Popular Music Studies

This graduate seminar offers a critical exploration of interdisciplinary scholarship on popular music and related cultural formations. Class readings emphasize ethnographic approaches grounded in American Studies, media studies, and ethnomusicology, alongside relevant bodies of critical theory. We will consider production, circulation, and reception practices, as well as the erosion of the barriers separating these domains. Case studies foreground popular music scenes in the Americas and the United Kingdom—especially Afro-diasporic and Latinx genres and practices—but readings, discussions and student projects will range beyond these areas. Major topics include musical subcultures; transnational circulation; club/dance music; listening practices; and genre studies focusing on hip-hop, reggaetón, and K-pop. Registration permission granted based on questionnaire distributed at first class meeting.