Music 593E - S- Music and Entrepreneurship

In this class, we will trace the rise of entrepreneurship in musical practice and discourse from the nineteenth century to today. While the focus of the class will be on music, we will also read quite a bit of work from other disciplines, like political economy and cultural theory. We will delve into the frightening world of managerial literature in an effort to trace the changes in business values that have characterized recent transformations in U.S. capitalism. You will learn about Marxism and socialism, liberalism and neoliberalism, and, perhaps surprisingly, the Protestant Reformation. This is definitively NOT a seminar aimed to teach you "entrepreneurship skills." Rather, this class will take a historical, critical, theoretical look at entrepreneurship as a cultural value. By the end of the semester, you will know what entrepreneurship is and why it came to the forefront of the national conversation, and you will be well-versed in the scholarship and business theory surrounding the topic.

This course is open to Music Graduate students in any concentration. Undergraduate Music majors can enroll with Instructor's permission only.