I've been out of the North American university system for three-and-a-half years now yet news of the shenanigans within student politics seems to follow me wherever I go. This week it was an article on the Student's Federation of the University of Ottawa's decision to cancel free yoga classes after a complaint from the Center for Students with Disabilities was brought forward over comments that "there [were] cultural issues of implication involved in the practice." Since the news broke a few days ago, coverage of the debacle - as well as numerous opinions on cultural appropriation - has gone global, with articles in the Telegraph, the Guardian, as well as the Wall Street Journal.
As a musician who focuses on European art music from the 17th and 18th centuries I find, rather surprisingly, that the dissemination of my work shares a similar dilemma which faces those debating the merits of the free yoga classes.
