MUS 240 American Music: Traditions & Identities
This course examines a variety of musical traditions in the twentieth century in order to ask how Americans have represented themselves in music. Traditions explored include ragtime, blues, Dixieland, swing, bebop, folk, rock, rap, pop, musicals, opera, orchestra, instrumental, and vocal music. Often the individuals creating and performing these traditions were people of color, people of Jewish heritage, and those of GLBT+ identities. In addition to examining how this music is constructed in sound and text, the course explores how this music functioned in American culture, and how its creators and performers navigated a society that frequently marginalized or ignored their identities.