AMST 7470: American Popular Music

3 Credit Hours
This course examines the role popular music plays in the everyday lives of people across the globe. The ever-growing use of technology has made popular music readily available at rapid speeds to large masses. Yet, accessibility does not always guarantee equal participation of subordinate groups in all music genres. This course will explore the contradictions often found in music and societies overall. It will introduce graduate students to the pressing theories surrounding the politics of popular music to examine how this medium of popular culture simultaneously generates excitement and anxiety across local and national boundaries.

Course Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

1. Read canonical and current scholarship related to the field of popular music studies.

2. Develop literature reviews to best summarize critical theories related to popular music studies.

3. Examine how various American communities critically engage with popular music locally and globally.

4. Argue original thesis statements related to popular music in graduate-level research papers.

5. Engage in graduate-level debates regarding popular music with classmates.