Freshman
Seminar
MUSIC
OF PROTEST
Course Syllabus Fall 2011
Instructor:
Patricia A. Dixon
Introduction
In
this course we explore the music of protest in the continents of the Americas
from the early 20’s to the present, focusing on the social movements and
artists that led the voices of dissent.
We also examine the relationship of the United States with Latin
America during and after the Cold War, and the events that shaped musical
expression in both continents.
The course will expand on the new information age technologies
and how they affect political and social activism, from shaping our electoral
systems to creating awareness of global issues. We study how music is
an integral dimension of human behavior with the power to move masses
and create dialogue in society, a true weapon of political power.
| 1. |
To listen to music attentively and examine
the poetic and lyrical meaning of the texts. |
| 2. |
To broaden the understanding
of musical expression through different cultural identities |
| 3. |
To explore the historical events
in the Americas that led to music of dissent and struggle. |
| 4. |
To understand the roles of
music in society and explore what makes this music powerful. |
| 5. |
To understand the role of the
artist in society. |
| 6. |
To understand popular music,
political action and power. |
| 7. |
To see how music is an integral
dimension to human behavior and liberal arts scholarship. |
| |
|
| 1. |
To engage in critical, experiential,
contemplative and reflexive analysis of the material. |
| 2. |
To express your thoughts clearly
and creatively orally and in writing. |
| 3. |
Be better prepared to discuss
the power of music in society. |
| 4. |
To understand how music defines
cultural and personal identity. |
| 5. |
To understand music of dissent
in the context of political and social movements in the Americas. |
| 6. |
Better understand the relationship
of the United States in Latin America in the areas of politics, economics,
culture, and ideology. |
| 7. |
To understand how collective
identities are formed by the mobilization of traditions through the
arts.
|
| 8. |
To
go beyond the linear approach to learning by emphasizing reflective,
experiential and contemplative methods of learning. |
Meeting
Times and Location
The
class will meet twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30 to
1:45, in room 307 in the
Scales Fine Arts Center, Music Wing.
Class
Format
Much of how this
class unfolds (and it will) depends on you and your particular interests.
You need to be an active participant in determining what happens to you
this semester. (Those are code
words for “class participation.”) I will expect 100% of your attention
in class, and we will begin each session with a period of silence to prepare
the mind to engage in the learning process.
Freshman Seminars are designed to develop basic learning skills for life
through critical thinking. In this class you will also be taught how to
develop other ways of learning, through contemplative, reflexive and experiential
practices. Even though I have provided you with a complete
syllabus, there will undoubtedly be many diversions, elisions, and additions. The best things that happen for us this semester
will surely be unplanned. I will expect you to use all your academic skills
and emotional strengths to force you and your peers to see and hear in
new unexpected ways.
I
will draw freely from a wide range of sources. You should too. Be independent.
USE THE SOURCES I PROVIDE YOU TO FIND OTHER USEFUL MATERIAL!
Course
Requirements
Class attendance and informed participation are essential
elements for success. You are expected to arrive IN TIME to
class, having completed the readings assigned for that day. We will set
aside a time in each session, to share your contributions based on the readings
for that day. These may include images (photos and art), music, poetry,
and excerpts from literature that relate to the era we are studying. Laptop
computers can only be used in classrooms for note taking and other academic
purposes as designated by the instructor.
Required book: Music and
Social Movements by Ron Eyerman and Andrew
Jamison. Cambridge University Press (1998) ISBN 0- 521 62966
Acting in Concert by Mark Mattern. ISBN 0-8135-2484
Grading
Grading
will be based on the prompt completion of all assignments, participation
in class, teamwork, writing and oral skills, and attendance.
Attendance,
and class participation ……………… = 10%
Assignments
………………………………………= 70%
Final
Project …………...………… ……………… = 20%
NOTE: More than three absences will have a negative
impact on your grade.
Perfect attendance is required to achieve an A in this course. A=Superior
work
Recordings,
Videos, Films, use of technology materials
Recordings
will be available in the Music Library, and you will also be expected
to find recordings and videos on the Internet to use in class. Videos
will be on reserve at the Main Library and in the Music Library.
Technology software: Voicethread, will be used for certain assignments, training
will be provided. A flip camera with a microphone is available
for use in assignments if anyone needs it.
The
course will be managed in SAKAI where
you will find resources for research and other services, such as submitting
your assignment checking grades and access to library research page designed
for this course.
Work Schedule Fall 2011
FYS - Music of Protest
Week One
| 8/30
Classes Begin |
9/1 Introduction:
Student introductions and teacher’s expectations for
the semester. Attendance, grading, group projects and individual
projects. |
Week Two
| 9/6
Music Interacting with Culture
Reading:
Chapter 1 Popular Music
and Community Mattern. Pages 9-23.
Lecture:
Background Historical Information: Defining a Protest Song
|
9/8
Reading: Chapter 1 On Social Movements
and Culture Eyerman/Jamison pages 6-25.
What
is Roots Music?
DVD
The Roots of American Music
First
and Second Period |
Week Three
| 9/13 Music Power and Politics
Reading:
Popular Music, Political Action and Power, Mattern. Pages 25-36.
The
American Communist Party: Music Building Community in the 20’s and
30’s. Woody Guthrie and Unionism
|
9/15
Reading: Taking Traditions
Seriously Eyerman/Jamison Chapter 2 Pages 26-37.
DVD
The Power of Song Pete Seeger Part 1
Discussion of First Group Assignment
Topics and Essays |
Week Four
| 9/20
Music and Traditions
Reading:
Taking Traditions
Seriously Eyerman/Jamison Chapter 2 pages 37-47.
DVD
The power of Music Pete Seeger Part 2
|
9/
22 FIRST ESSAY DUE
Presentation
of First Group Assignment |
Week Five
|
9/27 The Civil Rights Movement
Reading: The Movements of Black Music: from the
New Negro to the Civil Rights.
Eyerman/Jamison Chapter 4 Pages 74-96
DVD
“Negros with Guns” 53 min.
Film
Discussion in class |
9/29
Reading: The Movements
of Black Music: from the New Negro to the Civil Rights. Eyerman/Jamison Chapter 4 Pages 96-105
DVD
Roots of American Music –3 and 4
Periods
The
Highlander School in Tennessee,
The Freedom Singers, James Brown and others |
Week Six
| 10/l4
The Folk Revival Movement and Vietnam
The Proletarian Renascence: The Folkness of the Ideological Folk Article by R. Serge Denisoff
Singers
and Activism
Phil
Ochs, Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Ray Charles, Peter
Paul and Mary, Simon and Garfunkel, Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan
|
10/6
Reading: “Eyerman/Jamison. Chapter 5 Politics and Music in the 1960’s 106-124
Class
discussion on musical taste and consumption, racial conditions in
performance conditions, social movements in transition, forms of
cultural capital and mass mediated reality.
Homework DVD 1512 Monterey Pop Festival |
Week Seven
| 10/11
Sixties Rock, Psychedelics and Sex
Reading:
“Eyerman/Jamison. Chapter 5
Politics and Music in
the 1960’s pages 124-139.
The
Beatles and the impact of John Lennon
DVD
“Imagine” and its repercussions
Discussion
of Second Assignment |
10/13 Mid Term Assignments
Presentations
in class
Reading:
Seeger
and Sprinsteen and American Folk Music by David Thurmaier
PDF |
Week Eight
| 10/18
The New Song Movement
Reading:
Chapter 3 Popular Music
and Democratic Politics in Chile, 1960-1973 by Mattern.
Violeta Parra and Victor Jara
Midterm- Second Essay Due |
10/20
Canto Nuevo Musical Expressions
Reading: Resistance and re democratization after
the 1973 Coup Chapter 4 Mattern
Victor
Jara’s Death
DVD:
Defeat of a Dictator by Steve York Video recording.
|
Week Nine
| 10/25
Mid Term Class Evaluation
Course
Assessment: Results of midterm course evaluation
Lecture on Contemplative Inquiry.
Reflection Assignment
|
10/27
Latin America in the Global Scene: Music in
Exile
Music
Listening from New Song to Nueva Trova
to Tropicalismo
DVD
Special Circumstances
Discussion of Third Assignment |
Week Ten
| 11/1
United States Protest Music in the Global Stage.
Reading:
Understanding Mega-Events: If we are the World,
Then How Do We Change it? Rocking
the Boat by Reebee Garofalo . |
11/3
Third Assignment
Group Presentations
Mega Events in the 70’s and Mega Events
Today
Each
group presents an event |
Week Eleven
| 11
/8 Bruce Springsteen in the Global Scene
Reading:
Finding Grace
in the Concert Hall by Linda K. Randall. Foreword, Introduction
and Chapter I-II and III
Class
Discussion
Topic
Community Building |
11/10
Reading: Finding Grace
in the Concert Hall By Linda Randall Chapters IV-V and VI
Student’s
contributions in class: Technology and Activism
in Today’s society. |
Week Twelve
| 11/22
Reading: Finding Grace
in the Concert Hall Randall Chapters VII and VIII and
Conclusion
Student’s
contributions in class: Music and Personal
Transformation
|
Thanksgiving |
Week Thirteen
| 11/29
Final Assignments
Choose
one of four projects to present in class;
Individual
projects
1.Write
and present your own protest song, with an essay describing the
creative process
2. Write an 8 page essay on a topic of your choice
Group
Projects
3.
Present a debate around the topic of Music and Political Power.
Does music change the world?
4.
Produce a song of protest with a group, record it, and publish in
You Tube |
12/1
Student’s Presentations |
Week Fourteen
| 11/6
Student’s Presentations |
11/9
Student’s Presentations |
|