Music and Subculture in Everyday Life What makes a sound subcultural? Can music build community? Or does it reinforce boundaries? Is the Grateful Dead a band or a lifestyle? What does it mean to be a Swiftie? Is Sabrina Carpenter’s rise a product of pop machinery or genuine cultural resonance? What did Brat Summer mean? And who was it for?
Is fandom a form of resistance or just another form of consumption? How do race, gender, and class shape the way we hear? What does it mean to belong to a scene when the scene is digital, global, and constantly shifting? This course invites students to explore music not merely as entertainment, but as a social force that organizes identity, space, and power. We will ask how musical subcultures (from jam band legacies to hyperpop aesthetics) create meaning, challenge norms, and circulate across borders. Drawing on sociology, cultural studies, and ethnomusicology, this course examines how sound becomes a tool for self-expression, protest, and connection.
Students will engage with theory, qualitative social science research methodology to investigate the politics of taste, the economics of scenes, and the ethics of cultural exchange. We’ll listen closely, think critically, and ask: What does your playlist say about you? This course is open to all majors, especially those interested in humanities, social sciences, media studies, and anyone curious about the social lives of music.