Course Syllabus
Instructor: Eduardo Navas,
navase@newschool.edu
School of Media Studies, Department of
Communication
The New School University
Online
Summer 2015
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 week—on 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 will
summarize a chapter of their choice for their respective weeks and must be
ready to discuss the questions posted by the instructor, and share their views
and analysis of the discography for the week of their choice.
The students leading
the discussion for their respective week will arrange a time for a video
conference or a skype text-chat with the instructor to discuss the material
they summarized. All students part of the class are strongly encouraged to
participate in all weekly conferences, but this is not an essential requirement. Each
student only needs to attend his or her respective meeting with the professor.
All students, however, are expected to post responses and comment as explained below.
The video/chat conference can take place on Monday or Tuesday, at a time that
is most convenient for both the students who are summarizing for the week and
the professor— but it should not take place on Thursday because this is
the last day to post comments to the corresponding class forum. The conference
will be archived and available for the entire class to review. The issues
raised in the conference should help enhance the discussion taking place on the
online forums from week to week.
Participants will be
expected to post at least one response to each of the assigned readings each
week demonstrating that they have read the assigned texts and listened to the
assigned music selection. The posts can be brief comments on what someone else
posted, but they should be specific with direct references to the text/s
discussed. 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, which consists on writing a critical
analysis of an event of choice the student attends. The event needs to be a
music engagement relevant to the genres discussed throughout the term.
By Thursday night of
each week every participant should have finished posting, at which point the
class 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—this inlcudes a video/chat conference with
the instructor. 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, and when a text is
discussed, proper page citation. 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 Canvas along with this syllabus.
Brewster,
Bill and Frank Broughton. Last Night a DJ
Saved My Life.
New York: Grover Press, 2000.
Reynolds,
Simon. Energy Flash. Berkeley:
Softskull Press, 2012.
Rose,
Tricia. Black Noise. Connecticut:
Wesleyan University Press, 1994.
Navas,
Eduardo et. al. The Routledge Companion
to Remix Studies, 2015.
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 1, - 5, 2015
Introduction to class
Focus: early history/Critical Context
1900 –1960s
View and listen to multimedia material online and discuss on
Canvas
Evaluate chapters in books to decide on a week to lead a
discussion. All students must lead a weekly discussion during the term.
June 8 – 12, 2015
Focus:
Dub Music/Hip-Hop
Brewster
(Last Night a DJŠ), Chapters 1
– 3
Martin
Irvine, ³Remix and the Dialogic Engine of Culture,² The Routledge Companion to Remix Studies, pp. 15 - 42
View
and listen to multimedia material online and discuss on Canvas
Weekly
discussion leaders announced.
June
15 – 19, 2015
Focus:
Dub/Disco/Hip-Hop
Tricia
Rose (Black Noise), Chapters 1
– 2
Brewster
(Last Night a DJŠ) chapters 4 – 6
Stephan Sonvilla-Weiss, ³Good Artists Copy; Great Artists
Steal,² The Routledge Companion to Remix
Studies, pp. 54-67
View
and listen to multimedia material online and discuss on Blackboard
June
22 – 26, 2015
Focus:
Hip-Hop/House Music
Rose (Black Noise),
chapters 3 – 4
Brewster (Last Night A
DJŠ) chapters 7 – 9
Kembrew McLeod, ³An Oral History of Sampling,² The Routledge Companion [Š], pp. 83 - 95
View and listen to multimedia material online and discuss on
Blackboard
June
29 – July 3, 2015
Focus: Techno /Trip-Hop/Downtempo
Brewster (Last Night A
DJŠ) chapter 10-12
Reynolds, ³Feed Your Head: Intelligent Techno, Ambient and
Trance,² Energy Flash, pp. 155
– 186.
Margie Borschke, ³The Extended Remix,² The Routledge Companion [Š], pp. 104 - 111
July
6 – 10, 2015
Focus: Trip-Hop/Downtempo/Drum Œn¹ Bass
Reynolds, ³Roots Œn Future: Ungle Takes Over London,² Energy Flash, pp. 237 – 254.
Reynolds, ³America the Rave,² pp. 274 – 312.
Reynolds, ³Sound of Paranoia: Trip Hop, Tricky and
Pre-Millenium Tension,² Energy Flash,
pp. 313 – 334.
Nate Harrison, ³Reflections on the Amen Break,² The Routledge Companion [Š] pp. 444
– 452.
View and listen to multimedia material online and discuss on
Blackboard
July 13 – 17, 2015
Focus: Dubstep
Reynolds, ³War in the Jungle: Intelligent Drum and Bass
Versus Techstep,² Energy Flash, pp.
335 – 362.
Reynolds, ³Digital Psychedelia: Sampling and the
Soundscape,² Energy Flash, pp. 363
– 379.
Reynolds, ³Two Steps Beyond: UK Garage and 2step,² Energy Flash, pp. 446 – 458.
Aram Sinnreich, ³The Emerging Ethics of Networked Culture,² The Routledge Companion, [Š], pp. 227
– 245.
Focus: International Horizon
July 20 – 24,
2015
Rose (Black Noise),
chapter 5
Eduardo Navas, ³Culture and Remix: A Theory on Cultural
Sublation,² The Routledge Companion [Š],
116 – 131.
Roy Christopher, ³The End of an Aura: Nostalgia, Memory, and
the Haunting of Hip Hop,² The Routledge
Companion [Š], pp. 204 – 216.
Rachel O¹Dwyer, ³A Capital Remix,² The Routledge Companion [Š], pp. 323 – 332.
Week 9
July 27 – July
31, 2014
Final Text due on
July 31 at 12 noon.