Course Code: MUS 1000
Academic Year: 2024-2025
This asynchronous online course examines the history and context of American and Canadian music from the mid-nineteenth century to the early 1940s. Topics include the development of folk music, minstrelsy, African American work songs and spirituals, Tin Pan Alley popular music, marches, ragtime, early jazz, the blues, hillbilly music, Broadway musicals, and gospel. Particular attention will be given to the unequal exchange between Black and White cultures as well as to female artists who have been marginalized by the historical narrative. Along with exploring the materials (sheet music and early recordings) of this era, this course will engage with issues relating to race, gender identity, enslavement, racism, technology, cultural appropriation and exploitation.