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MUS 366U New Orleans: Jazz and Culture in the Storyville Era

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MUS 366U New Orleans: Jazz and Culture in the Storyville Era MUS 366U New Orleans: Jazz and Culture in the Storyville Era MUS 366U Dr. Edward Higgins Term: F2017 Email: [email protected] Office: LH 213C CATALOG DESCRIPTION Examines the music of New Orleans during the Storyville era of early 20th century, and its place in the broader context of American popular music history. Students explore the historical narrative surrounding popular music, culture, and identity, as it emerged in New Orleans. DETAILS The Storyville Era, for a myriad of reasons, created many opportunities for musical experimentation. While Jazz was not born in Storyville, the era did give rise to many different forms of music with influences as diverse as the musicians who played there; segregation began to dissipate as musicians came together and were influenced by each other. As a result, the music of the Storyville era drove cultural formation in New Orleans, giving the city its identity. LEARNING OUTCOMES Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: identify specific musical features and compositions unique to New Orleans, discuss the music of New Orleans and its place in American history, discuss how business practices relate to artistic enterprises, analyze the relationship between popular music and culture, and discuss how social and cultural events influence and may be influenced by popular music. COURSE OBJECTIVES Students will critically analyze musical compositions of the Storyville Era as significant historical and cultural artifacts that reflect the era’s cultural climate. Students will develop an understanding of New Orleans’s place in the historical narrative of American popular music and culture. Students will develop an understanding of Jazz’s effect on cultural identities within various communities in New Orleans and the rest of America. Students will examine historical events in New Orleans and how they influenced both New Orleans culture and its music. REQUIRED MATERIALS Charters, S. (2008). The trumpet around the corner: The story of New Orleans Jazz. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi Krist, G. (2014). Empire of sin: A story of sex, jazz, murder, and the battle for modern New Orleans. New York, NY: Broadway Books Web Article: Arnold R. Hirsch and Joseph Logsdon, “The People and Culture of New Orleans.” http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/history/people.html Web Article: A New Orleans Jazz History, 1895 – 1927, Natural Historical Park Louisiana. https://www.nps.gov/jazz/learn/historyculture/jazz_history.htm CD: “A Companion CD to Samuel Charter’s Fabulous Book” University Press of Mississippi GRADES You will have 10 quizzes, each due Fridays before 11:59 pm. Late work will not be accepted. No exceptions. Your lowest Quiz score will be dropped and the remaining will be combined to calculate an average score. Each quiz will be 20 questions, except week 10 which will be worth 40 points, and the material will come directly from the texts. Each quiz has a time limit of 20 minutes. Mus 366U Quizzes (10) (Total of 200 points) Discussions: (10) (Total of 100 points) Essays (3) (Total of 300 points) Total points = 600 ASSIGNMENT GRADING RUBRIC Assignment Requirements 1. Does the essay fully address the prompt? 2. Does the essay follow the appropriate style guidelines? 3. Is the assignment the appropriate length? Organization 1. Are the basic sections (introduction, body, conclusion) adequate? 2. Is the material ordered in a way that is logical, clear, and easy to follow? 3. Are paragraphs and sentences cohesive? Grammar 1. Are there any errors in grammar or spelling? Content 1. Does the essay adequately discuss the topic at hand? 2. Does the essay show thought and convey some depth? Schedule Week 1 Read Samuel Charters, The Trumpet Around the Corner Pg. (An Introduction) Pg. 3-22 Read Gary Krist, Empire of Sin Pg. (Prologue) Pg. 10-25 Pg. 76-106 Read Article: Arnold R. Hirsch and Joseph Logsdon “The People and Culture of New Orleans.” http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/history/people.html Discussion: Briefly describe your background and reasons for taking this particular course. Listening (CD) #’s 1&2 Quiz 1 Week 2 Read Samuel Charters, The Trumpet Around the Corner Pg. 23-63 Read Gary Krist. Empire of Sin Pg. 75-86 Discussion: It has been said that “Storyville was the most racially integrated populous in the entire south.” How did that environment affect the music that eventually came from New Orleans? Listening (CD) #’s 3-5 Quiz 2 Week 3 Read Samuel Charters, The Trumpet Around the Corner Pg. 64-96 Read Gary Krist, Empire of Sin Pg. 87-106 Discussion: Social injustice was rampant during the Storyville era. Discuss how such injustice effect the era’s music, both in subject matter and temperament of the music. Listening (CD) #’s 6 & 7 Quiz 3 Week 4 Read Samuel Charters, The Trumpet Around the Corner Pg. 97-125 Read Gary Krist. Empire of Sin Pg. 108-139 Discussion: Vice, in the form of prostitution and gambling, has been found in almost every documented culture. Music has seldom not been found where vice is found. Should a society ignore, eliminate, or regulate vice? What effects on cultural development, and especially music, would you anticipate based on your decision? Listening (CD) #’s 8 & 9 Quiz 4 Essay #1 Week 5 Read Samuel Charters, The Trumpet Around the Corner Pg. 126-157 Read Gary Krist. Empire of Sin Pg. 158-175 Discussion: The Louisiana state legislature passed a law mandating a death sentence for anyone convicted of kidnapping a child. Was this penalty too harsh for such a crime? Listening (CD) #’s 10 & 11 Quiz 5 Week 6 Read Samuel Charters, The Trumpet Around the Corner Pg. 158-179 Read Gary Krist, Empire of Sin Pg. 176-209 Discussion: Chapter 13 in “Empire of Sin” states that the economy of New Orleans was strong enough for musicians to give up their “day jobs” in favor of working full-time as musicians. Describe what a typical 24-hour period might have been like for a full-time musician in New Orleans. Listening (CD) #’s 12 & 13 Quiz 6 Week 7 Read Samuel Charters, The Trumpet Around the Corner Pg. 180-219 Read Gary Krist, Empire of Sin Pg. 212-238 Discussion: None Listening (CD) #’s 14 & 15 Quiz 7 Essay #2 Week 8 Read Samuel Charters, The Trumpet Around the Corner Pg. 220-257 Read Gary Krist, Empire of Sin Pg. 242-284 Read Article: A New Orleans Jazz History, 1895 – 1927, Natural Historical Park Louisiana https://www.nps.gov/jazz/learn/historyculture/jazz_history.htm Discussion: None Listening (CD) #’s 16 & 17 Quiz 8 Week 9 Read Samuel Charters, The Trumpet Around the Corner Pg. 260-298 Read Gary Kris,. Empire of Sin Pg. 300-312 Discussion: Much of Chapter 20, “The End of an Empire,” focuses on efforts in Louisiana to legislate against prostitution. However, prostitution is still rampant, regulated or not. Do you think legalizing prostitution would contribute to higher employment rates for musicians? Explain your answer. Listening (CD) #’s 18 & 19 Quiz 9 Week 10 Read Samuel Charters, The Trumpet Around the Corner Pg. 298-331 Read Gary Krist, Empire of Sin Pg. 312-332 Discussion: The New Orleans economy had fallen behind other southern cities, such as Dallas, Houston, and Atlanta, due to lack of industry. However, the city was able to experience a revival by exploiting its “checkered past” through tourism. Of the great cities of the US, where does New Orleans rank on your list to visit and why? Listening (CD) #’s 20 & 21 Quiz 10 Final Essay ESSAY #1 Write a 500-word essay discussing how racial struggle in the rest of the country was reflected in New Orleans. ESSAY #2 Write a 500-word essay exploring the relationship between vice and culture in New Orleans. FINAL ESSAY Write a 1000-word essay discussing the relationships between New Orleans, cultural identity, and American popular music. Course Format This course will feature activities that include: Reading from the text Listening Screening video Participating in a discussion Taking a quiz Forms, surveys, and other miscellaneous activities may also be included. It is important to complete each week's activities on time. Late work will not be accepted. Discussions: Every individual discussion is worth 10 possible points. Each time a discussion opens, students must post at least once by Sunday of the week it appears, unless otherwise stated by the instructor. The purpose of these discussions is to create a dialog among students. Therefore, once you have created a thread, please post at least two responses to other posts. As the discussions potentially involve a fair amount of opinion, and with the understanding that students come to this class with different levels of experience with the subject, students have a lot of leeway as to the content of their discussion posts. However, work hard to make your comments substantive—meaning containing real substance. It is generally okay to duplicate others' subject matter in a large class, but here, do try to find a unique perspective to discuss. In your comments, please avoid a "me too" kind of post. Give it some thought and respond with something to add to the thread. It's recommended that you try to post mid-week or earlier to give others the opportunity to respond. It goes without saying that ALL posts in the discussion group need to be polite. Please avoid any statements that might be interpreted as being judgmental of others' tastes in music, politics, religion and so forth. As you may know, printed text can be easily misinterpreted. Quizzes: You will have 20 minutes to complete each quiz. The quizzes consist of multiple choice and true/false questions, and may include listening questions.
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