Course Description
American popular music from the 1830s through the late twentieth century, focusing on popular music as an arena for debate about civic identity, involving an extraordinary range of Americans. Course topics and sub-themes include African- American, Euro-American, and Latin-American influences, the business of popular music, gender, and countercultures.
Athena Title
POP MUSIC AMER HIST
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Upon completion, the successful student will be able to: -Analyze how race, gender, class, and place influenced the production and reception of popular music since 1830; -Analyze popular music as an arena for cultural debate; -Develop critical thinking skills by assessing and interpreting popular music as historical texts, by exploring various methodologies for studying popular music, and by assessing scholarly arguments about popular music; -Produce a historical argument in a research paper, based on popular music, other primary sources, and secondary sources.
Topical Outline
Topics include minstrelsy; the shift from Victorianism to modernism; the business of popular music; authenticity in country, jazz, Latin-American, and folk musics; countercultures (including 1960s, punk, and hip-hop); women in popular music.
Syllabus