Course Description
This course focuses on the ways in which popular musics across the globe intersect with, inform, and reflect issues related to race, class, nationalism, migration, gender, sexuality etc. while exposing students to methods of research and analysis of popular music. Prerequisite: MUS 135.
Syllabus
Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:
Students successfully completing this course will be able to:
- Describe musical characteristics of select popular music genres.
- Synthesize scholarly approaches to the research, study, and analysis of popular music
- Apply sociocultural concepts to the analysis of popular music in historical and contemporary perspective.
- Construct and support with appropriate evidence an independent argument that offers a new interpretation or perspective on an issue, artist, song, performance, or event in popular music.
Course Grading Information:
| Activity/Performance Measure | Percentage/Points |
|---|---|
| Quiz | 10% |
| Participation | 25% |
| Reading Reflections | 25% |
| Final project | 40% |
Grading Scale for the Course
| Percentage | Letter Grade |
|---|---|
| 93–100 | A |
| 90–92 | A- |
| 87–89 | B+ |
| 83–86 | B |
| 80–82 | B- |
| 77–79 | C+ |
| 73–76 | C |
| 70–72 | C- |
| 66–69 | D+ |
| 63–65 | D |
| 60–62 | D- |
| 59 or below | F |
Attendance/Participation:
Attendance at all class sessions is strongly encouraged but attendance itself is not graded.
Participation: There will be about ten classes over the course of the semester in which participation will be graded. In these classes, students will assess their own participation based on a rubric provided. Students will be expected to prepare for and participate in class discussions/ activities/ reading circles. If you do not attend class on a participation day, you will be given a zero. At the end of the semester, the instructor will remove the two lowest participation grades (including zeros).
Course Materials Purchased by the Students:
No course materials are required.
Scholarly Perspectives
This course engages diverse scholarly perspectives to develop critical thinking, analysis, and debate and inclusion of a reading does not imply endorsement.