American Idols: Music, Popular Culture and Nation

What can we learn from popular music? Reebee Garofalo asserts that it is "a social and political indicator that mirrors and influences the society we all live in." In his book Audiotopia, musicologist Josh Kun further suggested that "political and cultural citizenship is configured through the performance of popular music and its reception, via acts of listening, by the people." Building upon these observations, Katherine Meizel has argued that popular talent competition shows like American Idol offer a rich and unexplored opportunity to examine such acts of listening, contending that these programs provide valuable lenses into American ideologies and narratives of Americanness. Taking up this charge, this course explores the relationship between American political, educational, social, and cultural discourses, popular culture, and musical performance through analyses of popular music competition shows such as American Idol, America's Got Talent, and The Voice. Organized thematically, the course includes units that address themes of meritocracy, democracy, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, celebrity, disability, talent and ability, and education. The class will examine specific musical performances from televised talent competitions in relation to broader academic literature, popular media coverage, fan discourse, and scholarly sources specifically addressing the talent shows. Students engage in online and in-class debates as well as designing a final project.