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Race and Music

Jessica Gienow-Hecht

Hinweise für Studierende

The seminar seeks to fulfill two objectives: first, we will spend a significant amount of time considering some of the most recent literature dedicated to the history and present experience of music and race. Both historians and musicologists have identified peculiar factors informing the interplay of music and politics. These include specific music genres, minstrelsy, jazz clubs, the music industry, and the interplay of music and civil rights. What cocktail, we’ll ask eventually, does it take to activate music as an instrument of both power and suppression and how do race and music interplay? Second, we will try to understand the mechanism of sound in the name of identity, discrimination, political action and discuss whether there are particular lessons for the impending future.

This is a team-taught class orchestrated by conductor and activist Brandon Keith Brown and historian Jessica Gienow-Hecht. We will meet onsite once each week.
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Zusätzl. Angaben / Voraussetzungen

Students from history, musicology, as well as the humanities and social sciences at large are very welcome. Musical samples are welcome. All students need a blackboard account. An active knowledge of musicology or scores is not required. Each session consists of a brief introduction by the instructors followed by an all-class discussion and, sometimes, a student presentation to be discussed in advance. For each individual class, all students will compose short précis (no longer than 120 words) including a critical question relating to the respective reading. Précis need to be uploaded on Blackboard twenty-four hours prior to the beginning of class. At the end of the semester, students are required to compose a paper: either a reflective think piece responding to the course readings and discussions (3-5pp); or a research paper addressing a topic of their choice (20-25pp). Depending on the credit (Pass/Fail or Grade), the final paper is due either on July 31 at midnight (5pp, 12pt. Times Roman, 1.5 space), or August 31 at midnight (10-15pp, 12pt. Times Roman, 1.5 space). Schließen

Kommentar

Classical music is the only art form that goes directly to the human spirit, states Pierre Bourdieu. More than any other genre, classical music has been stated to divide society by race and class. Orchestras base their business model typically on a visions of a white middle-class (and middle-age) audiences.. At the same time, even modern pop musical forms often presume but rarely do cross racial lines. Why is that so and where does the racial divide in music stem from?

This course examines the interplay of music and race in North American history. We will examine different genres of music across time and space with a particular eye on agency and target audience, sound and word. We will look at mostly classical musicians of the African-American diaspora and North America, including their their experiences, their art and politics, and their receptions. Through an interdisciplinary approach using history, critical race theory, and cultural sociology, we will discuss and define racism, bias, inequality, and scripts of exclusion and inclusion in both pop and classical music. Moreover, we will examine to what extent and how shared empathy through sound may have the potential to influence, perhaps even change racial conscience, decreasing discrimination and exclusion in and outside stages ranging from street gigs to the concert hall. Schließen