The connections between music and social change with a twofold goal: 1) to heighten critical listening skills so as to become more aware of ways in which music can express social attitudes; and 2) to introduce the social, cultural, and political issues surrounding the music being studied. Course work consists of listening to selected repertoires, reading scholarly and popular essays about those repertories, and extensive in-class (and on-line) discussion about issues raised by the listening and reading. This course does not fulfill a music major program requirement nor does it satisfy the Fine and Performing Arts Discovery requirement for any music major program.
Registration Approval Required. Contact Instructor or Academic Department for permission then register through Webcat.
Only the following students: Honors College Admit, Honors Program
Attributes: Writing Intensive Course, Inquiry (Discovery), Honors course, Fine&PerformingArts(Discovery)
Additional Course Details:
This semester we will be focusing on music and social change with respect to the ways that music, particularly Black American music, intersects with various aspects of social change in the United States including the role of music in prominent struggles for societal changes, and also taking into account music and social change more broadly in the US. We will explore both past and present movements and the ways that the past informs the present, both in musical and ideological and social terms.
We will engage with a variety of musics and styles that may include works like Janelle Monae's Dirty Computer and "Hell You Talmbout," Daniel Bernard Roumain's classical compositions, the music of Rhiannon Giddens, Terence Blanchard's music for Spike Lee films, Max Roach and Abby Lincoln's Freedom Now, and many other musicians and composers (whether or not we know their names), as well as taking into account the role of musical organizations such as social justice, feminist, and LGBTQ choirs in promoting and supporting social change. I usually make some space in the syllabus for students to help craft some of the specific content we will cover (we generate lists)
All readings will be drawn from online resources, and the course will include regular discussion, both synchronous and asynchronous (in the form of online discussions). You may wish to make sure that you have subscriptions to Netflix and DisneyPlus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVrTf5yOW5s
