Music and Social Justice.

Catalog description

Semester course; 1.5 lecture and 1.5 field experience hours. 3 credits. This course will introduce students to social justice issues in a local context with a focus on expanding and deepening their knowledge and skills to effect change through active engagement in the community. The course will comprise a 75-minute weekly lecture on VCU's campus and performances in conjunction with the RVA Street Singers. This course will promote an understanding and critical analysis of factors which impact those experiencing homelessness. Guest lecturers will present on such topics as diverse populations, mental health, chronic illness, food insecurity, housing instability and other social justice issues. The rehearsals with RVA Street Singers will promote skillful physical activities, musical development, mental engagement and aesthetic sensitivity to benefit personal well-being. Students from various disciplines across the university will exchange skill sets, work together to develop their cultural sensitivity with specific insights to the homeless population, interact with and provide support for the RVA Street Singers, and come to understand the effect of community singing in a highly diverse adult population.