About this course: Key Concepts

In this course, we will learn to identify and describe a variety of musical genres and styles spanning more than several hundred years. You do not need to be a music major or have musical experience to be able to take this class, as we will be focusing on the cultural aspects of music. We will center issues of identity, including race/ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, religion, and age. These issues are woven throughout this music history, and still persist and pervade popular culture today. Our readings will follow these recurring themes, with theories addressing ideas of production and consumption, borrowing and appropriation, ideologies of identity, the significance of technology in the music industry, and the ways in which we participate with music. We will also trace the development of music styles, enabling you to hear how even the most progressive or revolutionary music borrows from something that came before.

This class is an opportunity for you to think critically about popular music. It is likely that many of you have well-developed tastes in popular music with thorough knowledge about new trends and styles. Thinking critically is not merely being critical of; thinking critically about popular culture requires us to learn about and attempt to understand the cultural music practices of those who occupy very different social positions from ourselves, as well as to be self-reflexive about our own musical preferences and engagements.

Prompt:

Paper must be 1800 words!!

APA format

DOUBLE SPACED

This paper should engage with one of the themes from this course (appropriation, race/ethnicity, gender, identity, class, gender, sexuality, religion, and age ) as applied to any popular music of your choosing (it can be from anywhere in the world). This paper places a heavy emphasis on research, requiring a synthesis of academic and journalistic sources pertaining to your paper topic. You must use six sources, and three must be scholarly. You should plan on working through academic journals and the books in the music library to uncover the existing literature on your topic. In text citations and a work cited page are required.

Some readings will be attached1

No Plagiarism !!