- Canons, Culture, and Musical Taste

Catalog description

Top ten musical artists of all time—go! Chances are you’ve thought about who would go on your list, who’s overrated, and why some things that are terrible somehow become popular. This course will encourage you to think about the hows and whys of musical tastes. Over the term, we’ll consider the cultural messages put forth when certain kinds of music are lauded or dismissed, the cultural barriers artists face to becoming part of the canon, and just how these public and personal tastes are formed and change over time. Our course will emphasize a melding of data collection and analysis and cultural theory that allow us to contextualize our findings.