Social Protest and Popular Music, Kim, Spring 2021

Course Number:	EDU 5515 C17
Instructor:	Geoffrey Kim, M.S.
Location:	Online using Google Classroom & Zoom. 2 synchronous Zoom sessions at times TBD.
Dates and Times:	March 1 – May 23, 2021
Credits:	3 Graduate Credits
Tuition:	$975

Note: Course payment or purchase order of $975, payable to Castleton University, is due at the time of registration. A purchase order number can be entered into the online registration form and the purchase order can be uploaded to the registration form. If paying by check, please mail the check to: Financial & Registration Services, Castleton University, 62 Alumni Drive, Castleton, VT 05753. To help us ensure that your payment is applied to the correct course, PLEASE WRITE “CFS” IN THE CHECK MEMO LINE. Thank you.

Course Description

The course surveys the history of social protest within popular music from the contextual vantage point of individual songs - from Billie Holiday to Green Day and the music of the Black Lives Matter Movement.  We will explore specific eras of history, examine the antecedents of social dissent, and analyze protest songs as a reaction to cultural movements.  For each song that is studied, we will find the connections between musical style, social dissent, consumerism, political movements, or media.  As a final project, each student will create their own annotated playlist that encompasses a recent social protest movement.

Audience: Middle/High School Educators

Course Goals & Objectives

1. Develop an understanding of social protest history and popular music history through the analysis of specific songs
2. Develop understanding around a specific time and place and draw conclusions around class, gender, cultural values, politics, technology, and economic life.
3. Understand and define the evolution of protest songs and social movements from the 1930’s to present day

Required Texts

Required Texts are not included in the course tuition.

”The Instant Protest Song” (2013). The New Yorker.  Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-instant-protest-song 

Farber, Jim. (2018, June7). From Noel Coward to Frank Ocean: the Greatest LGBT songs for Pride month. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jun/07/pride-month-playlist-best-lgbt-songs

Lynskey, Dorian. 33 Revolutions per Minute : a History of Protest Songs, from Billie Holiday to Green Day. (2011) New York :Ecco. 

Martirosyan, Lucy (2016, August 3).  Check out this cumbia response to the word feminazi. [Radio series episode]. The World. WGBH. https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-08-03/check-out-cumbia-response-word-feminazi

Powers, Ann. (2020, June 5). New Sounds of Protest and Hope. NPR.  Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2020/06/05/870259123/the-new-sounds-of-protest-and-hope

Weinstein, Deena. (2006). Rock Protest Songs: so many and so few. In Peddie, I.A.N (Ed), The Resisting Muse: Popular Music and Social Protest (pp. 3-16). Burlington: Ashgate.

For more information

Geoffrey Kim
(802) 999-7086

For additional registration information

Bethany Sprague

(802) 468-1325

Register Now!