Topic for Spring 2024: Identity and the American Musical
PREREQUISITES: MUCO 212 In this course we will examine how musicals reflect and shape identity, and to what ends. We will analyze works (music, lyrics, story, and stagings) and their historical, social, cultural, and political contexts to uncover how each represents identities on the stage, and in turn reflects and shapes identities off stage. Topics may include class, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, nationality and political orientation.

Topic for Spring 2024: Cultural Histories of Recorded Sound
PREREQUISITES: MUCO 212 Since the late nineteenth century, the history of music has been tied inextricably to the history of sound recording. In this course we will examine the relationships of recording and playback technologies to practices of consuming, archiving, composing, performing, and listening to music. We will study examples of popular and classical recordings, archival recordings, and tape music compositions. Discussion topics will include: ethnographic recording; the use of historical recordings in musicological research and performance studies; multitrack recording and other techniques of studio composition; easy listening and background music; record collecting; remixing; sampling; and turntablism.