Music 250 - Songs and their Worlds

What can a song teach us? Why is it good to think with songs in the liberal arts? This course enters the artistic and social worlds of noteworthy songs from different places and eras—songs like Cameroonian superstar Manu Dibango’s “Soul Makossa” (1972), English hymn writer John Newton’s “Amazing Grace” (1772), Egyptian icon Umm Kulthum’s “Enta Omri” (1964), or Beyoncé’s “Formation” (2016). Students will encounter songs as objects and actions to cultivate their curiosity about the significance of genres, technologies, artists’ and audiences’ identities, and songs’ circulations. We will think about voice and language, politics and musical style, and pleasure and power to develop skills in music studies and humanistic approaches to sound. Students will analyze music and lyrics, consider others’ listening and writing, understand what shapes a song’s creation and historical iterations, and apply their knowledge to critical and creative projects of their own. We will do some singing too! 

No prerequisite; two class meetings per week; limited to 25 students.

Spring semester. Professor Engelhardt

How to handle overenrollment: Preference to music majors, first years, and seniors if over-enrolled

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: emphasis on reading, aural analysis, independent research, group work, artistic work