Course Overview

The subject of this course is twofold: we will consider both the role of music in women’s history and the role of women in music history. Topics will include women composers and performers in the Western tradition; women as patrons and audience members; representations of women and gender in musical works; feminist music criticism; women’s participation in and representation by ethnomusicological research; performances of gender in stage works, concerts, and in the media; and the role of gender in the operations of the entertainment industry, particularly the challenges faced by women in musical professions and the depictions of female sexuality in marketing. Students will also develop listening and analysis skills in order to better understand the effect of gender on the creation and interpretation of music. We will survey a variety of historical and contemporary musical fields, from chant in medieval convents to current popular music.

This is a three-credit-hour course for students who are not majoring in music. There are no prerequisites, but Introduction to Music (MUGN 201/202) may be helpful as background.

Top

Objectives

Upon completion of this course, I expect that you will have gained the ability to:

(1) describe women’s musical experiences and contributions in a range of historical periods and fields;

(2) utilize the aural skills and technical vocabulary introduced throughout the term to analyze representations of women in musical works;

(3) think critically about the impact of gender on the operations of the entertainment industry, including the production, interpretation, marketing, and consumption of music;

(4) engage with expressions of feminism in music as well as with feminist music criticism;

(5) demonstrate knowledge of scholarship on women in music and utilize relevant reference and research resources.