Music, Society, and Culture
This course introduces students to the music of a variety of world areas. For each unit, students examine a diverse array of genres, analyzing music's relationship to religious life, aesthetics, politics, social organization, and identity. We also discuss the impact of globalization, transnationalism and immigration on the shaping and transformation of musical practice and meaning in each region. Reading materials, listening assignments, and discussion topics are supplemented by in-class performance workshops, designed to give students firsthand experience in non-Western performance traditions. The course will give attention to the music of El Movimiento (the Chicano/a/e movement) of the Rocky Mountain region. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.
Activist Media
Activist Media is for students who are interested in exploring the ways media is intersected with various forms of social and political movements both as media content consumers and makers. We will explore how citizens, protesters, journalists, PR professionals, tech developers, and hacktivists harness a diverse range of media tools and platforms for activism and social change.
Audio Documentaries
Audio Documentaries covers the technical, creative, and ethical aspects of podcasting as a form of audio nonfiction storytelling in the digital space.
Popular Music and Social Justice
This course examines a range of 20th and 21st century popular music (blues, folk, rock, hip-hop, musicals, etc.) to better understand the complex relationships between music and social (in)justices.