Unit name | Music and Sex |
---|---|
Unit code | MUSI20111 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | I/5 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Dr. Scheding |
Open unit status | Open |
Pre-requisites |
Technical knowledge of music (ability to read notation fluently is essential; music A level or Associated board grade 8 or equivalent may be required) |
Co-requisites |
none |
School/department | Department of Music |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Charles Darwin posited that mankind started making music for the purpose of sex. While this provocative claim is no doubt a gross exaggeration, music’s relationship with sexuality specifically and gender and the body more widely is nonetheless worthwhile exploring. Indeed, gender and queer studies, for example, today occupy a prominent place amongst musicological debates. In this unit, we will explore music and sex from a range of perspectives. Considering genres ranging from operatic and orchestral to pop music, we will begin by investigating music’s depiction of the erotic, before turning to music and camp-ness. Next, we will consider how musicology has long sidelined the body, before turning our attention to issues of femininity and masculinity. Throughout the course, our thinking will increasingly be informed by key texts in musicological gender and queer studies.
This unit’s aims are:
1) to introduce students to a repertory of varying musical genres embracing both art music and popular styles through a consistent theoretical lens;
2) to hone students’ skills in critical and highly interdisciplinary thinking;
3) to allow students to engage with critical texts about music, sexuality and gender;
4) to develop students’ skills in critical listening;
5) to develop students’ skills in the oral and written presentation of their ideas
At the end of the unit, a successful student will:
Weekly 2-hour seminars for the whole cohort.
750-word blog entries for each of any five weeks of the unit, summarising the key points of the material encountered in pre-class reading and responding to it critically. Students must submit 5 posts in order to gain credit for the unit. Towards the end of the unit, students choose 3 entries to submit without revision as their workfile for a summative mark.