Course Description
Examination of music videos from the 1980s until the present. Music videos will be treated as texts from which we can glean cultural understanding as well as explore new ways of analyzing aesthetic communication and musical meaning.
Athena Title
GENDER MUSIC VIDEO
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in WMST(MUSI) 4310/6310
Non-Traditional Format
This version of the course will be taught as writing intensive, which means that the course will include substantial and ongoing writing assignments that a) relate clearly to course learning; b) teach the communication values of a discipline- for example, its practices of argument, evidence, credibility, and format; and c) prepare students for further writing in their academic work, in graduate school, and in professional life. The written assignments will result in a significant and diverse body of written work (the equivalent of 6000 words or 25 pages) and the instructor (and/or the teaching assistant assigned to the course) will be closely involved in student writing, providing opportunities for feedback and substantive revision.
Prerequisite
Third-year or fourth-year student standing or permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Not offered on a regular basis.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, students will possess a theoretical toolkit which will allow them to analyze musical and visual media in terms of gender theory, popular music studies, postmodern theory, and musical analysis. Students will also learn the cultural and material history of music video and how it ties into the history of North American popular music over the last 25 years.
Topical Outline
Students will gain independent competency in these course objectives through weekly writing of response papers, analyses, group activities, a formal paper, and in-class presentations. The final paper should be 8-12 pages in length. Week One: About Music Video Week Two: Some Theoretical Models (Postmodernism, Gender Theory) Week Three: Analytical Models Week Four: Male-Address Video Week Five: Masculinity, Androgyny, and Gender Bending Week Six: The Gendered Gaze and Female-Address Video Week Seven: Two Case Studies: Madonna and k.d.lang Week Eight: Stardom and Identity Week Nine: Music Video and Social Criticism Week Ten: The Body: Empowerment or Objectification? Week Eleven: Pornography and Prostitution Week Twelve: Militant Masculinity and Orientalism Week Thirteen-Fifteen: Final Projects