#pmpsjs21 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.

Week One: Introductions and Case Studies 1 – 3

M 1/25: Case Study 1: Jimi Hendrix, “Star Spangled Banner” (1969)
Hand out Reading Response Assignment

Assignment for Wednesday, 1/27
Please read through the course web site carefully and post two questions you have about it to this anonymous form:

https://forms.gle/HgsxTi1ztQNtasci7

Please also sign up on the Now Playing Signup Sheet (you will need to be logged in to your SJU account). You don’t need to know the song you’ll be choosing right now. This is just to get you signed up.

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

W 1/27: Case Study 2: “Star Spangled Banner” sheet music (see Readings page); Community of Learning; Introductions; Syllabus questions

Assignment for Friday, 1/29
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 on Tuesday evening. If you did not receive it, please email Bill right away — and email any questions you have.

Please read and annotate Jason Schneider on Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” (1984) (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 affords 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 this 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 1/29: First Listen Friday: 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

Week Two: Understanding Songs and Music, CSs 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 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, the delivery, the songs, the performance, the artist, the 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 movements. What do we need to consider in order to get to as close an understanding of a song as we can?

We will discussion both articles in great detail on Monday.

M 2/1: Schneider; Rosenthal and Flacks, “Aretha Franklin….”; notes-schneider-rosenthal-flacks-s21.docx
Reading Response 2 Due

Assignment for Wednesday, 2/3
On Wednesday we move to our 4th Case Study, which will focus on the context in which a text was released, the visuals (in the broadest sense of the term), and the performance, three of the many modes Rosenthal and Flacks discuss that help create what we call a “ecological view” of music. To do so, we’re going to look at work from 2020.

There is no Reading Response due, but I would like you to watch the following videos, and when you do, focus on the argument (if any) the visuals and the performance are making in terms of the context in which the songs were released. Try to limit your focus on the lyrics as much as possible. You might do some additional research to help you understand the many subtle and not so subtle signifiers.

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

Janelle Monae, “Turntables” (September 15, 2020)

W 2/3: Case Study 4: Janelle Monae, “Turntables” (2020) and Shakira & J. Lo’s FULL Pepsi Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show (2020)

Assignment for Friday, 2/5
Please 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 the song’s creation, 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. If you need to pause while watching, please do, and if you need to skip those sections, please do.

I’d also like you to spend some  on 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.

We will listen to “Strange Fruit” in class on Friday and talk about it and the documentary. If time permits, we’ll also listen to Nina Simone’s version. Both are on the Spotify playlist. We’re specifically going to be talking about another mode of communication: delivery.

There is no Reading Response due, though I invite you to come to class with some prepared reactions to the film. And if you did not include a Reflection sections in the your one or both of your first two responses, please go back to yours and add it. As per the assignment, the Response is 30 points and the Reflection 20 (out of 50 total), so you want to be sure you have both. Please also create clear headings for each so I know which is Response and which is Reflection.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

F 2/5: First Listen Friday: Case Study 5: Billie Holiday, “Strange Fruit” (1939); Strange Fruit documentary; Nina Simone, “Strange Fruit” (1965)

Week Three: Playlist Curation as Social Justice Work

Assignment for Monday, 2/8
This week we are switching to talk about playlist creation and we will start work on our Social Justice playlists for the Day of Dialogue. To get us started, we’re going to listen Episode 5, “American Skin,” of Bruce Springsteen’s From My Home to Yours podcast series, which he started last summer. Episode 5 was released June 3, 2020, the Wednesday following the weekend of protests following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin.

For Monday, I’d like you to listen to Episode 5 (see the Readings and Texts page for the link under Springsteen in the list of authors). It is 1 hour 49 minutes long and contains 22 songs, including Bob Dylan’s most recent song, which at nearly 17 minutes accounts for the episodes extended length (see the Playlists page for the complete playlist). Still, it is important to listen to the whole episode so you can reveal the arc Springsteen has made. (Note: when you click on the link on the Readings page, you will get a popup regarding scanning for viruses. Click “Play Anyway.”)

While listening, I’d like you to read three important pages from Rosenthal and Flacks under the heading, “What Counts as Political Music?” (see the Readings and Texts page). We’ll be returning to these pages throughout the semester.

For Reading Response 3, discuss how Springsteen builds his playlist arc and narratives with, for, and around it. That is, consider the relationship between the songs Springsteen has chosen, the subject of the show, and/or how the ideas transform and move throughout the show, and his his narratives reinforce, expound upon, and provide further insight. Do we see a “sociological imagination” (Rosenthal and Flacks quoting Mill, p. 20) at work in the playlist itself?

M 2/8: Bruce Springsteen, From My Home to Yours, Episode 5 & maybe one other; notes-sprsingsteen-ep5-s21.docx
Hand out Social Justice Playlist for Day of Dialogue Assignment
Reading Response 3 Due

Assignment for Wednesday, 2/10
On Wednesday we are going to consider portions of Kristen Kurtis’s XPN Morning Show playlists from June 1, 2020 (after the George Floyd protests), and January 7, 2021 (the day after the insurrection on the capitol in Washington, DC). The playlists were so well conceived that it was hard to pair them down, so there is 3 hours of music — 2 hours from June 1 and 1 hour from January 7.

But, one of the things that is really interesting about the songs on the playlist is whether it is the title of the song, the song itself, or both combined that earns its place in the playlist. For example, Laura Marling’s “Held Down,” which appears on the June 1 playlist (curated after George Floyd’s murder). Is that song there because of the title (because Floyd’s was held down)? Or is there something in the lyrics? Or both? Another thing that is fascinating is how Kurtis weaves covers and mini-relationships between songs in sequence. In other words, there is quite a bit going on here.

In preparation for Wednesday, I’d like your to read through all the titles and think about how the titles suggest they belong on each  playlist. Then, choose a significant portion of each playlist (you don’t need to listen to the full 3 hours, unless you want to) and listen to the songs in sequence. Think about why those songs are there and the connections between them and the issue(s) Kristen is considering. Is what Kristen is doing social justice work and if so, how? If not, why not?

If you have chosen to complete a Reading Response for today instead of Monday, address the above paragraph. Label your response 3a.

The breakdown in the songs from June 1 and January 7 is on the Playlists page and all the songs are on the Spotify playlist.

W 2/10: Kristen Kurtis’s XPN Morning Show playlists from June 1, 2020, and January 7, 2020; notes-for-kristen-kurtis-playlists-s21.docx
Reading Response 3a due
F 2/12: XPN Morning Show DJ, Kristen Kurtis, visits class

Week Four: Reflecting and Civil Rights Music as Communication

M 2/15: Reflect on Kristen Kurtis’s visit; discuss playlist drafts
Social Justice Playlist Drafts Due
Hand out Podcast and Podcast Proposal Assignments

Assignment for Wednesday, 2/17
Please read Kerran Sanger (1995) Selections (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:

After completing the reading and listening to the two radio stories, please complete your 4th Reading Response on the following:

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 in class and the radio shows.

Please also read through the Podcast and Podcast Proposal Assignments, which we will discuss in class.

W 2/17: Sanger on Black song traditions; NPR radio shows on “This Little Light of Mine” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
Reading Response 4 Due

Assignment for Friday, 2/19
First listen Friday this week is on “We Shall Overcome.” I’ve removed the reading for that song, but I’d like you to instead listen to three “We Shall Overcome” tracks on the Protest Music Spotify Playlist:

  • Guy and Candace Carawan, “We Shall Overcome”
  • MLK “We Shall Overcome” Speech on Westside Blanco’s Rise to Power II
  • The Freedom Singers, “We Shall Overcome”

Guy Carawan, along with Ziphia Horton, Frank Hamilton, and Pete Seeger, are credited with writing “We Shall Overcome” and Seeger introduced the song to MLK. The playlist includes a speech by MLK in which he highlights the phrase “We shall overcome.” The Freedom Singers’ version is just . . . well, you’ll hear it.

As you’re listening, I’d like you to focus on the community aspect of the songs, thinking about what Sanger mentions and we talk about in class in terms of their ability to empower and transform. You might try singing along and see what the impact is. Think, too, about the impact of MLK’s use of the phrase in his speech.

On Friday we are going to be starting with our Harmonics Analysis. To do so, I’d like you to watch (and follow along yourself) the below video I’ve prepared. It is a very, very, very basic introduction to Harmonics Analysis, so if you are musically inclined and think, “Bill, this is just the basics,” then, yup, that’s all it is.

Please complete the analysis step by step as I go through it so you can get see what it is like. You will need  printed copies of the Note Resolution Chart, the Circle of Fifths, and the detailed Harmonics Analysis Instructions I’ve prepared (see the Readings and Texts page under the Harmonics Analysis heading), as well as the sheet music, which is also on the Readings and Texts page. Having these things printed will make it significantly easier for you.

The video ends by asking you to think about why Seeger has introduced Harmonic Elision at one point in the song, so please come to class with some ideas. Please also come to class with printed versions of the Note Resolution Chart, the Circle of Fifths, and the Harmonics Analysis Instructions.

In class, we will complete another analysis of a song TBD.

A few additional notes
I have moved your podcast proposal date to Saturday, 2/20 at noon.

I will be significantly updating the course calendar over the coming days so if you see changes, those are intentional.

My Zoom office hours are TH 1 – 3. Please stop by to chat!

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

The Video
This video will introduce you to the very basics of Harmonics Analysis, which includes the following:

0:00: Introduction and location of docs on course web site
3:40: Explaining parts of the sheet music
8:40: Melody, Chords, and Harmony
12:20: Preparing for the Harmonics Analysis of We Shall Overcome
14:20: Finding the song’s key (the One Chord) by locating the Key Signature and Using the Circle of Fifths
18:15: Writing out the notes in sequence starting with the One Chord, adding the Roman numerals
21:25: Intro to the Note Resolution Chart, cadence, and how chords resolve or don’t resolve (harmonic elision)
23:10: Beginning the Harmonic Analysis of We Shall Overcome by writing out chords and Roman numerals
26:50: Determining if the cadences resolve
30:20: Discussing the implications of the cadence analysis and locating the Amen, Authentic, and Deceptive Cadences in the song
33:55: Considering the Harmonic Elision in the song and in relation to the lyrics
36:30: Closing thoughts

F 2/19: First Listen Friday: “We Shall Overcome”; Analyzing “We Shall Overcome” Sheet Music; Circle of Fifths (.pdf); Note Resolution Chart (.pdf); (see Readings page); harmonics-instruction.pdf
Saturday, 2/20: Podcast Proposal Due at noon

Week Five: On Social Justice Movements and Song Context

Assignment for Monday, 2/22
There is no reading or reading response assignment for Monday. Focus on your Podcast Proposal, which I’d like you to have online by noon on Saturday, 2/20. Focus also on your Social Media Playlist assignment, which is due at 11:00pm on Monday.

Update: Finish the Harmonics Analysis of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” that we started in class. See the Readings and Texts page for the link to the sheet music and other files. I’m going to ask everyone to hold up a page where we see you doing your chord analysis, so please do this on paper. As I said in class, this is just a fun thing to do to add a never level of appreciation for the songs and isn’t designed to cause stress. Just follow the instructions and you should be okay.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

M 2/22: TBD Sanger on collective singing; Rosenthal and Flacks on social movements and song; notes-for-sanger2-rosenthal-flacks-ch1.docx
Social Justice Playlist Assignment Due by 11:00pm
Hand out Podcast: Listenings Assignment
Reading Response 5 Due

Assignment for Wednesday, 2/24
Please read Sanger (1995) “Selections (Part 2)” (Note: pages 49 and 50 are repeated in the PDF) and listen the songs on the Readings page under the heading “Civil Rights Songs for 2/24” (linked from the Readings and Texts page). These songs are from a wonderful CD that is not yet on Spotify, Voices of the Civil Rights Movement, compiled by one of the leaders of the movement, Bernice Johnson Reagon. The CD was created as part of the work she did toward her PhD and her liner notes are exceptional (linked from the Readings and Texts page). I usually assign these liner notes discussion on the call and response structure (pp. 3 – 14), but since I’m reducing the required readings this semester, I’m adding the link here in case you’re interested in learning more about it. Please, however, read the liner notes descriptions for each song I have asked you to listen to.

This is the first week where Reading Responses are not required (you have to choose 5 of the remaining responses). However, all students are expected to complete the readings and be prepared to discuss them. If it becomes clear that students who are not completing responses are not doing the readings, all responses will become required. So, please complete the readings so we can have a robust, informed discussion.

If you choose to complete a reading response, please address the following prompt:

I’d like you to discuss the intentionality of the use of songs in the civil rights movement—that is, the deliberate decisions to use them for certain rhetorical and practical goals and outcomes—not just within and for the movement itself (which was of course important, as we have discussed in class) but outside the movement, as well. Please reference Sanger and point to at least one of the songs I have asked you to listen to.

W 2/24: Sanger on collective singing; Reagon call and response songs
Reading Response 6 Due

Assignment for Friday, 2/26
Please complete a harmonics analysis of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land” (sheet music available on the Readings and Texts page).

Your First Listen (Context and Critique) is due Friday night at 11:00.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

F 2/26: First Listen Friday and Harmonic Analysis: “This Land is Your Land”;”This Land is Your Land” Lyrics; Circle of Fifths (pdf); Note Resolution Chart (pdf) (see Readings and Texts page);
First Listen (Context and Critique) Due by 11:00pm

Week Six: The Folk Movement, Song Lineages, Blacklisting

Assignment for Monday, 3/1
Please read Rosenthal and Flacks, “The Music-Movement Link,” and Garman (2000) on Woody Guthrie’s politics, 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 class Spotify playlist starting with “This Land is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie, through “Deportees” by Tish Hinojosa. I have also added some songs under the heading, “Songs by Artists Mentioned in the Garmen Reading” ending with “Po’Boy,” Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. You don’t need to listen those, but they are there just in case you are interested.

“Deportees” written but never recorded by Guthrie. I’ve included several 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:

When describing what functions as “political music,” 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). They continue that “political music implies, suggests, or openly states that existing arrangements are not natural, normal, or eternal, but the result of previous human decisions and arrangements, and thus susceptible to change” (p. 20). They continue on, but I won’t repeat it all here. I encourage you to re-read pages 20 and 21 to see the full context.

For this post, then, I’d like you to consider the “sociological imagination” in any Guthrie song on our Spotify playlist other than “This Land is Your Land” by seeing how Guthrie’s politics and/or social critique make their way into the song. I’d like you to follow by considering how and why folk music is a particularly adept genre for music that engages the “sociological imagination.”

If you have any questions, please let me know.

M 3/1: Rosenthal and Flacks on Music-Movement Link; Garman on Guthrie; Studio 360 on “This Land Is Your Land”; “This Land of Your Land”;notes-guthrie.docx
Reading Response 7 Due

Assignment for Wednesday, 3/3
On Wednesday we are going to talk about songs lineages. That is, how songs connect to one another by theme, phrasing, direct reference, and so on. Sampling can be a part of a lineage (such as when Kanye samples Gil-Scott Heron’s “Home is Where the Hatred Is”), but sampling is also used to reasons other than thematic connection, such as, for the beat (we have readings on sampling later in the semester).

We’re going to consider one possible lineage starting with “This Land is Your Land” (which, as we know, was written in response to “God Bless America.” I’d like you to listen to the following songs, in this order:

  1. Woody Guthrie,”This Land is Your Land” (1940)
  2. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, “This Land is Your Land” (2005)
  3. Childish Gambino, “This is America” (2018)
  4. Gary Clark, Jr., “This Land” (2019)

As you are listening, I’d like you to focus on the music, the delivery, and the words, noting what they make you think about and feel (just as we have done in class). You may need to listen to then a few times. Please do these even if you have heard them before. Listen to then anew. Then, please jot down some notes about how these songs are connected, creating a kind of pathway from one to the next. In other words, connect the dots between them — dots that you have to figure out. They are all on the Spotify playlist. Come to class ready to discuss them.

There is no additional reading, but you might start on the assignment for Friday because there is reading and watching in that one.

W 3/3: Guthrie,”This Land is Your Land” (1940); Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, “This Land is Your Land” (2005); Childish Gambino, “This is America” (2018); Gary Clark, Jr., “This Land” (2019); notes-lineages-s21.docx

Assignment for Friday, 3/5
On Friday we’re going to take a brief break from the music so we can 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.

F 3/5: On Podcast Song Choices and Background Research
Hand out Podcast Assignment: Background Research
Second Listen (Lineages) Due

Week Seven: Seeger and 60s Civil Rights Songs

Assignment for Monday, 3/8
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 the portion; just after 1:03 the doc moves to his environmental causes, so if you care about environmental issues, you might want to keep watching.)

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 Spotify playlist that are mentioned in the readings, as well as others that exemplify Seeger’s work over his career, from “If I Had a Hammer” to “It Could Be A Wonderful World” (a few from his time with The Weavers). He has 1000s of songs, so this is a representative sample.

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.

Please also read through the Background Research assignment for your podcast and come to class with questions.

M 3/8: Artist Spotlight: Pete Seeger; Jarnow on blacklisting; Seeger documentary and HUAC testimony; First Listen Friday: Pete Seeger, “If I Had a Hammer” (1962); notes-for-seeger.docx
Reading Response 8 Due
W 3/10: Class Canceled for COM Career Development Day
Third Listen (Delivery, Versions, Performances, Videos, Covers) Due

Assignment for Friday, 3/12
The songs for Friday are going to move us from gospel and folk songs of the Civil Rights Movement to the Black Power Movement. We’ll be doing this by spotlighting songs by Nina Simone with additional songs from the jazz, blues, soul, funk, and reggae genres. They run from “Sinnerman,” by Nina Simone to “Redemption Song,” by Bob Marley. Please listen to (at least parts of) all the songs, thinking about themes that connect the songs and how they tend to differ (in terms of lyrics, delivery, music, goals, focus, etc.) from those from the gospel and folk songs of Civil Rights Movements we’ve listened to.

I’d also like you to listen to this 4-minute NPR story on The Devil’s Tritone:

When listing to the songs, I’d like you to pay attention to the their release dates (which are on the Playlist page) and these important historical dates (please look up those with which you are not familiar):

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

In “Mississippi Goddam,” Nina Simone references “Sister Sadie.”

If you choose to complete Reading Response 9, I’d like you to consider how these songs tend to differ (such as, in terms of context, lyrics, delivery, music, goals, focus, etc.) from those from the gospel and folk songs of Civil Rights Movements we’ve listened to.  Focus on at least one Nina Simone song and at least one song by another artist from the list.

F 3/12: First Listen Friday: Nina Simone, “Mississippi Goddam” (1964), “I Want to Know What it Feels to Be Free” (1967); “To Be Young Gifted and Black” (1970); Hozier, “Nina Cried Power” (2018); plus songs by Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, James Brown, and others
Reading Response 9 Due
Third Listen (Delivery, Versions, Performances, Videos, Covers) Due

Week Eight: Dylan and Podcast Timelines

Assignment for Monday, 3/15
Please please watch No Direction Home, which is on Netflix, from 40:40 to the end of part 1. That section begins with Dylan arriving in NYC for the first time:

https://www.netflix.com/title/70177496

The documentary sometimes shows live concerts with Dylan with huge curly hair, which is from much later in the 60s. Just so you know and don’t get confused as to what that all is.

Please listen to the Dylan songs on the Spotify playlist, some of which are in the documentary portion we watch and some that appear later. Start with “This Land is Your Land,” from 1961, up to “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” from 1964. “Oxford Town” refers to Oxford, Mississippi, where in 1962, a riot broke out in response to Black student, James Meredith, attempting integrate the University of Mississippi. “A Pawn in Their Game” references Medgar Evers.

If you choose to complete Reading Response 10, please discuss how Dylan is continuing and challenging the folk and civil rights song traditions from Guthrie to the Freedom Songs to Seeger to Dylan. You might think about subject matter, delivery, presentation, sociological imagination, and/or interaction with the audience. (Really, it’s up to you.) Does he have more in common with them or the musicians we listened to for last week?

M 3/15: Bob Dylan; Documentary
Reading Response 10 Due

Assignment for Wednesday, 3/17
There are two parts to this assignment, the first required, the first not required.

Required: Please complete the Engagement and Presence Reflection Survey by 11:00pm on Wednesday.

Optional: For those of you would would like to watch a bit more about Dylan, please watch 1:57:20 – 2:41:00 of No Direction Home on Netflix. This covers the period from 1963 and the March on Washington through the recording of “Like A Rolling Stone” in 1965. I’ve also added some additional Dylan songs covered in the documentary (though not all) to the Spotify playlist (from”When the Ship Comes In” to “Like A Rolling Stone”). You might listen when completing the required reflection!

We will be doing a First Listen of “Like A Rolling Stone” in class on Wed.

W 3/17: First Listen on a Wed: Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone” (1965)
Midterm Engagement and Presence Reflection Due by 11:00pm
F 3/19: Discuss Podcast transcripts and timelines; podcast to listen to: “Quiet” by Milck; notes-milck.docx
Hand out Transcript and Timeline Assignment

Week Nine: Woodstock and Punk

M 3/22: More on Transcripts and Timelines
Reading Response 11 Due
Hand out Transcript and Timeline Assignment
W 3/24: Q & A about BR, Transcript, and Podcast assignments
New date date: TH 3/25 Background Research Due by 11:00pm 5:00pm

Assignment for Friday, 3/26
On Friday we are going to focus on one of the great country stars, Dolly Parton, whose career has spanned 7 decades. So, she’s going to help us transition from the 60s in to the present.

Please read the feature by Melinda Newman on Dolly Parton that appeared in the August 15, 2020, issue of Billboard Magazine, and listen to the Dolly Parton songs on the Spotify playlist, from “Dumb Blonde (1967) — the first song on Parton’s first record — to”Faith,” by Parton, Galantis, Mr. Probz (2019). The songs are by far not a full representation of Parton’s 50+ albums, but they do give you a feel for the social justice-themed songs that she has song, on topics including poverty, women’s empowerment, and gay and trans rights. Specifically from our list, “Family,” (1991), written in midst to the AIDS crisis, and “Travelin’ Thru,”  (2006), is the Oscar, Grammy, and Golden Globe nominated song from the Transamerica soundtrack, a movie about a pre-operative transgender woman.

If you choose to complete a Reading Response 11, please address your thoughts on Newman’s article, the “sociological imagination” in at least one Dolly Parton’s songs on the playlist, and the relationship between the lyrics, delivery, and the music. Or, anything else you’re thinking about the article, Dolly, and the songs.

F 3/26: Artist Spotlight: Dolly Parton
Reading Response 11 Due

Week 10: Transcripts and Punk

M 3/29: Discuss 2:00 Transcript drafts
Reading Response 12 Due

Assignment for Wednesday, 3/31
This time we are really going to be transition from the 60s via 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.

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

Then, please watch and listen to the following videos from the shows:

If you choose to complete Reading Response 12, please discuss the articles and songs for today in relation to what we have read and discussed in terms of the goals of the Civil Rights Movement and the folk movement, and if you’d, like how context plays a role in how we understand music, emotion, and/or the role of media in confronting social justice issues.

W 3/31: Sesame Street and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
Reading Response 12 Due
Thursday, 4/1: Transcripts and Timelines due by 11:00pm
F 4/2: No Class — Easter Break

Week Eleven: Transcript Conferences, Riot Grrrl, and Pussy Riot

M 4/5: No Class — Easter Break
W 4/7: Class Canceled for Transcript Conferences
F 4/9: Podcast source transitions; “Quiet” by Milck

Week Twelve: Riot Grrrl and Pussy Riot

Assignment for Monday, 4/12
Please listen to the songs on the Spotify playlist from “Help” by the Damned (a cover of The Beatles “Help”) to “Cool Schmool” by Bratmobile. Pay special attention to the songs by Bikini Kill and Bratmobile; find their lyrics online so you can understand what is being sung.

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 (note: on Readings and Texts page) 70+ pages—scroll down until you see that heading). You might try to keep the zine examples open as you read 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.

The Reading Response for Monday 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 zines reacting against and how are they reclaiming power? Include screenshots of the zine pages you discuss.

M 4/12: Riot Grrrl; notes-for-riot-grrrl-s21.docx
Reading Response 13 Due

Assignment for Wednesday, 4/14
Please read Zolandz (2012), watch “How Pussy Riot’s Punk Prayers Became a Movement” (6 minutes), and watch the videos under the Pussy Riot Videos for 4/14 heading on the Readings page. We’ll discuss these in class on Wednesday.

The videos are often political, sexually explicit, and emotionally charged. If any of them makes you uncomfortable for any reason, please don’t hesitate to stop watching, fast forward, and/or move on to another. For the videos in Russian, watch with the Captions On.

The Reading Response for Wednesday is REQUIRED for all students (unless you have completed all your required responses). Toward the end of “My Riot Grrrl,” Fateman writes, “Two decades later, the imprisonment of members of the Russian feminist band Pussy Riot, who—also astoundingly—cite riot grrrl as an inspiration for their punk music and guerrilla performances, drives home the breadth of [Riot Grrrl’s] influence” (p. 17).

In your response, I’d like you to consider where you see the influence of Riot Grrrl zines, actions, and related music showing up in Pussy Riots’ music, actions, performances, and videos, and anywhere you see Pussy Riot pushing the feminist and Riot Grrrl boundaries even further than the Riot Grrrl women did in the 90s. Reference the videoes, zines,  and Zolandz, and any other text you think helps explore what you’re seeing and thinking.

W 4/14: Pussy Riot
Reading Response 14 Due
F 4/16: Talk about audio and podcast drafts

Week Thirteen: Podcast Drafts and Fear of a Black Planet

Assignments for Monday, April 13
I will be sharing with you a folder where I would like you to upload your podcast drafts as .mp3 files.

For Monday, I would like you to have the first 1:00 – 2:00 minutes of your podcast created. Before the start of class, upload it to the postcast draft folder I shared. Use this naming convention:

yourlastname-pd1.mp3

If you have any questions, please let me know.

M 4/19: discuss podcast drafts; notes-podcast-2-minutes.docx

Assignments for Wed  – Fri, April, 21 – 23
Class is canceled Wed and Fri for half-hour podcast draft conferences. I will share with you a signup sheet.

Before the start of your conference, I would like you to have the at least 5:00 minutes of your 8 – 10 minute podcast created. If you have a full draft done, that’s fine, though you are expected to have the full thing done. Upload it to the podcast-draft folder I shared. Use this naming convention:

yourlastname-pd2.mp3

If you have any questions, please let me know.

W 4/21: Class Canceled  just ’cause we all need a break and time to work on stuff

Assignment for Friday, 4/23
This week we begin the looking at rap and hip-hop, which will take us all the way through the rest of the semester. We begin with Public Enemy’s second album, Fear of a Black Planet (1990). Please complete in the following order:

  1. Listen to the whole Fear of a Black Planet album (see the Spotify playlist), paying attention to the music and the lyrics, noting the number of samples and alternate sources.
  2. Watch the Official Video for “Fight the Power.”
  3. Read Rolling Stone’s and Melody Maker’s original reviews of the album from 1990. The Melody Maker review has been transcribed onto a blog.
  4. Read Lakeyta Bonnette (see Readings and Texts page) on the cultural foundation of black politics.
  5. Optional, just to give you some background if you’d like: On Netflix, watch Season 1, Episode 4, of Hip-Hop Evolution, “The Birth of Gangsta Rap” (46 mins)

The Reading Response for Friday is REQUIRED for all students (unless you have completed all your required responses). I’d like to you to consider the following. In the Melody Maker review, Simon Reynolds writes that “the angry questions that seethe in [Public Enemy’s] music, in the very fabric of their sound; the bewilderment and rage that, in this case, have made for one hell of a strong, scary album.” What questions are Public Enemy asking and how do they connect what Bonnette raises about the time period and black politics? How do these questions connect back to other songs we have listened to, movements we have discussed, and what is happening right now in our country? How can Fear of a Black Planet help us understand our current moment? Cite lyrics. If you watch the Netflix episode, try to weave that in, as well.

F 4/23: Public Enemy, Fear of a Black Planet (1990)
Reading Response 15 Due

Week Fourteen: 5-Minute Draft Conferences and To Pimp a Butterfly

M 4/26: Class Canceled for Podcast Draft Conferences
Podcast Draft due by start of conference

Assignment for Friday, 4/30
On we’ll be talking about Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 album, To Pimp a Butterfly (see the Spotify playlist). Please listen to the whole album and find the lyrics to help you understand the density of the songs.

We can’t talk about hip-hop without talking about sampling, so in addition to listening to the album, please read Vaidhyanathan (2001). I know the semester is coming to a close; this will be the last academic reading we have for the semester. And it’s a good one or I wouldn’t assign it. So, give it a read while listening to the album so we can all discuss it.

Here’s a fun video that contains every sample Lamar uses on To Pimp a Butterfly:

If you’d like to complete a Reading Response, please discuss the social, political, and/or creative implications of the samples that Lamar using. Focus on one or two and reference Vaidhyanathan, as needed.

W 4/28: No Class — Health and Wellness Day
F 4/30:  Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) Beyonce, Lemonade movie and album
Reading Response 16 Due
Saturday, 5/1: Podcast Final Drafts and Reflections Due by 11:00pm

Week Fifteen: Lemonade, Final Thoughts

Assignment for Monday, May 3
Please watch in full the movie that accompanied the release of Beyonce’s Lemonade. When watching, I’d like you to start making 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 Monday, ready to talk about what that scene evokes.

If you choose to complete a Reading Response, please paste in your screenshot and discuss what social justice issue(s) that scene invokes, while looking to at least one of our prior texts to discuss it as a form of protest and/or social commentary.

M 5/3: Beyonce, Lemonade (2016) movie and album TBD Protest Songs 2016 – 2020
Reading Response 17 Due
W 5/5: Class not meeting Beyonce, Lemonade (2016) movie and album

Assignment for Friday, 5/7
For Friday’s last class of the semester, we’re going to wrap things up a bit and talk about songs of love and hope. To prepare, I’d like you to bring with you the following:

  1. A song that exemplifies the phrase “love and hope.” I’ve added several of my choices to the Spotify playlist, down below Beyonce’s Lemonade. My list has several by Mavis Staples, once part of the Staples Singers. If we had more time, I’d have required the spectacular interview with her on Live at the World Cafe. If you have 14 minutes and want to hear a Civil Rights icon talk about knowing MLK, being proposed to by Bob Dylan, and the importance of hope in times of strife, give it a listen. You won’t regret it.
  2. I’d also like you to bring with you a list of 5 things that protest songs do when they are at their best. When creating this list, go back to the readings from early in the semester on movements and try to combine what we talked about with those with the latter songs of the semester when we were talking about individual songs, concept albums, and sampling practices. Be ready to share your list with class, as we’ll be pasting them in a doc.

See you then!

F 5/7: Last Day of Class; Songs of Love and Hope

Week Sixteen:

No later  than May 12: Final Podcast and Post Due
May 14: Final Course Reflections Due
May 14: Final Engagement and Presence Reflection Due

W 5/19: Grades Due 

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