COMM 113T :: Schedule

This is the current list of all reading, listening, and written assignments for the course.
All updates and changes will be made here, not to the PDF of the syllabus.

All readings, unless otherwise linked, can be located on the course TritonEd page.

All listening assignments are Spotify playlists, linked below.
Note: Some songs and even some readings use language that some students may find objectionable. Keep in mind that we are discussing these works in the context of critical scholarship.
Week 1
 
M :: April 1 :: Course & syllabus
  • Syllabus & site
  • Williams, Paul. (1966). “How Rock Communicates.”
 
Listen: Week 1 playlist
 
W :: April 3 :: Foundational perspectives I: Comm as culture
  • Selections from John Dewey, The Public and Its Problems; Maxine Greene, interview; Stuart Hall, “The Work of Representation”
 
F :: April 5 :: Foundational perspectives II: The culture industries
  • Adorno, Theodor. (1941). “On Popular Music.”
  • Shuker, Roy. (2017). Key Words: “Commercialism; Commodification,” “Communication,” “Cultural Industries,” “Cultural Intermediaries,” “Hegemony,” “Ideology,” “Mass Culture: Frankfurt School,” “Marxism,” “Popular Music.”
  • Carey, James. (1989). “A Cultural Approach to Communication.”
 
Optional extra readings:

Week 2
 
M :: April 8 :: The first wave of folk
  • Lynskey, Dorian. (2011). “Billie Holiday, ‘Strange Fruit,’” “Woody Guthrie, ‘This Land Is Your Land,’” “Pete Seeger et al., ‘We Shall Overcome.’”
 
Listen: Week 2 playlist
 
W :: April 10 :: Defining musical protest (Denisoff)
  • Denisoff, R. Serge. (1966). “Songs of Persuasion: A Sociological Analysis of Urban Propaganda Songs.”
  • Denisoff, R. Serge & Mark H. Levine. (1971). “The Popular Protest Song: The Case of ‘Eve of Destruction.’”
 
F :: April 12 :: Defining musical protest (Eyerman)
  • Eyerman, Ron & Scott Barretta. (1996). “From the ’30s to the ’60s: The Folk Music Revival in the United States.”
  • Eyerman, Ron & Andrew Jamison. (1995). “Social Movements and Cultural Transformation: Popular Music in the 1960s.”

Optional extra readings:
Week 3
 
M :: April 15 :: Defining musical protest (Harwood)
  • Harwood, Jake. (2017). “Music and Intergroup Relations: Exacerbating Conflict and Building Harmony through Music.”
 
Listen: Week 3 playlist
 
W :: April 17 :: The 1950s, Elvis, and teen panic
  • Wise, Sue. (1984). “Sexing Elvis.”
 
F :: April 19 :: Culture wars and censorship
  • Gilbert, James. (1986). “Introduction: The Social History of an Idea” and “The Intellectuals and Mass Culture.”
 
Optional extra readings:
DUE (F-April 19): Assignment #1 — Blog post
Write a blog post encapsulating your understanding thus far of what elements comprise the kind of songs we’re examining in this course. Focus your analysis through one song — pick a popular song and answer at least these questions: What makes this a protest song? How does it fit within (or defy) the definitions we’ve encountered thus far? What message is being communicated? For whom? By whom? (Who’s being excluded?) Why is this medium effective for communicating this message? You must apply theory from the readings thus far to support your claims.
  • Length: 500 words
  • Submit: before class on Friday via Assignment #1 link on TritonEd
 
 
Week 4
 
M :: April 22 :: The second wave of folk
  • Frith, Simon. (1981). “The Magic That Can Set You Free: The Ideology of Folk and the Myth of Rock Community.”
 
Listen: Week 4 playlist
 
W :: April 24 :: The 1960s: From rock ’n’ roll to rock
  • Rosenstone, Robert A. (1969). “‘The Times They Are A-Changin’’: The Music of Protest”
 
F :: April 26 :: The 1960s: From the streets to the seats
  • Denisoff, R. Serge. (1970). “Protest Songs: Those on the Top Forty and Those of the Streets.”
 
Optional extra readings:
 
Week 5
 
M :: April 29 :: The 1960s: Civil Rights
  • Lynskey, Dorian. (2011). “Nina Simone, ‘Mississippi Goddam,’” “James Brown, ‘Say It Loud–I’m Black and I’m Proud’”
 
Listen: Week 5 playlist
 
W :: May 1 :: The 1960s: Motown
  • Smith, Suzanne E. “‘Afro-American Music Without Apology’: The Motown Sound and the Politics of Black Culture” and “‘Come See About Me’: Black Cultural Production in Detroit.”
 
F :: May 3 :: The 1960s: R&B
  • Danielsen, Anne. (2006). “Whose Funk?”
  • Locke, Alain. (1934). “Toward a Critique of Negro Music”
 
Optional extra readings/viewings:  
 
Week 6
 
M :: May 6 :: ‘Women’s music’
  • Rodnitzky, Jerome L. (1975). “Songs of sisterhood: The music of women’s liberation.”
  • Rosenberg, Jessica & Gitana Garofalo. (1998). “Riot Grrrl: Revolutions from within.”
 
Listen: Week 6 playlist
 
W :: May 8 :: What’s protest about disco?
  • Dyer, Richard. (1979). “In Defense of Disco.”
 
F :: May 10 :: Sexual orientation
  • Jang, S. Mo & Hoon Lee. “When Pop Music Meets a Political Issue: Examining How ‘Born This Way’ Influences Attitudes Toward Gays and Gay Rights Policies.”
  • Lynskey, Dorian. (2011). “Carl Bean, ‘I Was Born This Way’”
 
Optional extra readings/viewings:

DUE (F-May 10): Assignment #2 — Annotated playlist
You are a talent scout, and you have been asked by a record company to suggest a “socially conscious” artist to add to their roster. The company is seeking to sell the music of someone who’s “in touch with the issues of today and uses their music as a bullhorn for society.” Compile a playlist of 10 songs by a single artist or a group of artists (no more than 3). Applying your evolving, working definition of what constitutes communication via this mode, discuss each song, explaining how it measures up to our topical standards thus far as well as similar artists and music. The record company insists that you offer compelling and precise evidence-based arguments for why the artist is endemic of protest music, as well as what makes them popular (commercial), how the 10 songs communicate both individually and as a body of work, and why it’s in the best interests of the company to back and sell this messaging. How does your artist not only “reflect” the larger history of protest music but also embody, raise the stakes of, and even drive the progression of that larger story?
  • Length: 10 songs, each supported by one analytical paragraph, plus an introduction and conclusion (5-7 pages?)
  • Submit: before class on Friday via Assignment #2 link on TritonEd, plus instructions to come
 
 
Week 7
 
M :: May 13 :: Punk
  • Marcus, Greil. (1979). “Punk.” — Available here
  • Marcus, Greil. (1993). “The Clash” and “Gang of Four.”
 
Listen: Week 7 playlist
 
W :: May 15 :: Hip-hop I
  • Stapleton, Katina R. (1998). “From the margins to mainstream: The political power of hip-hop.”
 
F :: May 17 :: Hip-hop II
  • Garofalo, Reebee. (1993). “Black Popular Music: Crossing Over or Going Under?”
  • Shank, Barry. (1996). “Fears of the White Unconscious: Music, Race, and Identification in the Censorship Of ‘Cop Killer.’”
 
Optional extra readings/viewings:
 
Week 8
 
M :: May 20 :: The 1980s
  • Williams, Paul. (1992). “What the 60s Had the 80s Don’t Have.”
  • Garofalo, Reebee. (1993). “Understanding Mega-Events.”
 
Listen: Week 8 playlist
 
W :: May 22 :: Mega-events
  • Marcus, Greil. (1993). “Yes Nukes.”
  • Ullestad, Neal. (1987). “Rock and rebellion: Subversive effects of Live Aid and ‘Sun City.’”
  • Goodyer, Ian. (2009). “Introduction” to Crisis Music: The Cultural Politics of Rock Against Racism.
 
F :: May 24 :: Live Aid
  • Street, John, Seth Hague and Heather Savigny. (2007). “Playing to the Crowd: The Role of Music and Musicians in Political Participation.”
 
 
Week 9
 
M :: May 27 :: MEMORIAL DAY HOLIDAY (no class)
 
Listen: Week 9 playlist
 
W :: May 29 :: Nationalism and patriotism
  • Bohlman, Philip V. (2004). Selection from “Music and Nationalism: Why Do We Love to Hate Them?”
  • Erenberg, Lewis A. (1996). “Swing goes to war: Glenn Miller and the popular music of World War II.”
 
F :: May 31 :: Internationalism
  • Olaniyan, Tejumola. (2004). “Introduction: ‘Living in the Interregnum’: Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and the Postcolonial Incredible” and “Dissident Tunes: The Political Afrobeat.”
 
Optional extra readings:
 
Week 10
 
M :: June 3 :: The 1990s to Occupy Wall Street
  • Pekacz, Jolanta. (1994). “Did rock smash the wall? The role of rock in political transition.”
 
Listen: Week 10 playlist
 
W :: June 5 :: Final thoughts
  • Small, Christopher. (1998). Musicking: The Meanings of Performing and Listening
 
F :: June 7 :: Conferences
NO CLASS. Meetings to be scheduled for discussing final projects.
 
Optional extra reading:

DUE (W-June 12): Assignment #3 — Final project
Choose one of the following options:
 
Write: This course has surveyed several time periods and broad music genres, but countless subgenres and street-level movements remain to be examined within the basic framework of defining and critiquing social messaging via popular music. Select a subgenre not covered in-depth in class (EDM? death metal? MTV? — and, get specific as possible: Brazilian EDM? Swedish death metal? the subtle politics of MTV’s “120 Minutes”?). Write a thorough critical history of its existence, its chief artists, and its overall messaging. You must apply significant theory from the readings to support your claims.
  • Length: 10 pages (2,500 words)
  • Submit: before 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 12, via link on TritonEd
 
Report: Identify an artist or a related group of artists (no more than three) significant to the themes of this course. Conduct an in-depth interview with the artist(s) in which you discuss their history, their artistic process, and the multiple methods and multiple contexts through which they have communicated topical messages, as well as to what degrees of (commercial and artistic) success they think they’ve achieved doing so. Engage with the artist(s) in conversation about specific theories from the course (even, and maybe especially, if they think they’re academic hogwash!). Write your interview(s) as a single piece of critical arts journalism, as if this were to be published by a major national music outlet. You must apply significant theory from the readings to support your claims.
  • Pre-approval: You must gain my approval of the artist you intend to interview before May 24, verbally or via email.
  • Length: 10 pages (2,500 words)
  • Submit: before 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 12, via link on TritonEd
 
Create: Write and record a song that protests against, advocates for, or raises awareness of a social issue. This must be a new, original composition of sole individual authorship, in any style, with music played and/or programmed by you and a complete lyric (at least five verses, plus a chorus and/or refrain). Create the song with specific course themes in mind. Record your performance on audio (to submit an .mp3 file) or video (to link to). Then write a short paper explaining in exquisite detail the specific course themes that apply to the construction and potential reception of this piece of music. Into what genre and historical era might this song fit (or defy)? Into what performance context(s) might this song best be presented? What other messaging about this issue exists in the culture, and exactly what makes your song an effective contribution to that effort? You must apply significant theory from the readings to support your claims.
  • Length: 1 song (details above), plus a paper of 5-6 pages (1,250-1,500 words)
  • Submit: before 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 12 — email a link to your song, and submit your text via link on TritonEd