General course information

Required Reading

• Twenty-eight Dylan songs
• Twenty-eight Cohen songs
• You can use the Spotify list to listen to the songs.
• Adorno, Theodor W., with George Simpson. “On Popular Music.” Studies in Philosophy and Social Science, vol. 9, 1941, pp. 17-48. Soundscapes: Journal on Media Culture, vol. 2, January 2000, www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/SWA/On_popular_music_1.shtml, On_popular_music_2.shtml, and On_popular_music_3.shtml.
• Gezari, Janet. “Bob Dylan and the Tone behind the Language.” Southwest Review, vol. 86, no. 4, 2001, pp. 480-99. EBCSOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=6269494&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
• Gitlin, Todd. “Grizzled Minstrels of Angst: Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan, Forever Old.” American Scholar, vol. 71, no. 2, spring 2002, pp. 95-100. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=6463307&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
• Lebold, Christophe. “The Traitor and the Stowaway: Persona Construction and the Quest for Cultural Anonymity and Cultural Relevance in the Trajectories of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen.” Journal of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, vol. 1, no. 2, 2010, pp. 1-17. IASPM@Journal, www.iaspmjournal.net/index.php/IASPM_Journal/article/download/322/551.
• O’Neil, Mary Anne. “Leonard Cohen, Singer of the Bible.” CrossCurrents, vol. 65, no. 1, March 2015, pp. 91-99. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=102855363&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Course Expectations or Outputs

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

1. identify and explain conflicting definitions of “popular.”
2. analyze the ways in which popular culture texts and practices reinforce or challenge the circuit of production and consumption that characterizes mass culture.
3. apply different theoretical approaches to the analysis of popular culture texts and practices in both class discussion and writing.
4. construct and sustain analytical arguments in clear, coherent prose and proper essay format.
5. enrich analytical arguments about primary texts through the judicious use of secondary sources.

Course Outcomes

Students who successfully complete this course will demonstrate:

1. a detailed knowledge of approaches to the study of popular culture.
2. an ability to offer theoretically and historically informed interpretation of texts.
3. an ability to compare the merits of different critical and theoretical approaches.
4. an ability to gather, review, and assess secondary sources appropriate to the topic.
5. an ability to communicate logical, analytical arguments in clear, correct, and persuasive prose.

Lectures, attendance, and preparation

You are expected to attend all lectures and discussions. It is understood that occasionally you might have to miss a class. Note that the content of the lectures is meant to stimulate your own thinking: the lecturer’s thoughts about a text do not represent the only way to think about that text. You should develop your own opinions and theories and learn how to express and defend them. You should prepare for class by reading the assigned material (before the class) and by spending some time thinking about the material.

Participation

You are expected to participate in class in an informed manner. At the very least, you are expected to come to class regularly, having read all assigned reading. You are expected to participate in class discussions. Keep in mind that participating in class is usually a highly rewarding experience, greatly enhancing your ability to understand the course material and helping ensure your success in the course. Everyone is expected to be courteous and professional at all times in class.

Essay submission and lateness

Essays must be submitted in paper. They must also be submitted on Blackboard, through SafeAssign. Essays must meet the minimal length requirements, explicitly stated for each assignment. If an essay does not meet the minimal length requirement, including after the essay’s margins, fonts, spacing, etc. have been standardized, the essay will be returned ungraded or with a failing grade. Essays will not be graded until they have been submitted through SafeAssign. Note: essays usually take two to three weeks to grade.

Assignments are due in class, on the date indicated by the assignment. A 2% penalty will be applied to the graded assignment for every day the assignment is late. This will include weekend days and public holidays. Extensions may be granted for exceptional circumstances, especially for serious medical reasons: in such cases, you should talk to the instructor as soon as possible and be prepared to submit medical documentation about the problem (that should include a statement about the beginning and duration of the issue). All students are welcome to a seven-day extension on the term essay. No assignment will be accepted after the start of the final exam.