#pmpsjf22 course calendar

about the course calendar

Texts are to be read/watched/listened to for day they are listed. Homework in addition to texts will be presented in yellow. The schedule is subject to change; it is your responsibility to check it regularly.

Jump to a week: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16

Week One: Introductions and Case Studies 1 – 3

M 8/22: Case Study 1 (music has meaning): Jimi Hendrix, “Star Spangled Banner” (1969); live footage
Hand out Reading Response Assignment

Assignment for Wednesday, 8/24
Please read through the course web site carefully and post two questions you have about it to this anonymous form:

https://forms.gle/Uqhb6aGQ7CuRF8uT7

If you have yet to complete the confidential Start of Semester survey I emailed last week, please do.

And read through the Reading Response Assignment. Your first response is due on Friday; prompt to be online Wed.

On Wednesday we move to our 2nd Case Study, which will focus on how historical contexts, visual and performative choices, song credits, and sampling choices communicate messages. There is no Reading Response due, but I would like you to watch the below video of Shakira & J. Lo’s Full Pepsi Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show and the following songs on the Protest Music Spotify Playlist from Beyonce’s just-released album, Renaissance: “Cozy,” “Alien Superstar,” “Break My Soul,” and “Pure/Honey.”

As you watch and listen, I’d like you to try to tease out the arguments (if any) the artists are making based on their deliberate choices in the visuals, performance, collaborations, and/or use of samples. I recommend doing some research to help you understand the context in which these are appearing and/or what the artists were attempting to achieve with the performances and use of samples/collaborations (these two articles might help you get started). Try to limit your focus on the lyrics as much as possible.

Shakira & J. Lo’s Full Pepsi Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show (February 2, 2020)

W 8/24: Case Study 2 (contexts and sampling): Shakira & J. Lo’s FULL Pepsi Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show (2020); selections from Beyonce’s Renaissance (2022)

Assignment for Friday, 8/26
If you have yet to do so, please read the Reading Response Assignment and make sure you have received an invite to a GoogleDoc that Bill sent to you before class on Monday. If you did not receive it, please email Bill right away — and email any questions you have.

Then, read and annotate Jason Schneider’s essay on Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” (see the Readings and Texts page) published in the first issue of the Bi-Annual Online Journal of Springsteen Studies. The article is wonderfully nuanced so while reading, I’d like you to pay close attention to how Schneider is using external sources. Note when you think Schneider is using the source to illuminate a point, to disagree with something the author is claiming, and when building his own ideas on another author’s ideas. Don’t wait until the last minute to read it.

Now, this is the kind of article I can hear students say that the author could discuss things in less complex terms or that he is repeating himself throughout. Instead of orienting yourself with that framing, I’d like you to see how the rhetorical terms Schneider employs throughout afford him the opportunity to go into ever further depth. That is, to tease out nuances in prior conversations about “Born in the U.S.A.” and his own interpretations of both those conversations and his own interpretations of the song. Complex artifacts deserve nuanced discussions and “Born in the U.S.A.” is one of them.

Please compose your first Reading Response on the following:

Schneider dedicates significant portions of his discussion to the supposed contradiction (or paradox) between the song’s music and the song’s lyrics. I’d like you to, first, summarize his discussion of that paradox as well as what he means by “rhetorical indirection.” And, second, in your own words, why he suggests it is important to consider more than just lyrics—and what other modes besides lyrics we should look to—when considering the meaning of the song.

Be sure to complete both the Response and Reflection sections in your reading response. It is very helpful if you assign headers to each section so I know which is which.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

F 8/26: First Listen Friday (versions): Case Study 3: Bruce Springsteen, “Born in the U.S.A.” (1984), (original recording, 1982), (Broadway version, 2018); Schneider (2014) on BITUSA; BITUSA lyrics
Reading Response 1 Due (required)

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Week Two: Understanding Songs and Music, C.Ss. 4 & 5

Assignment for Monday, 2/1
Please watch this short video on the emotional impact of music on the brain and body:

Please read Rosenthal and Flacks’ (2011) chapter, “Aretha Franklin Sings to Charlie Manson” (see the Readings page; note that there are two readings from Rosenthal and Flacks, so please read the correct one :-) and complete your second Reading Response on the following:

Schneider (2014) and Rosenthal and Flacks (2011) consider how to most effectively approach having a nuanced understanding of a piece of music, by considering the relationships among lyrics, delivery, music (the video explores this more), performance, artist, listener, among others. In your response, I’d like you to try to coalesce their discussions into a unified approach to understanding music, especially protest and socially conscious music. What do we need to consider in order to get to as close an understanding of a song as we can?

We will discuss both articles in great detail on Monday.

M 8/29: Schneider; Rosenthal and Flacks, “Aretha Franklin….”; notes-schneider-rosenthal-flacks-f22.docx
Reading Response 2 Due (required)

Assignment for Wednesday, 8/31
On Wednesday we will discuss our 4th case study, past to present, where we consider how within protest and social justice music the past is often present and the present is often reflective of the past.

To help us engage this issue, we’ll be looking at 8 songs by 7 Black women artists/groups all released since 2018, beginning on the Protest Music Playlist with “Change” by Mavis Staples and ending with “I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to Be Free” by Mavis Staples (with the late-Levon Helm of The Band). Prior to listening to and investigating the 8 songs on the playlist, I’d like you to listen to the following Talia Schlanger-narrated 2019 World Cafe interview with Mavis Staples that aired on World Cafe (a radio show that is produced here in Philly):

Then, I’d like you then to listen to each of the songs, identifying several themes that you find running through them—themes that could also have been introduced in the World Cafe interview. I’d also like you to do some research on both the artists and the songs themselves. (Note that you may come across some traumatizing childhood stories through this search.)

There is no Reading Response due on Wednesday, but please come to class reading to discuss the songs and the artists.

W 8/31: Case Study 4 (past to present): Mavis Staples, H.E.R., Mickey Guyton, Our Native Daughters, Resistance Revival Chorus, Adia Victoria

Assignment for Friday, 9/2
The assignment for Friday is going to focus on how visuals compliment, enhance, or create new meaning and/or make more clear the song’s possible message (as Rosenthal and Flacks understand the terms meaning and message). We’ll be doing this through the videos for two recent songs, Childish Gambino, “This is America” (2018) and Janelle Monae, “Turntables” (2020).

Please watch both videos and in your third Reading Response I’d like you to choose one video where you consider how the visuals complement, enhance, or create new meaning and/or make more clear the song’s possible message. You can feel free to do some research on the visuals, but please don’t just regurgitate what others have suggested as interpretations. Please also look back to Rosenthal and Flacks and cite them as necessary. And if you think a screenshot or two of scenes will enhance your discussion, go ahead and add ’em!

If you have any questions, please let me know.

F 9/2: Case Study 5 (visuals): Childish Gambino, “This is America” (2018) and Janelle Monae, “Turntables” (2020) videos
Reading Response 3 Due (required)
Hand out Podcast and Podcast Proposal Assignments

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Week Three: Concert Planning and Slave Songs

M 9/5: Class Canceled — Labor Day
W 9/7: Concert Planning; discuss podcast assignment
Hand out Concert Planning Assignment

Assignment for Friday, 9/9
The work for Friday is going to move us from our Case Studies to the main content of the course. To do so, we are starting with Slave Songs, also referred to as Slave Spirituals. The work for Friday is also going to introduce us to one of our guests this semester, Reggie Harris, who, along with his former partner, Kim, have committed themselves to continuing to bring attention to and educate people about slave songs.

So, I’d like you to read in Sanger Part 1 just the text under the heading “The African American Song Tradition,” which appears on pages 21 – 25 of the text (and 1- 12 of the PDF). (There are two Sanger readings; be sure to choose the correct one.) I’d also like you to read the liner notes of Kim and Reggie Harris’s 1997 album, Steal Away: Songs of the Underground Railroad, including their introductory essay. Both texts are in the Readings and Texts page.

Then, please listen to the songs on the Protest Music Spotify Playlist by Kim and Reggie Harris (songs 18 – 23), which are selections from Steal Away and it’s 2007 sequel, Get On Board! Underground Railroad & Civil Rights Freedom Songs.

There is no Reading Response for Friday, but I’d like you to be prepared to talk about the texts and the songs, especially considering how these songs provided a potential space for empowerment.

Please note that I have removed Reading Response 4, but have made Response 5 required in its place.

In class on Friday, we also will have time to meet with your Concert Planning Groups, so try to start working on that, as well.

F 9/9: Sanger on Black song traditions; Slave Spirituals; songs of Kim and Reggie Harris
Reading Response 4 Due (required)

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Week Four: Political Music and the Civil Rights Movement

Assignment for Monday, 9/12
The work for Monday is going to move us into the initial stages of the Civil Right Movement, help us come to an understand of political music is (versus, say, outright protest music), and introduce us to a concept associated with both political and protest music that we’ll be referring to throughout the semester: “psychological imagination.”

I’d like you to read the short selection “What Counts as Political Music?” by Rosenthal and Flacks (see the Readings and Texts page) and then watch the documentary, Strange Fruit: The Biography of a Song (2002, 57 minutes). You will need to log in to Kanopy with your SJU email to be able to watch it. The documentary gives background information about Billie Holiday’s classic song, “Strange Fruit,” the era in which it was written, its effect on the Civil Rights movement, and why it is still important today. Note that the documentary depicts graphic images and descriptions of lynching and includes the use of racist language, ideas, and images in the presentation of historical events.

(Update: At 12:00, the documentary discusses efforts to pass a federal antilynching law. The Emmett Till Antilynching Act was passed and signed into law on March 29, 2022, ten years after the documentary was released and 104 years after the first federal antilynching law was proposed.)

To help you understand the context in which “Strange Fruit” was written, please spend some time with the Monroe Work Today web site, which documents lynchings and other white supremacist activities in the United States (1834 – 1964). Make sure you click on the link to the interactive Map and zoom in to see the individual events.

Then, on the Protest Music Spotify Playlist, like you to listen to Billy Holiday’s (1939) and Nina Simone’s (1965) versions of “Strange Fruit,” as well as Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” (1998); Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” (2002) (songs 24 – 27).

For your Required Reading response, I’d like you to address the following prompt:

On page 20, Rosenthal and Flacks, borrowing from C. Wright Mills, begin a multipage exploration into the characteristics of political music by introducing the concept of “sociological imagination.” In your response, I’d like to try to consider if or how both “Strange Fruit” and either “Fast Car” or “Lose Yourself” function as political music. Where do we see psychological imagination at work? Each song’s “social roots”? Do they “have a purpose that goes beyond entertainment”?

We’ll talk about these in detail in class on Monday.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

M 9/12: Rosenthal and Flacks, “What Counts as Political Music?”; sociological imagination; Billie Holiday, “Strange Fruit” (1939); Strange Fruit documentary; Nina Simone, “Strange Fruit” (1965); Tracy Chapman, “Fast Car”; Eminem, “Lose Yourself”
Reading Response 5 Due (optional) (required)

Assignment for Wednesday, 9/14
On Wednesday we’ll be doing more Concert Planning. So, get together with your assignment team and come to class with a significant about completed. Don’t wait for class to complete work.

Your Podcast Proposal is due by 11:00pm on the Protest Anthems web site.

If you are behind on your Reading Responses, uses these days to start getting caught up.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

W 9/14: Concert Planning
Podcast Proposal Due by 11:00pm
Hand out Listening Assignment

Assignment for Friday, 9/16
Last Friday we read one section from Kerran Sanger’s (1995) book, “When the Spirit Says Sing!”: The Role of Freedom Songs in the Civil Rights Movement. For this Friday, we are going to read all of Sanger Part 1, which is on the Readings and Texts page (note: there are two readings by Sanger, so be sure to choose Part 1) and, listen to the following two radio stories:

This is the first week for Optional Reading Responses. Remember, you are required to complete FIVE Optional responses (in addition to the required 4). I suggest getting them completed sooner than later, as later in the semester you’ll have your Protest Anthems Podcast work to do (not to mention other class projects).

If you choose to complete the 6th Reading Response, please discuss the complex relationship among music, identity, history, and community in the Black community, including how “This Little Light of Mine” and/or “Lift Every Voice and Sing” exemplify what Sanger discusses. Be sure to reference/quote from both Sanger and one or both of the radio shows.

We will discuss Sanger those same ideas in class, as well. and the radio shows.

F 9/16: Sanger on Black song traditions (cont); NPR radio shows on “This Little Light of Mine” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing”; Beyonce, “Lift Ev’ry Song and Sing” Homecoming;
Reading Response 6 Due (optional)

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Week Five: Social Movements, Folk, and Lineages

Assignment for Monday, 9/19
I’ve rearranged the schedule so we’ll be doing concert planning on Monday.

I’d like you to come to class with drafts of ALL required sizes of the posters and graphics. The posters should be made using Adobe and each group’s designs should have a consistent aesthetic across all sizes and social media graphics. In other words, a viewer should be able to look at them and know they were for the same event.

Logistics group, I’ll be emailing you with some questions.

If you want to get ahead on the work for Wednesday, we’ll be reading Sanger (part 2) on collective singing (in additional to some other reading and listening).

If you have any questions, please let me know.

M 9/19: Concert Planning
W 9/21: Concert Planning Sanger on collective singing; Bernice Johnson Reagon call and response songs; “We Shall Overcome”; discuss podcast song choices
Reading Response 7 Due (optional)

Assignment for Friday, 9/23
Please read Rosenthal and Flacks, “The Music-Movement Link” (4 pages) and Garman (2000) on Woody Guthrie’s politics, both of which are on the Readings and Texts page, and listen to Anderson’s Studio 360 on “This Land is Your Land”:

(Important note: Several large sections of the Garman pieces are covered up so you don’t need to read them. They appear as covered up when viewed online. But, if you print your readings, depending on your settings, the full text may appear. Make sure you don’t read the sections you are not asked to read.)

Please listen to the songs on the Protest Music Spotify Playlist starting with “This Land is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie, through “Deportees” by Tish Hinojosa. (There’s a bonus “Song to Woody” by Bob Dylan in there, too.)

I have created an Early Folk and Blues Spotify playlist with songs that Garman discusses. You don’t need to listen them, but it is there just in case you are interested.

“Deportees” written but never recorded by Guthrie. I’ve included a few versions, so you can consider how different deliveries and voices affect your appreciation and understanding. In 2013, NPR did a story on The People Behind Woody Guthrie’s “Deportee,” which you might be interested in listening to. You can also see the original 1948 AP newspaper article.

If you are completing Reading Response 7, please respond to the following prompt:

On page 116, Garman writes, “Describing himself as an “educator” rather than an “entertainer,” Guthrie articulated a repressed history in which working people fought for social and economic justice.” In your response, I’d like to show how that comes across in one or more of the songs we’re listening to (recognizing that Guthrie had 100s of songs). Try to connect back to sociological imagination and political music, as well.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

F 9/23: Rosenthal and Flacks on Music-Movement Link and Folk Music; Garman on Guthrie; Studio 360 on “This Land Is Your Land”; “This Land is Your Land” Obama Inauguration; lyrics
First Listening Post (Context and Critique) Due
Reading Response 7 Due (optional)

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Week Six: Pete Seeger and His Legacy

Assignment for Monday, 9/26
These readings are going to transition us from the Labor Movement, through the 1950s and McCarthyism, back into the Civil Rights Movement, and then into the Anti-Vietnam war Movement, mostly through the lens of Pete Seeger, who has been mentioned throughout our readings and texts so far as a key player. Now, we’re going to get to know him, his approach, and why he was so important.

Please first watch from 29:00 – 1:10:00 (41 total minutes) of Brown’s documentary, Pete Seeger: The Power of Song (see the Readings and Texts page), which begins with Seeger standing in the woods and then shifts to Paul Robeson singing before moving in to the famous concert in Peekskill, NY. (You’re welcome to watch the whole thing, of course, but are only required to watch this portion; just after 1:03 the doc moves to his environmental causes, and we’ll be watching that later in the semester.)

Then, read Jarnow’s few pages from Wasn’t That a Time: The Weavers, the Blacklist, and the Battle for the Soul of America and Lithwick’s post, “When Pete Seeger Faced Down the House Un-American Activities Committee.” The post contains the complete transcript of Seeger’s testimony, which you don’t need to read in full, but I encourage you to read at least a part of.

Please also watch Harry Belafonte’s speech inducting Pete Seeger into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a way to see what one civil rights icon thinks of Pete’s impact; it also connects back to the HUAC activities.

I’ve also added songs to the Protest Music Spotify Playlist that exemplify Seeger’s work over his career, from The Weaver’s “Goodnight Irene,” to If I Had a Hammer” to “Here’s to Cheshire – Here’s to Cheese.” He has 1000s of songs, so this is a representative sample. Please listen to them.

If you choose to complete Reading Response 8, please respond to the following:

In the documentary, Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, and Mary, says that Pete Seeger embraces “folk music as a tool for justice and consciousness and caring that became a model for all of us.” In your response, I’d like you to write about how we see that playing out in Seeger’s songs (name a few specifically), his response to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), and his overall approach to music. Try to connect your discussion to our readings on the freedom songs of the Civil Rights movement as a tool for building movements.

Your Second Listening Post (Lineages) is due next Friday, so be sure to start thinking about that.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

M 9/26: Artist Spotlight: Pete Seeger; Jarnow on blacklisting; Seeger documentary and HUAC testimony; “If I Had a Hammer” (1962); notes-for-seeger.docx
Reading Response 8 Due (optional)

Assignment for Wednesday, 9/28
Building on Pete Seeger’s time spent singing, teaching, and talking with children, we’re going to move into a day where we consider additional social-justice themed work aimed specifically for children (of all ages). We’re going to be doing this by considering two foundational television shows that fully incorporated music and social justice into their founding values—Sesame Street, which first aired in November 1969, and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which first aired in February 1968—along with the work of Alastair Moock.

I’d like you to read and watch the videos in the following about the shows:

If you’re not familiar with Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and/or Sesame Street (or even if you are), you might be interested in seeing how the show’s opened in 1969:

Here are also some pivotal moments from the show:

I’d also like you to read, “New LGBTQ-Inclusive Music Album for Young Leaders Invites Kids to ‘Be a Pain’,” and listen to Alastair Moock’s the songs on the Protest Music Spotify Playlist. They are selections from three albums, Singing Our Way Through: Songs for the World’s Bravest Kids) (2013), which he wrote after his daughter was diagnosed with leukemia, All Kinds of You and Me (2015), and Be A Pain: An Album for Young (and Old) Leaders. They start with “When I Get Bald” (song 60) and end with “Be a Pain” (song 71).

There is no reading response due Wednesday, but I’d like you to come to class ready to talk about how (and if) Sesame Street, Mister Rogers’, and Alastair Moock embody and the build on activists’ goals for music in the Civil Rights movement. I’m also very curious about the impact engaging this material (again) as an adult has on you.

UPDATE: I’d like each of to come to class with 5 things you are ready to share as part of the discussion. Please have these written on paper so you don’t need your computers open.

W 9/28: Children’s music: Sesame Street, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, and Alastair Moock

Assignment for Friday, 9/30
For Friday, we are moving on to consider the work of Reggie Harris. To prepare for that, I’d like you to read his biography on the Americans Who Tell the Truth website and a wonderful 2021 interview, Reggie Harris on Finding Solid Ground in a Storm of Injustice, conducted after the release of his 2020 album On Solid Ground. 

I’d also like you to listen to the 12 songs on the Protest Music Spotify Playlist by Reggie Harris (two with his former partner, Kim Harris)—songs from “Too Many Martyrs” (song 72; about Medgar Evers) to “High Over the Hudson” (song 83; about Pete Seeger).

I’d like you to come to class with 3 passages from the interview and/or Reggie’s biography and 3 portions of lyrics to any of his songs that stood out to you and be prepared to discuss them.

In class we are also going to be talking about formulating questions for Reggie and Alastair for when they visit class on Monday. I’d like you to start thinking about questions you might have for them that both directly reference their work and consider their work in relation to the legacy of Civil Rights music we’ve been talking about so far this semester.

As always, if you have any questions, please let me know.

F 9/30: Concert Planning quick check-in; Reggie Harris
Second Listening Post (Lineages) Due by 11:00pm

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Week Seven: Alastair Moock and Reggie Harris

Assignment for Monday, 10/3
The big day is finally here! On Monday Alastair and Reggie will be joining us in class. I sent two emails to the class with this information, but I want to add it here, as well. For Monday, please:

Sign up for meals with Reggie and Alastair immediately and add your order(s). See my email with a link to the signup sheet.

Come up with 5 questions you might ask Alastair and Reggie and have them written down so you don’t need to have your computers open. Try to find a variety of subject areas, the more specific of which the best. If you have questions about specific songs, point to some of the lyrics. You might also ask what their thoughts are on some of the songs/topics we have discussed so far in class. See the GoogleDoc I shared with you with some ideas we came up with on Monday.

Reggie and Alastair have released a new trailer for their Race and Song program. Please watch it:

Alastair has been conducting an anti-racism interview series, The Opening Doors Series, which you can watch on the Opening Doors website or via the Youtube playlist. The interviews are engaging and extensive, containing insightful content and great music. They do, however, run about an hour and a half each. So, I’d like you to watch a portion (not all, a portion) of a few of them (not all, a few) and see if they can help broaden your understanding of Alastair’s approach to music and the world, as well as inform some of your questions for Monday.

I hope to assess your first two Listening Posts this weekend.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

M 10/3: Alastair Moock and Reggie Harris visit class
7:30pm: Alastair Moock and Reggie Harris concert

Assignment for Wednesday, 10/5
On Wednesday, in addition to reflecting on Alastair and Reggie’s visit, we’re going to discuss the podcast project some more, particularly in terms of background research. In preparation for that, I’d like you to listen to two radio stories from NPR’s American Anthem series, which inspired our Protest Anthem series, and two former student Protest Anthems:

When listening to the stories, I’d like you to write down (and bring to class) each kind of musical, oral, and textual source being used (lyrics, interview, scholar, etc.). I’d also like you to think about how the story moves from one source to the next. And think about how the music itself is being used. Please also look at how the content of the American Anthems web sites use sources and are different from the audio versions.

We’ll discuss these and your Background Research assignment in class.

W 10/5: Reflections on Alastair and Reggie’s visit and concert; discuss podcast and talk about examples
Hand out Podcast Assignment: Background Research
F 10/7: TBD
Midterm Engagement and Presence Due by 11:00pm

Fall Break 10/10 – 10/14

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Week Eight: The 60s and the Black Power Movement

M 10/18: Artist spotlight: Nina Simone, “Mississippi Goddam” and others

Assignment for Wednesday, 10/19
The texts and songs for Wednesday are going to be about and released during the height of the Black Power movement, which lasted from 1966 to the mid-1970s. During that period, here are many of the important event:

1963: Children’s Crusade Civil Rights March (May 2)
1963: Medgar Evers Assassinated (June 12)
1963: March on Washington (Aug 28)
1963: 16th Street Baptist Church bombing (Sept 15)
1963: JFK Assassinated (Nov 22)
1964: Civil Rights Act Passed
1965: Malcolm X Assassinated
1965: Voting Rights Act Passed
1965: Watts Race Riots
1967: Detroit Race Riots
1968: MLK Assassinated (April 4)
1968: Robert F Kennedy Assassinated (June 6)
1968: 16,899 Americans Killed in Vietnam War (highest yearly total)
1970: Asbury Park race riots
1972: Watergate
1975: Vietnam War Official Over

To get us started, I’d like you to watch this short video with Henry Louis Gates introducing the concept of Black Power:

Then, please read the following short pieces from History.com adding additional context to the time period:

Then, please listen to the songs on the Protest Music Spotify Playlist starting with “Alabama” by John Coltrane (song 91) through “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye (song 100). As you listen to the songs, I’d like you to write down themes you’re finding that connect them together and also connect to the context of the times. Bring those notes with you to class, as we’ll use them to inform discussion.

Remember, your Third Listening post is due by 11:00pm.

W 10/19: Songs of the The Black Power Movement; Black Power Exercise
Third Listening Post (Delivery, Versions, Performances, Videos, Covers) Due by 11:00pm

Assignment for 10/21
Please watch the Summer of Soul documentary on The Harlem Cultural Festival, which is available on Hulu.

As you watch, I’d like you to identify and think about the themes of identity, racism, community, politics, and class — themes we have discussed throughout the semester — and note instances where those themes emerge and how the participants discuss them in relation to the music. Please also come to class with 3 questions you have about any part of the film. Come to class ready to discuss.

If you would like to complete Reading Response 9, choose one of the above themes and discuss how the theme is handled in the movie and how the participants connect it to the music.

F 10/21: Summer of Soul documentary on The Harlem Cultural Festival
Reading Response 9 Due (optional)

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Week Nine: Dylan and 60s Counter Culture to Vietnam

Assignment for Monday, 10/24
The big thing to work on this weekend is your Background Research assignment, which is due on Wednesday, 10/26. Ideally this will be completed by the start of class, but try to have as much done as you can, as we may use some of the sources you find in class.

As you’re working on it, you can listed to some Bob Dylan, who is our artist focus for the week. Just as we started with the early 60s last week and then moved into Black Power, this week we are starting with the early 60s and the evolution of folk and then moving to the counter culture and anti-Vietnam War movements.

There are only 8 Dylan songs on the playlist, songs 101 – 108, from “Song to Woody” (1962) to “Like a Rolling Stone” (1965). Some you will most certainly be familiar with, others perhaps not. As you prepare to discuss them in class, I’d like you to consider how Dylan’s version of folk was similar and different from Guthrie’s and Seeger’s versions of folks. And, importantly, just what it was about Dylan that resonated so greatly with the world in the the 1960s. Consider the lyrics, music, delivery, and context (maybe sociological imagination?) and try to parse it out. Come to class ready to discuss and to point to specific parts of the songs—not just the lyrics—but actual timestamp moments of the songs that help illuminate your ideas. There’s no right answer here, of course, which makes it even more fun to consider.

If you would like to complete Reading Response 10, please address that question.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

M 10/24: Artist Spotlight: Bob Dylan; “Blowin’ in the Wind” Live at Newport 1963; “Times They Are A-Changin'” Live in Sheffield, England, 1965; Dylan Lyrics
Reading Response 10 Due (optional)

Assignment for Wednesday, 10/26
There is no specific assignment to complete for class on Wednesday so you can dedicate your time to working on your Background Research Assignment, which is due Wednesday by 11:00pm.

In class on Wednesday we’re going to switch focus and discuss podcast transcripts and timelines.

For Friday, however, we are going to discuss the documentary WBCN and the American Revolution, which is described as:

The amazing untold story of the radical underground radio station WBCN-FM set against the profound social, political and cultural changes of the late-1960s and early-70s, using the actual sights, sounds and stories of those who connected through the station, exploding music and countercultural scenes, militant anti-war and civil rights protests and emerging women’s and LGBTQ-liberation movements.

Please plan ahead so you have time to watch it. The link above should bring you to it, but you may need to log in with your SJU account. As you’re watching it, I’d like you to pay attention and record some time stamps that show or are indicative of what Dylan discusses in his songs. That is, places where we see “times a-changin’,” where we see answers “blowin’ in the wind,” where we see people feeling disconnected and lost; and so on.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

W 10/26: Discuss transcripts and timelines; “Quiet” by Milck; notes-milck.docx
Background Research Due
Hand out Transcript and Timeline Assignment

Assignment for Friday, 10/28
Please read over the Transcript and Timeline Assignment and bring to class any questions you have.

As written in the homework for Wednesday, on Friday we will be discussing WBCN and the American Revolution and anti-Vietnam War songs. There are so many great songs that it is hard to narrow down, but I forced myself to and chose 13 (many of which you may know), from Barry McGuire’s apocalyptic 1965 “Eve of Destruction” (song 109) to George Harrison’s opposite of apocalyptic 1973 “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” (song 121). I’ve selected a range of genres, too, but you’ll see we’re definitely moving into the rock ‘n roll era. Listen to as many as you’d like, and especially those with which you may not be familiar.

As you’re watching the documentary I’d like you to pay attention to and record some time stamps that show or are indicative of what Dylan discusses in his songs. That is, places where we see “times a-changin’,” where we see answers “blowin’ in the wind,” “pawns in their game,” challenging authority, people feeling disconnected and lost; and so on. Think about how those ideas also translate into the anti-war songs, too. If you choose to complete Reading Response 11, please address that in writing.

I hope to have a similar kind of movie discussion as we had with Summer of Soul, as I thought that was really great.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

(As a bonus for all you Springsteen fans out there [or if you have family who are Springsteen fans and watch to share a nugget with them] you might check out the lyrics to Springsteen’s 1970 song, “Where Was Jesus in Ohio?” which Springsteen wrote in the days after Kent State shootings. He sang it once that is known of, as a member of his band at the time, Steel Mill, at The String Factory in Richmond, VA, probably on 19 or 20 June 1970. He was 20. Miraculously someone recorded it, and you can listen to the audio on YouTube, but the quality is poor.)

F 10/28: WBCN and the American Revolution documentary and anti-Vietnam War songs
Reading Response 11 Due (optional)

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Week Ten: Native American Protest Music and Env Justice

M 10/31: WBCN and the American Revolution documentary and anti-Vietnam War songs
Reading Response 12 Due (optional)
W 11/2: Discuss 2-minute transcripts and timelines
2 Minute Transcript and Timeline Drafts Due

Assignment for Friday, 11/4
The readings and songs for Friday are going to introduce us to Indigenous Protest and Activist songs, as well as ask us to enter into a debate about “The Land is Your land.” We’ll be focusing primarily on Buffy Sainte Marie, perhaps the most famous Indigenous activist singer, but also Peter LaFarge and some others. Sainte Marie has written:

A great three-minute protest song can be more effective than a 400-page textbook: immediate and replicable, portable and efficient, wrapped in music, easy to understand by ordinary people. It’s distributed word-of-mouth by artists, as opposed to news stories marketed by the fellas who may own the town, the company store and the mine.

In order to get to know Sainte Marie a bit, I’d like you to read “‘Protest Songs Spell Out Problems. Activist Songs Spell Out Solutions,'” by Alex Frank in the November 2017 issue of the Village Voice, which is based on an extensive interview with Sainte Marie.

Then, please listen the songs on the Protest Music Spotify Playlist starting with “Ira Hayes” by Peter LaFarge and ending with “Fight Like a Girl” by Raya Zaragoza. The songs range from 1964 to 2020.

These songs are going to introduce you to many historical events you may not be familiar with. That’s okay; you can look up some if you’d like. But, specifically if your last name starts

  • A – E, I’d like you to look up and be ready to discuss the Wounded Knee Massacre from 1890
  • F – M, I’d like you to look up and be ready to discuss the Wounded Knee Occupation from 1973
  • N – W, I’d like you to look up and discuss the controversy surrounding the Kinzua Dam, circa 1960

Moving on to “This Land is Your Land,” please read the following in order:

After reading these articles, I’d like to break down the concerns and responses being raised about “This Land is Your Land” and where you see yourself landing on the debate. Look for validity in all the articles.

If you choose to complete Reading Response 13, please write about whatever you think most interesting in the readings and songs.

F 11/4: Clearwater Festival and Environmental Justice Indigenous Protest and Activist Songs: Buffy Sainte-Marie, Peter LaFarge, and others; maybe Johnny Cash’s Bitter Tears (1964)
Reading Response 13 Due (optional)

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Week Eleven: Transcript Conferences

M 11/7: Class Canceled for Transcript Conferences
3-minute Transcript and Timeline Second Drafts Due by start of conference
W 11/9: Podcast source transitions; “Quiet” by Milck; audio discussion

Assignment for Friday, 11/11
On Friday, we’re going to do some experimenting with audio editing using the free, cross-platform software, Audacity. To prepare, I’d like you to download it to your computer.

I’l also like you to record 3 or 4 clips of you talking in parts of your transcript. You can record using your phone Audio Recording app and then email the file to yourself.

I’d also like you to prepare your laptop so that it can Record Internal Audio. This will be vital for you to be able to add found audio clips to your project. Follow that link for a tutorial I created.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

F 11/11: Audio discussion Lilith Fair and about Wendy Rollins

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Week Twelve: 70s Punk and Early Rap

Assignment for Monday, 11/14
For Monday, we’re going to leap across the pond into the mosh pit with 70s punk. I’d like you to listen to the songs 135 – 143 on the Protest Music Spotify Playlist, which ranges from “Search and Destroy” (1973) by the Stooges to “London Calling” (1979) by The Clash.

I’d also like you to listen to the first two songs, “God Save the Queen” and “I Wanna Be Me,” from Sex Pistols January 14, 1978 concert at Winterland (you’re welcome to watch the whole incredible concert, of course, but you’re not required to).

In addition, please spend a few minutes looking at these 1970s-era photographs of the London punk scene, noting the fashion.

I’m not assigning an academic reading about punk because I know you have your podcasts to work on, but for class on Monday I’d like you to consider what can we learn about punk based on what we listened to, saw at the concert, and the photos we looked at? Think about how the following interact together generate meaning:

  • band names
  • vocal delivery
  • musical performance
  • lyrics (psychological imagination?)
  • fashion
  • album art

If you would like to complete Reading Response 14 (and many of you should, as you are behind), please consider the above and write about it.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

M 11/14: 70s Punk, Sex Pistols, The Clash, and others;  The Damned, (Meet the Beatles cover; “Help” [1965])
Reading Response 14 Due (optional)

Assignment for Wednesday, 11/16
For Wednesday, we’re going to continue along the timeline and move into the 1980s by jumping back across the pond and to the birth of socially conscious rap music. Please listen to songs 144 – 155 on the Protest Music Spotify Playlist, which ranges from “The Message” (1982) by Grandmaster Flash to “Fight the Power” (1990) by Public Enemy.

I’d also like you to watch on Netflix Season 1, Episode 4, of Hip-Hop Evolution, “The Birth of Gangsta Rap” (46 mins). Please be aware that there numerous offensive words in both the episode and the songs we are listening to.

As with the work for Monday, I’m not assigning an academic reading about rap because I know you have your podcasts to work on, but for class on Wednesday I’d like you to consider what can we learn about rap based on what we listened to and the Hip-Hop Evolution episode. Think about how the following interact together generate meaning:

  • band names
  • vocal delivery
  • musical performance
  • lyrics (psychological imagination?)
  • fashion
  • album art

Update: Please have your notes written down or printed out so you don’t need to have your computers open during class.

If you would like to complete Reading Response 15 (and many of you should, as you are behind), please consider the above and write about it.

As a bonus, if you are particularly interested in this subject, you might also listen to this story from NPR: How A Predatory Real Estate Practice Changed The Face Of Compton.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

W 11/16: Early Rap, Grandmaster Flash, NWA, and Public Enemy
Reading Response 15 Due (optional)
F 11/18: discuss 1-minute draft due; audio questions
1-Minute Podcast Draft Due by start of class

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Week Thirteen: 2-Minute Draft and Conferences

M 11/21: discuss 2-minute draft; notes-podcast-2-minutes.docx
2-Minute Podcast Draft Due by start of class
W 11/23: Class Canceled — Thanksgiving
F 11/25: Class Canceled — Thanksgiving

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Week Fourteen: Vinyl, Hip-Hop, and Conferences

M 11/28: Bring in your fav vinyl; post-Thanksgiving Check-in; discuss Final Podcast and Final Post

Assignment for Wednesday, 11/30
Please listen to songs 155 to 161 on the Spotify, which is “Double Dare Ya” (1991) by Bikini Kill to “Bloody Ice Cream” (1998) by Bikini Kill. Find the lyrics online so you can understand what is being sung. Please note that the songs contain sensitive topics, but they are also the more tame of the songs that could be chosen. If you are interested in the more graphic and violent songs so you can get a fuller understanding of the bands and their messages, please see the full albums.

Please read “The Waves of Feminism, and Why People Keep Fighting Over Them” by Constance Grady.

Then, read Darms “Introduction” and Fateman’s essay, along with the Riot Grrrl Examples, which contains 70+ pages of Riot Grrrl zines — scroll down on the Readings and Texts page until you see the heading. You might try to keep the zine examples open as you read Darms’ and Fateman’s essages so you can move back and forth between examples and articles. Darms’ essay serves as the introduction to the important Riot Grrrl Collection book and Fateman’s is a short memoir-type piece about her experience with the Riot Grrrl movement that also appears at the front of the book.

I don’t expect you to read every word of every page of the zines. There are many examples just to show you the range of content. Read what interests you and skip what doesn’t. As with the songs, the zines cover and depict sensitive topics.

The Reading Response for Wednesday is REQUIRED for all students (unless you have completed all your required responses). I’d like you to consider TWO Riot Grrrl zine page examples by looking at them in terms of Grady’s discussion of feminism, Darms’ and Fateman’s discussions of Riot Grrrl, and the “sociological imagination,” which we have written and talked about before. As a reminder, Rosenthal and Flacks introduce a term “C. Writing Mills called a ‘sociological imagination’: It helps musickers to see the social roots in what might otherwise be felt as individual stories or problems. It identifies collective and structural arrangements—who has power? who does the work? who gets the payoff? who decides?—as the origin of what is usually felt to be one’s personal situation” (p. 20). See the full passage for a complete definition. What are the songs and zines reacting against and how are the bands and writers reclaiming power? Include screenshots of the zine pages you discuss.

W 11/30: Women’s Punk and Riot Grrrl
Reading Response 16 Due (optional)
TH 12/1: 5-Minute Draft Conferences
5-Minute Podcast Draft Due by start of conferences
F 12/2: Class Canceled for 5-Minute Draft Conferences
Hand out Final Podcast, Transcript, and Reflections Instructions

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Week Fifteen: Final Podcast, Beyonce’s Lemonade, Songs of Love and Hope

M 12/5: Final Podcast Questions; Bring in your fav vinyl
Final Podcast and Final Post due by 11:00pm

Assignment for Wednesday, December 7
Please watch in full the movie that accompanied the release of Beyonce’s Lemonade. When watching, I’d like you to make a list of all the social justice-related themes invoked, overtly or subtly, by the film. Take a screenshot of one such instance and have it with you in class on Wednesday, ready to talk about what that scene evokes.

I’d also like you to think about if and/or how Beyonce in Lemonade is positioning her film and record to be doing very much what Darms wrote about the Riot Grrrl zines: providing “a set of instructions for remaking the world.”

Reading Response 17 is REQUIRED for all students who have yet to complete the required number of responses. Please address the question posed in the above paragraph: Is Beyonce providing “a set of instructions for remaking the world”? If so, what is the world she is remaking it into?

If you have any questions, please let me know.

W 12/7: Beyonce’s Lemonade
Reading Response 17 Due (optional)

Assignment for Friday, 12/9
So, we’ve reached the end and I’d like to end by listening to and talking about songs of love and hope. On the Protest Music Spotify Playlist, please listen to songs 172 – 187, from The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” (1969) through Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” (2022). They are in chronological order. These are songs that you should be able to listen to while doing other things. Try identify some themes you see running through them and be ready to talk about some specific moments in the songs. I’ve tried to find a variety of genres and a mix of artists we’ve discussed already, you may know, and those you may not. Some are upbeat and some are tear-jerkers.

Speaking about the Civic Rights Movement, Pete Seeger said, “No one can prove anything, but of course if I didn’t believe [the songs] had some kind of power, I wouldn’t be trying to [sing them].” I’d like you to come to class with some ideas on whether or not songs of protest and on social justice themes make a difference at all. If so, how? And how can we know? If not, why not?

If you have any questions, please let me know.

F 12/9: Last class of the semester; Songs of love and hope
Podcast Reflections Due by 11:00pm
Final Podcast and Final Post due by 11:00pm

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Week Sixteen: Finals Weeks

12/12 by 11:00pm: Final Podcast Reflections due by 11:00pm
12/16 by 11:00pm: Final Course Reflections and Final Engagement and Presence Reflection Due

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