

Further reading

BOOKS:

• Bohlman, Philip V. (2004). The Music of European Nationalism: Cultural Identity and Modern History. ABC-CLIO.
• Brown, Steven (2006). Music and Manipulation: On the Social Uses and Social Control of Music. Berghahn Books.
• Franklin, M.I. (2005). Resounding International Relations: On Music, Culture, and Politics. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Heller, Dana (2005). The Selling of 9/11: How a National Tragedy Became a Commodity. Palgrave Macmillan. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
• Kinzer, Stephen (2006). Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq. Times Books. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
• Russell, Bertrand (1984). Education & The Social Order. Unwin Paperbacks.
• Saltmann, Kenneth J. (2000). Collateral Damage: Corporatizing Public Schools - A Threat To Democracy. Rowman & Littlefield. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)

ARTICLES:

• Apple, Michael (2002). Patriotism, Pedagogy, and Freedom: On the Educational Meanings of September 11th. Teachers College Record, 104(8). {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
• Beegle, Amy (2005). Patriotism and Music Education in the United States of America. Proceedings of the Fifth Asia-Pacific Symposium for Music Education Research. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
• Brubaker, R. (2004). In the Name of the Nation: Reflections on Nationalism and Patriotism. Citizenship Studies, 8(2). {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
• Brueggemann, W. (2003). Patriotism for Citizens of the Penultimate Superpower. Dialog, 42(4). {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
• Dirks, Nicholas (2006). What the Scandal of Empire Could Teach the Colonisers. The Financial Times, (11 July). {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
• Duffee, R. (2003). Patriotism in the Age of Investors. Peace Review, 15(4). {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
• Gee, Constance (2002). The “Use” and “Abuse” of Arts Advocacy and its Consequences for Music Education. New Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning (R. Colwell & C. Richardson, Eds.), Oxford University Press. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |1= and |2= (help)
• Hebert, David G. (2006). Rethinking Patriotism: National Anthems in Music Education. Asia-Pacific Journal for Arts Education, 4(1). {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
• Jensen, R. (2003). Patriotism’s a Bad Idea at a Dangerous Time. Peace Review, 15(4). {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
• Kertz-Welzel, Alexandra (2005). The Pied Piper of Hamlin: Adorno on Music Education. Research Studies in Music Education, 25. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
• Mahlmann, John J. [MENC Executive Director] (2004). On A Mission with MENC - More than a Song: Music Education and the National Anthem. Music Educators Journal, 91(1). {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
• Mitsikopoulou, B. (2005). The Iraq War as Curricular Knowledge: From the Political to the Pedagogic Divide. Journal of Language and Politics, 4(1). {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
• Quiong, L. (2004). What Does It Mean to Be an American?: Patriotism, Nationalism, and American Identity After 9/11. Political Psychology, 25(5). {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
• Schweber, S. (2006). Fundamentally 9/11: The Fashioning of Collective Memory in a Christian School. American Journal of Education, 112. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
• Steinert, H. (2003). Unspeakable September 11th: Taken for Granted Assumptions, Selective Reality Construction and Populist Politics. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 27(3). {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
• Strachan, H. (2006). Training, Morale and Modern War. Journal of Contemporary History, 41. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
• UNESCO (2006, March 6). 2006 Joint Declaration of the UNESCO World Arts Conference (pdf). United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Retrieved 2006-07-1. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)