Assignments

Updated 1/14/2005

All assignments are to be read by class time. Students are expected to do basic extra research to attempt to answer questions that arise while readings. Unanswered questions, points about which the reader is unclear., and other issues should be brought to class to discuss. Some additional things top consider are:

• Who is the author? What viewpoint or position does the author hold? Do they have a "special interest" in that position?
• When was the article/book written? About what time period was it written?
• Is the writing part of a larger issue or controversy that sheds light on the reading or the position of the author?

The person who is "presenting" or leading a discussion on a particular reading should answer these questions or be prepared to discuss them in greater detail. They should make extra effort to bring in additional resources as appropriate, such as summaries of other related articles, biographical information on people mentioned, recordings of pieces, etc. It would also be beneficial to prepare a handout.

(Please note - presenters/leaders are now listed below. Due to the additional of a couple people, I have added a few readings that individuals will be responsible for. Please see me if necessary to obtain a copy of the article.)

Readings

1/25:

• Kerman, Joseph. 1985. "Ethnomusicology and 'Cultural Musicology'" Pp. 155-81 in Contemplating Music: Challanges to Musicology. Cambridge: Harvard University. (CP) - Julianne Jackson
• Booth, Gregory D. and Terry Lee Kuhn. 1990. “Economic and Transmission Factors as Essential Elements in the Definition of Folk, Art, and Pop Music” Musical Quarterly 74(3):411-38. (CP) - Jason Bowles
• Pen, Ronald A. 1993. "The Career of John Jacob Niles: A Study in the Intersection of Elite, Traditional, and Popular Musical Performance" Kentucky Review 12(1/2): 3-11. (handed out in class 1/11) - Larry Nelson

2/1:

• Attali, Jacques. 1989. "Listening" Pp. 3-20 in Noise: The Political Economy of Music. Minneapolis: University of Minneapolis.(CP) - Benjamin Walker; (Aaron Cunningham see me about obtaining a copy of McClary "The Politics of Silence and Sound")

2/8:

• Adorno, Theodor. "Popular Music" from Introduction to the Sociology of Music (trans. E. B. Ashton). New York: Continuum.(CP) - Dawn Gentry
• Benjamin, Walter. 1968. "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" Pp. 219-54 in Illuminations. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World. (CP) - Christy Tate; Charles Hale see me about obtaining a copy of Imai "Walter Benjamin and John Dewey: The Structure of Difference Between Their Thoughts on Education")

2/15:

• Monson, Ingrid. 1995. "The Problem With White Hipness: Race, Gender, and Cultural Conceptions in Jazz Historical Discourse" American Musicological Society Journal 48(3):396-422. (CP) - Andy Milner; (Christie Smith see me about a reading from LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka "Blues People")

2/22

• Wolff, Janet. 1992. "The Ideology of Autonomous Art" pp. 1-12 in Richard Leppert and Susan McClary (eds.) Music and Society: the Politics of Composition, Performance, and Reception. New York: Cambridge University. - Aaron Cunningham
• Shepherd, John. 1992. "Music and Male Hegemony" pp. 151-72 in Richard Leppert and Susan McClary (eds.) Music and Society: the Politics of Composition, Performance, and Reception. New York: Cambridge University. - Matthew Halligan

3/1:

• Frith, Simon. 1992. "Towards an Aesthetic of Popular Music" pp. 133-49 in Richard Leppert and Susan McClary (eds.) Music and Society: the Politics of Composition, Performance, and Reception. New York: Cambridge University. - Kristal Mertz
• Mowitt, John. 1992. "The Sound of Music in the Era of Its Electronic Reproducibility" pp. 178-97 in Richard Leppert and Susan McClary (eds.) Music and Society: the Politics of Composition, Performance, and Reception. New York: Cambridge University. - Daniel Bell

3/22:

• Wade, Stephen. 2000. "The Route of 'Bonaparte's Retreat': From 'Fiddler Bill' Stepp to Aaron Copland" American Music 18(4):343-369. (CP) - Jamie Hamblin
• Crist, Elizabeth A. 2003. "Aaron Copland and the Popular Front" American Musicological Society Journal 52(2):409-65. (CP) - Jason Bowles
• Gabbard, Krin. 2000. "Race and Reappropriation: Spike Lee Meets Aaron Copland" American Music 18(4):370-90.(CP) - Dawn Gentry

3/29:

• Allen, Ray. 2004. "An American Folk Opera? Triangulating Folkness,Blackness, and Americaness in Gershwin and Heyward's Porgy and Bess" Journal of American Folklore 117(465):243-61. (available online) - Andy Milner
• Patterson, David W. 2004. "Music, structure, and Metaphor in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey" American Music 22(3):444-474. (CP) - Matthew Halligan

4/5:

• Fink, Robert. 1998. "Elvis Everywhere: Musicology and Popular Music Studies at the Twilight of the Canon." American Music 16(2): 135-179. (CP) - Daniel Bell
• Sheinbaum, John J. 2002. "Progressive Rock and the Inversion of Musical Values" Pp. 21-42 in Kevin Holm-Hudson (ed.) Progressive Rock Reconsidered. New York: Routledge. (CP) - Christy Smith

4/12-26 - Peterson, Richard A. 1997. Creating Country Music : Fabricating Authenticity. Chicago: University of Chicago.

• 4/12:
  • Making the Music Commercial - Kristal Mertz
  • Fabricating the Image of Authenticity - Charles Hale
• 4/19:
  • Jamie Hamblin see me about obtaining "The Carter Family on Border Radio"
  • Radio-Made Country Music in the 1930s - Christy Tate
  • Making Country Reproducible - Benjamin Walker
• 4/26:
  • Authenticity and the Future of Country Music - Julianne Jackson

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