GCOM 15000 Critical Listening in Contemporary Audiovisual Culture:
What does it mean to listen for race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, age, and ability? How can one develop an ear to recognize power dynamics in audiovisual culture? In this seminar, students analyze the roles sound and music in contemporary culture and media play in shaping our perception of the world. Taking sound in contemporary culture as an analytical point of departure, students will try to arrive at the relation of sound to social and political power by considering forms of oppression, violence, and discrimination as in racism, sexism, classism, ageism, and ableism. In this interdisciplinary course, we will develop critical listening skills to understand power dynamics in contemporary audiovisual or audio-only media such as podcasts, radio, cinema, television, music videos, and advertisements.
Select Course Screenings: Lemonade (Beyonce, 2016), Until the Quiet Comes (Khalil Joseph, 2013), BlacKkKlansman (Spike Lee, 2018), Sorry to Bother You (Boots Riley, 2018), Jane (Janelle Monáe, 2018), Hotline Bling Parody – SNL (2015), Black Star: Rebirth Is Necessary (Jenn Nkiru, 2017), 4:3 Live: An evening with Janelle Monáe & Jenn Nkiru: Afrofrequency (2018), select sketches from Key & Peele (2012), select episodes from One Day at a Time (Gloria Calderón Kellett, Mike Royce, Norman Lear, 2017), Moonlight (Barry Jenkins, 2016), I am not an Easy Man (Éléonore Pourriat, 2018), Illusions (Julie Dash, 1982), and more!