Urban Music: Race Class and Sexuality

Catalog description

Urban Music: Race, Class, and Sexuality will examine how hip-hop and dancehall reggae music cultures are informed by racial and class identities, are used as tools to express these identities, and are mediums through which people address marginalization. The course will also consider how these music cultures are tied to representations of gender and sexuality, and the meaning that can be made from their connections. Through this exploration, students will analyze how music and performance can impact listeners in contradicting ways. For example: providing a sense of esteem and empowerment, but perhaps also perpetuating racial and gender stereotypes, and violence. As an overarching theme, the course will consider the ways in which popular cultural forms are political, and are reflections of society at large, therefore serving as important microcosms through which to interpret it.