COM 400-001 Spring Term 2022-23
Popular Music and Social Change
3:00-3:50 M-W-F Lincoln Plaza Room 432
Professor Al Stegeman
Office: #161, 3201 Arch Street Building (#81—entrance on 32nd Street)
Office Hours: 9:30-11:00 M & W, and by appointment
E-mail: stegemal@drexel.edu; Phone: 215.895.2734
Home Phone: 215.465.2347 (please, only between 10:00 AM and 10:00 PM)
COURSE OVERVIEW: From “John Brown’s Song” (John Brown’s Body), through
Childish Gambino’s “This is America” and Cardi B’s “WAP” popular music has acted as
a catalyst for social change. This course will take an in-depth look at the symbiosis
between the music which we listen to and the American public’s awareness of social
injustices.
The course will be divided into six sections focusing on different social movements
which were impacted by popular music: the Civil Rights Movement, the Labor
Movement, the Vietnam Anti-War Movement, the Women’s Rights Movement, the Gay
Rights Movement, and the Environmental Movement. To be taught in seminar fashion,
each week, the class will listen to some of the most crucial songs in these movements
and discuss how those songs functioned to alter the social order.
TEXTBOOK: Dorian Lynskey. 33 Revolutions per Minute: A History of Protest Songs,
from Billie Holiday to Green Day. 2011. Harper Collins. NY.
GRADING: This class will be taught as a seminar; therefore, class participation will be a
critical component of the learning process. Hopefully, we will all learn from listening to a
lot of music as well as each other’s ideas and perspectives. As such, 50% of your
grade will be based on the quantity and quality of your contributions to the in-class
discussions. Attendance will not be formally taken—you are all adults, however,
anything more than a couple of absences will obviously limit your overall participation,
and thus your participation grade.
Additionally, each student will conduct a case study of a song of their choosing,
examining its production, reception, and overall impact. This report should be between
6-12 pages in length and will count for 40% of your overall grade. Accompanying this
paper will be a brief, five minute, presentation to the class on your findings, followed by
a Q&A session; this will account for 10% of your final grade.
INTELLECTUAL HONESTY: As with all courses at the Drexel, all of the work which you
turn in for this course is expected to be your own. Any time which you are drawing
specific ideas from another source—even paraphrased ideas--you are to provide proper
attribution, with the sole exception of ideas gleaned from my lectures. Failure to do so
will mean a minimum of your failing that particular assignment, and possibly failing the
course with a notation of the situation being forwarded to the University Judicial Office
for further action (i.e. academic probation or expulsion), depending of the degree of the
lapse of academic integrity. Should such a situation occur, you will be asked to meet
with me to determine what action will be deemed appropriate. This is always an
unpleasant discussion for both the student and professor, so please don’t even consider
putting yourself in such a position, OK? If you ever have a question about what is or is
not proper, on any matter, just ask.
For further information about Drexel’s policies on academic honesty, accommodations
to the disabled, and dropping courses, please consult the URLs below:
http://www.drexel.edu/provost/policies/academic_dishonesty.asp
http://www.drexel.edu/studentlife/judicial/honesty.html
http://www.drexel.edu/ods/student_reg.html
http://www.drexel.edu/provost/policies/course_drop.asp
Tentative Timetable:
Week 1: (4/3-4/7) Introduction to the course. Music as a rhetorical tool. Music and
Social Impact
Week 2: (4/10-4/14) Popular music and the Labor Movement
Readings: pp 14-32, 400-411.
Week 3: (4/17-4/14) Popular music and the Civil Rights Movement
Readings: pp 3-13, 33-84, 109-125, 180-212, 329-339, 429-446.
Weeks 4 & 5: (4/25-5/5) Popular music and the Anti-Vietnam War Movement
Readings: pp 87-108, 126-179
Week 6: (5/8-5/12) Popular music and the Women’s Rights Movement
Readings: pp 447-461
Week 7: (5/15-5/19) Popular music and the Gay Rights Movement
Readings: 283-298
Week 8: (5/22-5/26) Popular music and the Environmental Movement
Weeks 9 & 10: (5/29-6/9) Student research presentations