Music rarely occurs in a political vacuum.  Throughout history, music and music-making has engaged with the political: whether through its use as propaganda, its use as political protest, or simply as an instrument of identity of one or other political/economic class or faction. The power of music as a political force has been known since Plato; while the politics of music and race, and music and gender, play out every night on MTV.

This course explores the relationship between music and politics, from Plato to the present.  Each week there will be a case study of music and politics presented to illustrate the overarching themes of the course. 

By the end of the course, you should be able to:

1. demonstrate several theoretical perspectives from which to view the interrelationship between music and politics;
2. apply these theoretical perspectives to a number of specific music cases;
3. Demonstrate listening skills developed through the study and discussion of selected works.
4. demonstrate research, analysis, discussion and writing skills.

• One research project of 3000 words or equivalent (40%), [Learning Outcomes 1,2,4];
• Two in-class or online listening/discussion exercises or wikis (30% each), [Learning Outcomes 2-3].

Three hours contact per week (or online equivalent); up to 120 hours total learning time.

These are spread flexibly across the semester in a mixture of lectures, tutorials and on-line activities.

None

None

Jacques Atalia Noise: the political economy of music (University of Minnesota Press, 1977)

Other texts set by specific lecturers for specific topics.

Introduced as part of the comprehensive review of the BMus conducted during 2011-2012.  Consultation with appropriate stakeholders has been conducted at program level.