Media Studies 330W, Spring 2020 Mondays 1:40-4:30pm
Instructor: Prof. Amy Herzog
Email: amy.herzog@qc.cuny.edu Office: 102C, G-Building
Phone: 718-997-2956
Office Hours: Wed. 1:30-3:30pm Appointments suggested, additional hours by appointment
This project-based course will provide an overview of the history of the music industry in the United States, with a particular focus on musical subcultures. Our approach to evolution of popular music will encompass a number of perspectives: technology, economics, industry structures, marketing, audiences, cultural contexts, and artistic innovations and trends. The course will be structured around a loose chronology, looking at the interactions of each of these facets during different time periods, while devoting time each week to listen to musical examples. A particular emphasis will be placed on questions of community, place, cultural identity, and politics in relation to musical culture; students will conduct research on diverse musical subcultures throughout the semester. We will also consider a range of critical approaches to popular music and performance (critical theory, political economy, cultural studies, feminist theory, queer theory), and discuss strategies for writing and thinking about pop music.