Course
Syllabus
Instructor:
Eduardo Navas, navase@newschool.edu
School
of Media Studies, Department of Communication
The
New School University
Online
Summer 2013
Course Description
This course is a theoretical and historical survey of
popular music influenced by or part of the remix tradition in hip-hop and
electronica. Emphasis is placed on the shaping of culture by media and
vice-versa. Remixes are compositions that reconfigure a pre-existing music
recording, often to make it more danceable. As simple as the definition sounds,
it carries a complex set of cultural variables that include issues of class,
gender, and ethnicity. Listening exercises and analysis of recorded music is complemented
by readings that provide understanding of the historical context and
theoretical underpinning of remix practices. Our survey begins with popular
music in the United States in the early 1950s, including Blues, R&B, Rock
n' Roll, and early funk. In the 1960s, this music was appropriated in the
Caribbean and gave birth to new styles, Calypso, Ska, Reggae, and Dub. Then it
came full circle back to the United States with the development of hip-hop
music. The rise of the international styles called trip-hop, drum 'n' bass, and
dubstep and the parallel history of techno and house music and styles
in-between are then considered, in order to arrive at a theoretical
understanding of the complexity of contemporary music and the extent to which
it has been defined by the principles of sampling and remix.
At the beginning of each weekon Mondays, an introductory
lecture will be posted along with questions on the readings and the music
selection, which will be available online for listening. Each weekly
discussion, except for the first week and the last week, will be led by
students. Students leading a discussion must be ready to discuss the questions
and share their views and analysis of the discography for the respective week.
Participants will be expected to post at least two responses
and comments each week demonstrating that they have read the assigned texts and
listened to the assigned music selection.
Notes and questions by the instructor should be considered starting
points for a fruitful conversation.
It¹s important to keep up with all readings and activities in class
because they will inform the final paper due at the end of the term.
By Thursday night of each week every participant should have
at least two posts, at which point we will officially come to the end of the
discussion. This is done in order to give participants enough time to focus on
the next set of readings and media works. If somebody posts on the discussion
thread after Thursday, it will not be considered late, but it is in the
students¹ best interest to focus on the current readings for each week
according to the schedule. Posting
late comments after the discussion is officially over may prove to be
overwhelming when trying to keep up with overall class activity, therefore
students should try to keep up and focus on the current weekly activities as
much as possible. There will be discussions every week except for the last week
of class, when students will have time to write the final essay.
As noted above, students¹ evaluation will be based on their
general participation in weekly discussions, as well as leading a discussion on
one of the assigned readings. A final essay is due at the end of the
class. Rambling about a subject
with no specific reference to the texts or music selections will not count as
participation. Each post should
demonstrate some understanding of the subject, and use of specific terms. There is no word limit but a strong
post is one that shows clear engagement with the subject matter. If students do not understand
something, a question should be posted for discussion. However, such question
should demonstrate that the participant has read the material and listened to
the music selections. See details on distributed percentage for each of the
three items below under grading.
Learning Outcomes:
A
Note on Plagiarism
Plagiarism
will not be tolerated. A student who commits plagiarism will be reported to the
office of the Media Studies. The student¹s behavior will be taken very
seriously and dealt with according to the guidelines provided by The New School.
To avoid plagiarism, please cite your sources when appropriate.
THE
NEW SCHOOL ACADEMIC HONESTY AND INTEGRITY POLICY (excerpt)
The New
School views ³academic honesty and integrity² as the duty of every member of an
academic community to claim authorship for his or her own work and only for
that work, and to recognize the contributions of others accurately and
completely. This obligation is fundamental to the integrity of intellectual
debate, and creative and academic pursuits. Academic honesty and integrity
includes accurate use of quotations, as well as appropriate and explicit citation
of sources in instances of paraphrasing and describing ideas, or reporting on
research findings or any aspect of the work of others (including that of
faculty members and other students). Academic dishonesty results from
infractions of this ³accurate use². The standards of academic honesty and
integrity, and citation of sources, apply to all forms of academic work,
including submissions of drafts of final papers or projects. All members of the
University community are expected to conduct themselves in accord with the
standards of academic honesty and integrity.
Definitions
and Examples of Academic Dishonesty
Academic
dishonesty includes, but is not limited to:
Please
download the complete document, available on Blackboard along with this
syllabus.
Brewster,
Bill and Broughton, Frank. Last Night a DJ Saved My Life.
New York: Grover Press. 2000.
Hagerty,
Paul. Noise/Music: A History. New York: Continuum. 2008
Rose,
Tricia. Black Noise. Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press. 1994.
Course Requirements
Please note that final grades are dependent
upon consistent performance in all course requirements.
Grading
Total
100%
Grade
Scale
Letter
grade assignments are as follows:
Attendance
Office
hours: Contact via e-mail
Semester
Schedule
June 3, - 7, 2013
Introduction to class
Pre-history/Critical Context
1900 1960s
View and listen to multimedia material online and discuss on
Blackboard
Evaluate chapters in books to decide on a week to lead
a discussion. All students must lead a weekly discussion during the term.
June 10 14, 2013
Dub
Music/Hip-Hop
Tricia
Rose (Black Noise),
Chapters 1 2
Brewster
(Last Night a DJ),
Chapters 1 3
View
and listen to multimedia material online and discuss on Blackboard
Weekly
discussion leaders announced.
June
17 21, 2013
Dub/Disco/Hip-Hop
Brewster
4 9
Michael
Veal, Introduction and Chapter 1 of Dub (PDF for download)
View
and listen to multimedia material online and discuss on Blackboard
June
24 28, 2013
Hip-Hop/House
Music/Techno
Rose (Black Noise), chapter 3 4
Brewster (Last Night A DJ), 10 12
View and listen to multimedia material online and discuss on
Blackboard
July
1 July 5, 2013
Trip-Hop/Downtempo/Drum n¹ Bass
Paul Hegarty (Noise/Music), Chapters 1 5
View and listen to multimedia material online and discuss on
Blackboard
July
8 12, 2013
Dubstep
Hegarty, (Noise/Music), Chapters 6 8, 12 13
View and listen to multimedia material online and discuss on
Blackboard
July 15 19, 2013
International Horizon
Rose (Black Noise), Chapter 5
View and listen to multimedia material online and discuss on
Blackboard
July 22
25, 2013
Final Text Due