10 of the Coolest Music-Related College Classes You Can Take Right Now

Professor: Kevin Allred
College: Rutgers University

How the course came about:

"It came out of my own interest in Beyoncé as a fan of her music, as well as someone who had analyzed her work in other papers and contexts. I also read an article by Daphne Brooks arguing that Beyoncé should be seen as a political artist. I came up with the whole class around that assumption and wondered what we could learn about race, gender, sexuality, and class in relation to Beyoncé's music as well as ask how it fits in with an historical tradition of black feminism in America.

Goal of the course:

"My first goal was to find a fun way to teach the subject material. I also wanted students to be exposed to this history of black feminist writers and thinkers, and additionally be cognizant and critical of what pop culture they are consuming and what messages around gender, race, sexuality, etc. those pieces of pop culture contain."

Any difficulty getting the course approved:

"It wasn't, just because in my department we have a special topics class where individual teachers can focus on whatever their specialty is. So I was able to teach it under that heading."

The students love it. Even people that aren't fans of Beyoncé have remarked that it creates really interesting dialogue about issues in the U.S. that are much bigger than just Beyoncé's music.

Student response:

"The students love it. Even people that aren't fans of Beyoncé have remarked that it creates really interesting dialogue about issues in the U.S. that are much bigger than just Beyoncé's music."

Convert any students into Beyoncé fans?:
"Most students claim to be fans from the beginning. I haven't converted anyone, but I have had students agree that there might be more to her music than meets the eye."

Most interesting assignment:

"Well, we spend the whole semester pairing Beyoncé songs with different black feminist texts, and I think they are all interesting. The big assignment comes at the end of the semester when students choose their own pop culture figure and write a paper trying to 'politicize' that artist in the same ways we've learned to do with Beyoncé."

Have you reached out to Beyoncé?:

"I've been featured on Beyoncé's website and been in touch with a few people from her camp. Hopefully there's more contact to come in the future. I would love to meet her and just let her know how much has come out of her music for these students."

Favorite Beyoncé song:

"I love so many of them. Vocally, I think 'Love on Top' is pretty phenomenal with its four key changes. Analytically, I love all the songs from the Sasha Fierce side of the I Am… Sasha Fierce album, because they really push the boundaries of how we conceive gender and sexuality. And recently, I really love 'Jealous' because it shows a new side to Beyoncé's music."

What did you think of Beyoncé’s spontaneous album drop:

"I think it completely changed the game in music. She is trying to return to a more album-oriented time and the fact that she was able to do it all in secret is just unbelievable. It also challenges some of our current thinking about the way music is produced and consumed, and being so secret about it helped to almost force the consumer to buy the entire album and digest it the way she intended."

Professor: Richard Brown
College: University of Southern California

How the course came about:

"This course is part of the general studies offerings in the Thornton School of Music. Faculty are welcome to propose topics related to any aspect of popular music culture, and the department thought this would be an interesting addition. My research focuses on experimental music, and I'm currently completing a book on composer John Cage's work with experimental filmmakers. I thought this would be the perfect chance to utilize my skills to examine a popular topic."

Goal of the course:

"This course is about much more than music video; it takes music video as a starting point to look at a number of contemporary relationships between sound and image such as post-classical cinema, video game music, live concert films, television title sequences, and online participatory culture. The first half of the course looks at music videos from a phenomenological perspective, and then applies those analytic skills to a wide variety of contemporary media. I make sure to update the class each semester with the newest and most interesting stuff out there. A great deal has been written lately about audiovisual convergence in relationship to digital cinema and online media content in the academic world, and this course provides an overview of that research. I am a musician first, musicologist second, and media studies scholar third, so the course does tend to lean toward the musical aspects of these audiovisual situations."

Any difficulty getting the course approved:

"Courses like this go through several review steps, the first being a general offering, at which point the professor is open to try out new ideas and content, followed by a curriculum review by the dean. If the course is deemed appropriate and up to the standards at USC, then it is given a permanent slot in the schedule."

Student response:

"Students really enjoy walking away with some skills to analyze music videos, which is something one would not normally think to do, or even know how to go about doing, without a course like this. The additional content on video game music, post-classical cinema, participatory culture, and television title sequences really opens up their eyes (and ears) to some fascinating and undertheorized aspects of contemporary media."

I had one graduate student in a course similar to this give a full hour presentation on the video for FKA Twig’s 'Papi Pacify.' It was fascinating.

Most interesting assignment:

"I had one graduate student in a course similar to this give a full hour presentation on the video for FKA Twig’s 'Papi Pacify.' It was fascinating, and he could have easily gone on longer. Another undergraduate student did an in-depth analysis of Kanye West's Hip-Hop opera, 'Runaway,' which was really not all that different from some of the more traditional discussions of opera aesthetics I would cover in a classical musicological course."

Favorite music video:

"Teaching a class like this it is hard to pick, as there is so much great stuff out there right now. I'm quite interested in the move toward interactive, immersive, and game-based music videos in the last year or so (Beck, Arcade Fire, Bob Dylan, Pharrell Williams, etc.), although the technology still has a way to go; most of the work by St. Vincent has had a lasting power in my mind, and I'm beginning to absorb the aforementioned FKA Twigs in a whole new light."

Professor: Joanna Fuchs

College: Brandeis University

How the course came about:

"My course is not only a music class but also a first year writing seminar. At Brandeis, the University Writing Seminar (UWS) is a great way for grad students to gain teaching experience and design your own course. My Glam Rock course come about because originally I wanted to teach a course on Queen. However, there are limited academic resources and material to discuss Queen for a full semester. Therefore, I branched out to the Glam Rock genre."

Goal of the course:

"The goal of this course to show students the cultural significance and importance the Glam Rock subculture has on modern artists such as Lady Gaga and Kayne West. In most cases, my students have never even heard of David Bowie, Bryan Ferry, Brian Eno, or Suzi Quatro. All of these artists have shaped modern music. My course exposes my students to new music and by the end of the semester they notice that these Glam Rock artists are still impacting music today."

Any difficulty getting the course approved:

"It was not difficult getting the course approved."

Student response:

"My students respond positively from this course and go away from it with a broader knowledge of this era."

Most interesting assignment:

"Most interesting assignment would have to be the research paper. For my students, this is most enjoyable and they come up with really unique ideas. For example, I have had papers on looking at the Influence of David Bowie on Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Kanye West: The New Andy Warhol, The Political Messages in Queen's Music from the early 1980s, and many more."

Favorite glam rock group:

"I wouldn't say I have a favorite Glam group. Over the past few years, I have grown to appreciate each artist for what they accomplished. If I had to choose, I would say Queen. They have a distinct sound and gel together as a group. Each member is balanced with each other. Almost all their songs are hits."

Professor: Joanna Demers

College: University of Southern California

How the course came about:

"We proposed it after discussing ways of engaging with student interests."

Goal of the course:

"To study the history and development of EDM, and to develop ways of discussing the aesthetics of the genre."

Any difficulty getting the course approved:

"Not at all."

Student Response:

"There is widespread interest, both among practitioners and newcomers."

Most interesting assignment:

"Asking students to write a short analysis paper of their favorite EDM track, engaging both scholarship and journalistic writing."

Favorite electronic dance music artist:

"Juan Atkins and Derrick May. I'm partial to the classics."

Professor: Kevin Dettmar
College: Pomona College

How the course came about:

"I’ve been talking with a friend about writing a Radiohead book, and I thought this would be a good way to field-test the idea: see whether I have enough to say to warrant a book. Our freshman seminar program invites proposals for interdisciplinary courses of all kinds, and so provided a good opportunity for a Radiohead class."

Goal of the course:

"It’s a freshman seminar, so the main goal is to teach critical thinking and college-level writing skills. Radiohead’s body of work seemed to me to provide ample opportunity for that."

Any difficulty getting the course approved?
"No, they trust me around here."

Student response:

"It was a really terrific class. Some students came as fans, some not, but everyone got into the spirit of it, I’d say. I learned a lot from their classroom contributions and their papers."

Convert any students into Radiohead fans?
"I did! Or at least, extended exposure to the music, and engagement with it, did. But we’re pretty clear in the class that being a fan isn’t the point. We’re trying to develop critics, not fans."

Most interesting assignment:

"For their last paper, the students write a paper with the general structure, “Radiohead and...” Radiohead and... progressive rock. Radiohead and... big data. Radiohead and... climate change. Using the research methods and discourse of a field outside of popular music studies to consider the band’s impact."

Have you reached out to Radiohead?

"No."

Favorite Radiohead song:

"It changes, but right now I’d say it’s “Reckoner,” off In Rainbows. Why? Hard to say: Thom’s falsetto has never sounded more affecting; the tune manages a Motown vibe, although the arrangement is pretty electronic and clinical. The only thing wrong with this near-perfect song is the outro, which absolutely sucks."

Professor: Vivien Goldman
College: New York University

How the course came about:
"It was simply because I happen to be an adjunct professor at the Clive Davis Institute of Recording Music Tisch School of the Arts, because you look around and you do see a lot of courses on music. But the difference is that in the Clive Davis department we have a section on Writing, History and Emerging Media, and we offer intellectual, social and historical music courses because a lot of people do not have an extensive or well-rounded background in music. So teaching about the music in a socio-historical context is important."

Goal of the course:

"It’s very enriching to understand the history of music. When you’re teaching Bob Marley and Post Colonial Music, you not only learn about the music and the people behind the music, but how they operated in their situation. In the case of post colonial music, you’re addressing what it means to be an artist defining a brand new identity and in the case of Marley, a free man of color in the West Indies post independence and post colonialism. I worked extensively with Bob Marley and I am the author of The Book of Exodus: The Making and Meaning of Bob Marley and the Wailers’ Album of the Century. So that gives my Bob Marley course a bit of a unique spin."

Student response:

"I’m always in awe of my students. I do find them quite inspiring. Everybody seems to find the course expansive and expanding, whether they’re musicians or want to go into some other aspect of the music and entertainment complex."

Most interesting assignment:

"Probably some relationship between black oriented music from Jamaica and artists such as Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions."

Favorite Bob Marley song:

"I’m going to have to go with "Bad Card.'" It's my song for the moment. I’d usually go with "Guiltiness" but that’s partly because I was with him when he was composing it."

Professor: Adrian Matejka
College: Indiana University

How the course came about:

"I wanted to be an emcee when I was a kid. This was the late 1980s when people were still questioning whether rap was actually music. I was a terrible lyricist and so I gave it up, but the way that my favorite emcees at the time—Chuck D, Erick Sermon, and Rakim—worked with language led me to reading and writing poetry. When I was in a position to design my own classes, I decided to create one that might take students on a similar musical and linguistic trip as I went on."

Goal of the course:

"The main goal is to get my team to understand that rap is a kind of poetry. Emcees use the same cadences and rhetorical devices as poets. For example, emcees use simile and metaphor in a way similar to poets. Poets use rhyme to create rhythm and emcees do the same thing. Both types of linguistic artists use figurative language. There are many similarities.

The big difference, of course, is that emcees have audible beats to support their verses while poets use imaginary beats. The other major distinction is rap is a mainstream art while poetry is underground in the contemporary conversation, even though poetry has been around since before the written word.

In class, we check out a range of styles and emcees including Kurtis Blow, MC Lyte, A Tribe Called Quest, Cannibal Ox, and Eminem. We study so many great emcees and the one unifying factor is they all hit the mic with conviction and poetic flourish."

Any difficulty getting the course approved:

"The English Department here at Indiana University has been very supportive of the class. IU has an incredible music school and is also the home to the first program in the study of jazz. So there’s a history of nontraditional music study on our campus and a class like this fits in nicely."

Student response:

"This is the second time I’ve taught the class and the response has been overwhelmingly positive so far. I mean, we come to class and talk about DOOM one day and Run the Jewels the next. What’s not to like about that?"

Most interesting assignment:

"Over the course of the semester, we spend most of our time dissecting and deciphering lyrics, so my favorite assignment is the last one. Instead of a final exam, the team gets to write a poem or 16 bars, which they then have to perform in class.

It can be a little intimidating to write lyrics if you’re not an English major, but we work through the mechanisms of writing verses in preparation for the assignment. The last week of class is like a lyrical boot camp, only without the yelling. The final project is all about effort, too, so no one earns a poor grade if his or her 16 bars don’t hold up."

DOOM is like T.S. Eliot in his lyrical innovation, only if Eliot wore a metal mask and concocted his own beats.

Favorite rapper and poet:

"That’s a complicated question because there are my favorites and then there are the emcees who work best for this class. Some of them overlap—A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Biggie, Kendrick Lamar, and recently I’ve been digging into Chance the Rapper and ScHoolboy Q.

But if I had to pick a personal favorite, I’d say DOOM. Mm…Food is one of the most literary albums out there. You can break down a song like “Beef Rap” and almost every poetic device is there. Verses like “It's a miracle how he get so lyrical / And proceed to move the crowd like a old negro spiritual” are equal parts hip hop and poetry. DOOM is like T.S. Eliot in his lyrical innovation, only if Eliot wore a metal mask and concocted his own beats."

Professor: Andrew Hollinden
College: Indiana University

How the course came about:

"Back in the ‘80s there was a professor at IU who started a class on the History of Rock and Roll and it basically covered the ‘50s and the ‘60s, and he also offered a class on the music of The Beatles because he was a big Beatles nut. I became his grading assistant in the late ‘80s, and as we came out of the ‘80s into the ‘90s, I went to the school of music and said, “Look, you’ve got a Rock and Roll History class that covers the ‘50s and the ‘60s. How about I develop one that covers the ‘70s and ‘80s?” So that was fine, and after I developed this course and it was relatively successful, I went back to them said, “Look, you’ve got a class on The Beatles. How about a class on Frank Zappa,” because I was as big of a Zappa nut as the other guy was a Beatles nut. And now the course has been offered for the better part of the last 20 years."

Goal of the course:

"The emphasis is on the music itself, and because I enjoyed his music so much I felt that other people should be exposed to it. And I think most people would agree that the music of Frank Zappa is a pretty tough nut to crack, and most kids would actually benefit from a guide of some sort to put it into context and listen to it in chronological order."

Any difficulty getting the course approved:

"Because of the success of the Rock and Roll class I taught, it wasn’t hard to get this course approved."

Student response:

"It’s very common for students to come into that class and have no idea of what they’re getting into. But by the end of the semester I always ask the same question on the final exam: How has your opinion of Frank Zappa changed over the course of this semester? And it’s very common for people to say, “At first I couldn’t stand it but now I think he’s one of America’s greatest musical geniuses.” I taught this class for the first time in 1995, and I recently got an email from a kid that was in that very first class, and he is now the drummer for Dweezil Zappa in the Zappa Plays Zappa tours. His name is Ryan Brown."

Most interesting assignment:

"I don’t give assignments per se but they have to listen to all of the songs. Half of every exam is basically name the song so the assignment is listen to this music. And that’s the way to like Frank Zappa’s music."

Favorite Frank Zappa song:

"I don’t have any one answer to that, although I will admit that during parts of my life I would’ve said “The Adventures of Greggery Peccary.” It’s a story about how human beings started to perceive time as a way of dealing with the universe. Zappa believed that time was a construct, and we’re forced to perceive the universe through a series of moments. And so “The Adventures of Greggery Piccary” is based on the Gregorian Calendar and how it was imposed on people."

Professor: Vivien Goldman
College: New York University

How the course came about:

"Similar to my Bob Marley course, my David Bowie course just opens up so many fields of exploration. As you study a lot of his work you learn a lot along the way. He’s quite the existentialist so we study the Beats Movement, the Commedia dell’Arte, the whole Ziggy thing with gender and other subjects. Bowie is so rich mentally and conceptually, and it’s great when you put it all together."

Goal of the course:

"In looking through the eras of Bowie’s work we ask, “How does Bowie keep his artistry alive?” His most recent work is so gripping and references his earlier work. He has stayed relevant and exploring how he does that is the goal of the class, among other things."

Student response:

"Same as Bob Marley."

Most interesting assignment:

"Addressing questions about alienation and displacement in the Berlin period where [David Bowie] had to remove himself from everything he knew to save his own life and ancestry. That was quite a nice one."

Favorite David Bowie song:

"I think I’m going to go with “Always Crashing in the Same Car.”"

Professor: Andrew Hollinden
College: Indiana University

How the course came about:

"In all the classes I teach at some point we have discussions about who’s your favorite guitar player, who’s the best guitar player, and I would say Jimi Hendrix gets my vote. Hendrix’s command of the guitar was incredible and he’s an artist that deserves such attention and recognition."

Goal of the course:

"Basically to turn people into fans, similar to my Frank Zappa class."

Student response:

"The Hendrix class is easy because his career was so short, and a lot of people come into the class already knowing what he was about."

Most interesting assignment:

"Same as Frank Zappa course."

Favorite Jimi Hendrix song:

"I would say “Machine Gun.” Even Miles Davis said that “Machine Gun” was the one, so if Miles Davis says it then who am I to argue?"