pop

CMST 294--Rhetoric of Popular Music

Instructor: John M. Sloop, Dept. of Communication Studies
Office: CL213H
Classroom: 113 Wilson
Class: 1:10-2:25 T, Th
Office Hours: 10:10-10:50 AM T, Th, 12-3PM W, and by appointment.
Office Phone: 322-2988
Home Phone: 662-6979 (8AM until 9PM)
Fax: 343-7918
email: john.m.sloop@vanderbilt.edu

Take shortcuts to the following:

Course Overview
Required Texts
Assignments and Grading
Class Policies
Course Schedule

Course Overview--Given that you have chosen to enroll in this course, I would assume that music has a special place for you: when you hear a specific song on the radio or at a gathering, you relate it to a particular person, place, group, identity, mood, moment, etc. . . . When you are rifling through your CDs and run across an old favorite, you can't believe that, in the past, this was what you considered to be "authentic" music. You understand what it is to be a fan of a particular genre or performer; you have moments when you dislike those who have become a fan later than you.

In this course, we will explore the meanings of "popular music" for different people and in different contexts. That is, by focusing on the production, consumption, representation, and "spaces" of music, we will discuss the rhetorical import of music socially and politically. Our inquiry will focus on such questions are "What do fans 'do' with music?" "What territory (symbolic or material) is marked out by music?" "How are gender and race constructed within music?" "What does authenticity mean, and why is it so important to pop music fans?" "How does music act as a location of meaning?" In short, this course is designed to help us each understand how people utilize music in their everyday lives in making sense of their worlds and how music, and the environments within which we listen to it, shape our "ways of hearing." The overall goal of this course, as in many courses in the liberal arts, is to encourage you to become far more astute consumers and producers of cultural meanings.

Required Texts--

Beebe, Roger, Fulbrook, Denise, and Ben Saunders, Eds. (2002). Rock Over the Edge: Transformations in Popular Music Culture. Durham: Duke University Press.

Hesmondhalgh, David and Keith Negus, Eds. (2002). Popular Music Studies. London: Arnold.

Jones, Steve, Ed. (2002). Pop Music and the Press. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

There will also be a few readings available through electronic reserve.

Finally, tickets for our field trip to the Country Music Hall of Fame will cost approximately $12.95.

Assignments and Grading--

Discussion/Participation 15%
Introduction to . . . Assignment 10%
Weekly Responses 10%
Group Assignments on Spaces 15%
Journal/Book Chapter Analysis 5%
Fanship, Authenticity, and Pleasure Paper 20%
A Hero to Most . . . Paper 25%

Class Policies--

Attendance: You may miss two classes throughout the semester without any penalty. Any classes that you miss beyond two will lead to 2 points off of your final grade average (on a 100 point scale) unless you are on official university business or have a verifiable emergency. If you will be leaving on official university business, you must provide me with evidence of this absence at least two days before our next class meeting. DO NOT provide me with a list of all of your absences early in the semester. Instead, check with me each time before the class meeting you will miss.
Exam Periods: You are required to attend all class days when your classmates are presenting. Because we will be meeting on the regularly scheduled exam dates for paper presentations, do not purchase airline tickets or make plans to leave town before the exam meeting date. Further, do not purchase airline tickets that require that you leave the exam period early, even by five minutes. You must attend ONE of the following exam periods: 1)Dec. 16--9-11 AM; 2) Dec. 19--12:00-2:00 PM.
Tardiness: If you are more than 10 minutes late to class (according to my time piece), I will assume that you are ABSENT on that day. This absence will count toward the attendance policy discussed above. If you leave class more than 10 minutes early, I will mark you as absent on that day.
Cell Phones: If cell phones are brought to class, they must either be turned off or turned on silent (please do not turn phones on "vibrate"). Class should NEVER be interrupted by sounds made by your personal communication technologies. If you forget and your phone rings, you may not answer it during class.
Paper Due Dates: Unless you have a verifiable emergency or have made arrangements with me beforehand, papers will lose 10 points for each day they are turned in late. This includes Saturday and Sunday.
Electronic submissions: I will NOT accept papers unless they are turned in manually in hard copy. That is, I will not accept electronic versions of your papers unless we have made prior arrangements for me to do so.

Course Schedule (Tentative)--

Aug 29--Intro to class/pop music studies.
Sep 02--Meet in Computer classroom 119 D Garland. Discuss "Introduction to . . " Assignment. Discuss Gaines (electronic reserve).
Sep 04--Audiences, Consumption. Huq and Maxwell in PMS.
Sep 09--Consumption. Hesmondhalgh and Kassabian in PMS. Discuss "Spaces" Assignment.
Sep 11--Production. Toynbee and Straw in PMS.
Sep 16--Production. Negus and Pickering, and Guilbault in PMS.
Sep 18--Merchants of Cool viewing. Discuss Fanship, Authenticity, and Pleasure Paper.
Sep 23--Merchants of Cool discussion.
Sep 25--Round 1 of the "Introduction to . . " Assignment.
Sep 30--Places, Spaces. Roman-Velazquez and Hosokawa in PMS.
Oct 02--Places, Spaces. Zuberi and Regev in PMS.
Oct 07--Country Music Hall of Fame tour (bring $12.95). Draft of FANSHIP paper due.
Oct 09--Country Music Hall of Fame discussion.
Oct 14--Cover Songs. Griffiths in PMS and Coyle in ROTE. FANSHIP paper due.
Oct 16--Round 2 of the ""Introduction to . . " Assignment.
Oct 21--NO CLASS. FALL BREAK.
Oct 23--Representation/Identity. Ray and Fenster in PMP. "A Hero to Most ". . . Paper assigned.
Oct 28--"Feminizing Rock". Wald and Grajeda in ROTE.
Oct 30--Dead Rock Stars--Mazzarella and Matyjewicz in PMP and Beebe in ROTE.
Nov 04--Sexuality. Balfour in ROTE. Fuchs (electronic reserve).
Nov 06--Round 3 of the ""Introduction to . . " Assignment.
Nov 11--DREAM DECEIVERS viewing.
Nov 13--DREAM DECEIVERS discussion.
Nov 18--open.
Nov 20--open. Last date for Journal/Book Chapter Analysi.
Nov 25--THANKSIGIVING BREAK.
Nov 27--THANKSGIVING BREAK.
Dec 02--Spaces reports.
Dec 04--Spaces reports.
Dec 09--"A Hero to Most ". . . Paper presentation. (All papers due).
Dec 11--"A Hero to Most ". . . Paper presentation.

WE WILL ALSO MEET DURING THE EXAM PERIOD TO COMPLETE PRESENTATIONS. You are required to attend one of the two exam periods.

If you have questions or need to talk to me, call me at 322-2988, come by my office (213 Calhoun), or email me.

Other courses can be found at my webpage.