The 1950s: Independent Writing Seminar in American Music or Ethnomusicology 1

The 1950s: Independent Writing Seminar in American Music or Ethnomusicology is a Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies class taught by Rebecca Miller. It is one of three writing seminars for The 1950s: Cold War Culture and the Birth of the Cool.

Course Description
Students in this course will develop a substantial independent research paper on any aspect of the history of music, song, and/or performance in the Cold War period. Using both primary and secondary sources (and possibly undertaking ethnographic field research such as interviewing), students will develop semester long research projects that focus on cultural production in the form of music, song, dance, and performance practice during these years. Possible areas of study include the emergence of rock and roll and the birth of youth culture; music of an immigrant culture in the US; music of the "beats;" political change and the folk music revival; etc. Students can also work on an individual artist, musical style, or composition of their choosing. Working in a small section of 6 students, each member of the class will workshop their ongoing research over the course of the semester. Not for distribution or first-year students. Students in this workshop MUST ALSO ENROLL in HACU 240: The 1950s: Cold War Culture and the Birth of the Cool.