Using Music and Lyrics to Teach Political Theory
2015; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 48; Issue: 03 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1017/s1049096515000293
ISSN1537-5935
Autores Tópico(s)Theater, Performance, and Music History
ResumoABSTRACT Since the fall semester of 2008, I have used music to teach political theory to undergraduate students. I use song lyrics to make analogies to concepts used by political theorists, and I use the music to create associations that improve students’ memory of those concepts. Unlike other teachers who incorporate music into their classes by linking lyrics to concepts, I choose songs that reflect important ideas of specific theorists through multiple allusions to their ideas. The songs I choose serve four objectives: introducing concepts that may be difficult for students to appreciate, illustrating the application of those concepts, reinforcing students’ memory through issue-spotting songs, and presenting biographical information about the theorist that they are reading. I illustrate how I achieve these objectives through songs drawn from artists including Billy Joel, Ace of Base, and Supertramp, and musicals including West Side Story and Camelot .
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