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For music-loving college students, there’s never been a better time.

In the mid-to-late 80s, more and more academic institutions began offering specialized courses in major musical activities. Late ’80s rap maverick Jay-Z It became the subject of a course at Georgetown University taught by sociologist and best-selling author Michael Eric Dyson. Jay-Z: Made in America. In “The Sociology of Hip-Hop: Jay-Z,” students analyzed Hova’s life, sociocultural significance and body of work.

It’s easy to see why students are drawn to these courses. These courses fill up quickly and are often one-off courses. The entanglement of celebrity and sociology provides very fertile ground to explore, often yielding topical social media posts that can benefit your subscriber count. Bayhivers, for example, University of Texas at San Antonio I was given the opportunity to learn the basics of black feminism. beyonceof lemonade in 2016. Mr. Rutgers offered the course devoted to analyzing the spiritual themes and images of Bruce Springsteen‘s catalog.

Luckily for students eager to attend these highly sought-after courses, institutions across the country are constantly launching new seminars and classes on famous pop stars and popular music genres.from bad bunny To harry stylesThe following list of popular music courses features a tidbit of content for all college-going music fans.

From their chart-topping hits to their advocacy, Bad Bunny have made headlines both on and off stage since their rise to fame in 2016. Graduate students at San Diego State University can explore the cultural influence of this global superstar in upcoming courses starting in 2023.

“He’s speaking out for Puerto Rico, speaking out for the victims of the Uvalde shooting, and using his platform to raise money and support them.” Said Dr. Nate Rodriguez, Associate Professor of Digital Media Studies at SDSU. “How does he speak out against transphobia? Support the LGBTQ community? Very related. All of them mixed into one.”

Dig deeper into Taylor Swift’s lyrics

under analysis Taylor Swiftlyrics are a favorite pastime among Swifties, so it’s no surprise that her work and its feminist themes have been the focus of a string of college courses over the years.

In the spring of 2022, New York University Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music launched a work focused on the evolution of the “anti-hero” singer as an entrepreneur, race, and female adolescence.The institution’s first-ever waiting-list course received a lot of media attention, and Swift was awarded an honorary degree From New York University in 2022.

In Spring 2023, honors students at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, will be able to analyze the music and career of the 12-time Grammy Award winner in a seminar titled. Culture and Society – Taylor Swift.

Kendrick Lamar’s storytelling and the power of hip-hop

after dropping Good boy, Marad City In 2012, kendrick lamar He has inspired many scholars and has developed classes and seminars centered around his lyrical content and storytelling. English class It juxtaposed his work with that of James Baldwin and James Joyce.

Concordia University recently announced a course in which the 16-time Grammy Award winner explored the lyrical themes of Lamarr’s work, including loyalty, paternity, class, and racial injustice. announced that it will be the focal point of “Bigger than us.”

“Ten years from now, no artist speaks to this spirit as loudly and intricately as King Kunta, Prince of Compton, Kendrick Lamar.” Good boy, Marad City fell” Said Yacine “Narcy” Alsalman is a Montreal hip-hop artist and Concordia professor who developed a class that will begin in winter 2023. First, community and collective mission are central to growth, and sometimes freedom must be broken. “

EDM manufacturing, technology and application

If you ever dreamed of hearing your EDM track played at a big music festival, marshmello, Steve Aoki and Skrillexthis All-in-one course Berklee College of Music in Boston will correspond. Learn about the cultural origins of his various EDM styles such as techno, trance, and drum and bass, as well as the techniques artists use to achieve these sounds.

Between thought-provoking cultural seminars, students receive lessons on how to work with synths, digital audio workstations (DAWs), samplers and other technologies necessary to create their own EDM masterpieces.

Harry Styles and the celebrity cult

While many celebrity-focused courses are centered around sociology, harry’s house The singer/songwriter inspired her digital history course, “Harry Styles and the Celebrity Cult: Identity, the Internet, and European Pop Culture,” at Texas State University in San Marcos.

Developed by Dr. Louis Dean Valencia during lockdown, the class features Styles’ music alongside topics such as gender, sexual identity and class, but keeps the singer-songwriter’s private life off limits. . Stylers lucky enough to score a spot on this first-ever college course dedicated to their favorites can expect to revisit Wang Her Direction’s catalog for homework.

“I have always wanted to teach a fun history lesson, but also to cover times that my students have lived through and can relate to,” writes Dr. Valencia. Twitter post. “I think that by studying art, activism, consumerism and fandom with Harry Styles at its center, we can get to very relevant contemporary issues: what is important to young people and what is important to them? I think it is very important to reflect this in the curriculum.” ”

Global Hip-Hop Culture: Hip-Hop, Race and Social Justice from the Mid-South to South Africa

Since its birth, hip-hop has left a lasting mark on the world, influencing language, fashion, storytelling and more. At the University of California, Los Angeles, students can analyze different hip-hop scenes around the world and learn how the art form has shaped the minds of young people.

As part of its mission to establish the university as a leading center for hip-hop research, UCLA’s Ralph J. Bunch Center for African-American Studies is launching a hip-hop initiative featuring an artist-in-residence program, a digital archive, and a series. It has started. of postdoctoral fellowships. chuck Dthe founder of the wall-breaking hip-hop group public enemywas selected as the first artist-in-residence.

“As we celebrate 50 years of the history of hip-hop music and culture, the rigorous study of this culture will provide a wealth of insight into black music, black history, and the tremendous social and political impact black people have on world culture from their language. intellectual insights, from dance, visual arts and fashion to electoral politics, political activism and more.” Said H. Sammy Alim, Associate Director leading this effort.

beatles music

With catchy two-minute pop hits, artsy record covers, headline-grabbing fashions, and groundbreaking use of studio technology, fab five They are one of the most influential acts in music history. No wonder, then, that these are the subjects of courses at many universities.

What Berklee College of Music in Boston has to offer beatles music, which delves into the group’s body of work and the music they have written for their other endeavors. Or if you’re interested in their post-breakup work, Beatles solo career We will work on those efforts. Meanwhile, the University of Southern California examines their music, careers, and impact on society. The Beatles: Their Music and Their Times.

Iconic sisters: Amy Winehouse and Erykah Badu

Whether you want to learn about crafts, management, career building, or marketing your work, New York University’s Clive Davis Institute offers a great curriculum for musicians and artists.Holding seminars centered on works prince, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartneyJ. Dilla stands out as a unique duo. Erykah Badu and Amy Winehouse.

This 2-credit seminar will explore and compare how each diva blended different genres and styles to create a unique and compelling sound, framing them as ‘iconic sisters’. . Winehouse became famous for his retro take on the Motown sound. Phil Spector and defiant styling. Known as one of Winehouse’s influences a decade before the “Back to Black” singer entered the mainstream, Badu seamlessly blended jazz, R&B, and hip-hop with an enchanting urban soundtrack.・Created a bohemian style and rose to stardom.template for singers like SZAMore and Ali Lennox.

From rising to the top of the male-dominated Tejano genre and helping to introduce Latin music to the mainstream, Serena QuintanillaDecades after her untimely death, the effects are still being felt.including artist Selena GomezDemi Lovato, Victoria “La Mala” Ortiz, Becky G. And Beyoncé cites the Grammy Award-winning “Queen of Tejano” as an influence.

Over the years, her legacy and cultural influence has been the focus of dozens of college courses. In 2023, Duke University We continue this tradition with Selena: Music, Media, and the Mexican-American Experience. This course explores the life, career and cultural influence of the beloved singer Tejano.

The Art of Punk: Sound, Aesthetics and Performance

Since its emergence in the 1970s, punk rock has been viewed as a divisive and politically charged musical genre. His unique visual style, including leather jackets, tattoos, chunky boots and colorful hair, was absorbed into the mainstream in the 90s and continues to thrive today (to the dismay of hardcore punks around the world). but). Over the decades, dozens of subgenres have emerged and gained prominence, such as Riot Girl and Pop Punk, but they have retained the influence of the classic 70s punk sound and its anti-establishment themes. Very few have.

If you want to learn more about the genre that inspired bands like Nirvana, check out Stanford University’s art of punk This seminar explores the genre’s visual and acoustic origins, as well as its evolution and its relationship to race, class, and gender.

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