Music and Resistance

Catalog description

Music and Resistance will examine how people use music both as a tool of oppression and a method of resisting oppression. Course topics will include the use of western classical music by colonial powers; music and torture; music during World War II (including the use of music in concentration camps and as propaganda in Allied and Axis countries); music in Indian Boarding Schools; music in the American Civil Rights Movement; and hip hop as the music of oppressed populations in Europe and the United States. Reading assignments will come from a wide range of sources and disciplinary perspectives including scholarly articles, book chapters, and personal memoirs. We will listen to and discuss music from multiple genres including hip hop, pop, jazz, folk, and the western classical tradition. No previous musical experience as a performer is required to be successful in this class.