Music as Politics: from the American Revolution to the Arab Spring will explore various manifestations of music as political activism and transgression since the birth of modern politics and within contemporary politics. It will also investigate political power relationships articulated through musical performances. By carefully examining distinct moments in modern history, students will develop an understanding of music’s profound role in a diversity of political contexts. They will approach musical resistance from the top down, exploring government interventions and policy decisions relating to musical publication and performance; and from the bottom up, investigating subaltern music cultures that may not seem overtly resistant, but that nonetheless claim a space for particular political identities.
The class will work together in the Audiovisualities Lab to create a digital project on Music as Politics in North Carolina for which they will create videos and recordings to develop an audiovisual representation of politics in North Carolina today.
Photo: Egyptian musician Ramy Essam – Michael Chavez – LA Times