About the Protest Anthem Podcast Assignment
The Podcast Assignment has four primary goals:
- for students to engage critically and analytically with a contemporary protest or social justice song
- to see how many of the theories we read about apply to contemporary music
- to build and/or enhance important audio communication practices and processes
- to create a podcast that is creative, fun, engaging, and that makes the audience think about a song in a new way
The assignment is informed by five Course Learning Objectives:
Objective 1. Communication Technologies
Students will develop and enhance their use of various communication technologies for the purpose of creating media objects with specific rhetorical goals and for specific audiences.
Objective 2. Critical Awareness of the Social Role of Media
Students will understand the history and context of the role that communication media (recording devices, music, text, samples, videos, etc.) has played in social movements. Students will be able to articulate and critique the role media has historically played and currently plays in society.
Objective 3: Effective Communication
Students will understand the principles, practices, and ethics of effective media communication, in particular in terms of how it applies to social movements, society, and protest music.
Objective 4: Reflection
Students will develop their understanding of the important role of reflection during the reading, creation, and communication process.
Objective 5: Risk-taking
Students will know what it feels like to step out of their comfort zones and take risks with their approaches to and understanding of protest and social movements.
The project will be completed in 5 stages:
- Proposal (due 2/6 by 11:00pm on the Protest Anthems web site)
- Background Research
- Transcript
- Podcast Rough Draft
- Podcast Final Draft
Podcast Assignment Specifics
This semester each student will be creating a podcast for what we are calling the Protest Anthem Podcast series. The podcasts students create will be modeled on NPR’s American Anthem series and Studio 360’s American Icon series, such as:
We will be taking an ecological and intersectional approach to our analysis. That is, we will not be focusing on just the music and the lyrics. We will also be considering many other factors and media objects.
Since podcasts are meant to be heard by the public, we will be publishing them online on the Protest Anthems web site. I am talking with members of the SJU radio station to see if we can get them aired on the radio. In class we will talk about the possibility of uploading them to podcasting sites so they can be found by the general public.
Each student is responsible for writing, recording, editing, and publishing 1 Protest Anthem podcast that adheres to the following criteria:
- runs 8 – 12 minutes long
- has a clear intended message that includes information (not necessarily in this order) about:
- the musician(s) and songwriter(s)
- the history of the song (such as, writing period, release date, album it appears on, etc.)
- the historical context in which the song was written and released
- the social justice topic being discussed and/or being protested against and what the song is critiquing
- the music alone
- the lyrics alone (be sure to distinguish between the singer and writer if they are different)
- the vocal delivery alone
- a complex interpretation of the meaning of the song overall and not just about the lyrics
- how it was received
- how it is connected to an organized movement (such as the civil rights movement)
- the song’s intertextuality
- how it exists within a lineage of a particular genre (such as, spiritual, folk, punk, pop, etc.)
- includes your own original narration, relevant scholarship quotes (can be from class readings), clips from the song, and any of the following that will enhance the story being told:
- quotes from popular online and print media
- descriptions of videos (official or other)
- alternate live and studio performances of the song
- associated songs
- interview clips
- social media posts
- album or song artwork and/or packaging
- anything else that you think will enhance your discussion
- includes background music when that music is necessary
- is accompanied by a complete transcript to ensure it is accessible for people who are deaf or are not able to listen to the audio at the moment
- the transcript will include associated links and embedded media referenced in the audio, such as those on the NPR anthems page, as well as citations.
Though not required, if possible students can include:
- musicological analysis, such if the song is in a major or minor key, if time signatures change, etc.
- interviews with experts and/or fans
- personal recordings of live performances
Song Selection
Some guidelines and tips for selecting a song:
- The song must have been released within the student’s lifetime. The song can be an original composition or can be a re-interpretation of an older song (such as when Springsteen redid “O Mary Don’t You Weep”).
- The song can be an overt protest song (such as, anti-war or against a political person) or can be about an important social justice issue
- Don’t limit yourself to songs about race just because that’s mainly what we have covered so far in class. The song you choose can be about any form of protest and/or social justice, which includes labor issues, poverty, women’s rights and empowerment, LGBTQ+ rights and empowerment, abuses of power, bullying, religious intolerance, Native American discrimination, and so on. And since the songs are to have been released in your lifetime, that includes all the post-9/11 anti-war songs, too.
- Steer away from very recent songs that have been analyzed to pieces. For example, Childish Gambino’s “This is America” is an excellent song with a phenomenal video, but the video has been deconstructed to the micro-second level. There isn’t as much room for you to do work with it.
- The video can be the object that draws you to the song, so you can feel free to focus on that primarily, especially if is the video that suggest, reinforces, or solidifies the idea that the song is a protest song.
- Try to avoid songs that are too obvious. The more work you need to do the more nuanced your discussion will be. Consider, for example, the complexity of our analysis of “Born in the U.S.A.” when we had to consider the paradox of the lyrics versus the music.
- This work should challenge you in new ways. It should not be easy.
Proposal
I would like you to think about this proposal in terms of several things.
First, consider the song you are going to investigate. Consider what it is about that song that intrigues you, that you are curious about, that makes you want to learn more about it. (Don’t just write that you have always loved the song—really engage it critically.) Is the song too obvious or will it be challenging (challenging is good). Discuss what makes it a protest song and what it is protesting against, and/or the social justice issue being raised. As stated above, the song must have been released during your lifetime, either as an original recording or a re-interpretation of an older song.
Second, where do you think this song will lead you, in terms of research and other music? How does the song exhibit the characteristics of its genre? How does it connect to a particular moment in history?
Third, I would like you to consider what the song means to you, personally. Why do you think it is important? Are you willing to dedicate 11 weeks to studying it, which will mean listening to it over and over and over again?
Fourth, I would like you discuss what concerns you have about completing the project.
Embed and/or link to all media referenced, including a version of the song itself (assume that Bill might not know the song and will need to listen to it).
You don’t need to address the items in the order listed above, and your proposal shouldn’t read like a bulleted list. Rather, the ideas and topics should appear seamlessly in your discussion. The goal is to showcase why you want to this, what you will do, where it might appear, and why it is important.
Please post your proposal to the Protest Anthems Podcast web site by Wednesday, 2/6 at 11:00pm. When posting, be sure to click the “Proposal” category and add appropriate tags. The proposal can be as long you think it should be for an upper level Communication Studies course.
Background Research
To be added.
Transcript
To be added.
Podcast Rough Draft
To be added.
Podcast Final Draft
To be added.