AFST 344 - Black Music and the African Diaspora

(Same as HIST 344.) This course is designed to introduce students to some of the key themes related to music in the African diaspora, specifically, the cultures that produce it, and the cultural forms, ideas and practices that it shapes. The module takes a sociological, cultural studies and critical theory approach to understanding how race, gender and sexuality inform, and are informed by, music as a creative and technological expression, as well as understanding how music, and its constitutive cultures, are impacted by its commodity status; a thing to be bought, sold and marketed. Issues of power, representation, activism, inequality and cultural context are central to this course. Students are required to engage with a range of academic and cultural material, including a range of cultural theories, which aim to provide a complex, and contestable, context for broader understandings of Black music’s role in world societies and cultures. Letter grade with Pass/No Pass option. (Offered as needed.) 3 credits