Popular Music and Social Justice

Course Taught By: Dr. Runchao Liu

Course ID: MFJS 2220

Course Description: Popular Music and Social Justice is a course for anyone interested in debating the relationship between popular music and social (in)justice and collectively exploring questions such as: What makes popular music a powerful medium for us to “fight the power” and motivate social change? What hinders popular music from achieving its full potential? What is popular music and what does social justice mean? This course examines a range of 20th and 21st century popular music (blues, folk, rock, hip-hop, musicals, etc.) to better understand the complex relationship between music and social (in)justices. Students will research to understand the great mind of a musician you admire and apply your learning by picking up the powerful tool of “sampling” for a final creative video project to put out a message that exemplifies the powerful potential of popular music as a tool for advancing social justice.

Prerequisites:

No prerequisites. This course fulfills the following requirements: Critical Race & Ethnic Studies; Scientific Inquiry: Society; Service Learning; Urban Studies.