MUSIC 3316

What's in a Sound? Gender and Race in Sound Cultures

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2024-2025. Courses of Study 2024-2025 is scheduled to publish mid-June.

What can we hear or see in a sound? Can the sound of a voice conjure traces of a body? How does sound, musical or otherwise, construct gender and race? In this course, we will consider how listening, speaking, and music operate as mechanisms of representation. We will pay particular attention to the work representations do and how they connect to systems of power and identity. From voice-overs and machine listening to reggaeton and Brazilian funk, we will examine the ways sound practices not only mirror gendered, racial, and sexual politics but also produce them. Through several case studies, we will find that the very possibilities of representations are embedded in historical contexts and the variability of media objects.

When Offered Fall.

Distribution Category (SCD-AS) (D-AG)
Course Attribute (CU-ITL, CU-UGR)

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