American Studies 341 - SYMPOSIUM: POPULAR MUSIC

Topics course. Limited to senior majors.: This course explores a variety of critical approaches to the study of music, as well as a variety of musical styles that may include blues, country music, jazz, rock and hip hop. Emphasis throughout the course is twofold. First, what role does popular music play in the social and cultural life of the U.S.? How does music shape, and how does it give shape to, patterns of social division and affiliation along lines of race, class, gender and sexuality? Second, as the title of the course suggests, how do we make sense of sound? How do listeners and performers (and scholars and critics) create meaning out of the sounds they hear or the sounds they produce?

Topic: Making Sense of Sound: American Popular Music. Instructor Permission. Limited to AMS majors Limited to seniors