Topic for Fall 2014: The Beatles -- Four Lads Who Shook the World
A survey of The Beatles' career from their formation and early development, rise to superstardom, and influence in popular music in the 1960s, to their subsequent adoration as cultural icons. Discussions will center on presentations of audio and video clips, and simple analyses of music and lyrics relating socio-cultural, political, and other extra-musical factors to popular music.

Topic For Spring 2015: The Rise of Rock ans Roll
Growing out of the need for the young generation to have a voice separate from the influence of their parents, Rock-and-Roll will be studied from its genesis in the mid-50s, combining influences from R&B, Country, and Pop, through the variety of sub-genres in the 60s to the punk and disco movements in the 70s that attempted to return R/R to its simpler origins and functions. Movers and shakers who shaped the growth and acceptance of R/R as a popular artistic culture as well as the multitude of social, political, and racial challenges that influenced popular music will be the basis of discussions in class.

Topic for Spring 2015: History of Recorded Sound
Since the late nineteenth century, the history of music has been tied inextricably to the history of recorded sound. In this course, we will consider the ways that the experience of recorded sound, from the earliest days of the recording industry to the iPod era, has shaped past and current practices of listening, performing, and contemplating music. Specific topics include: the development and cultural history of recording and playback technologies, recordings as documents of changing practices of classical music performance, tape music composition, sampling, and turntablism. Junior standing required.