Geography of World Music .... Fall 1999 .... Geog 436

RESEARCH PAPER DUE * Thursday December 2, 1999 *
* ABSOLUTELY NO LATE PAPERS ACCEPTED *
* PAPERS MUST BE SUBMITTED AT THE START OF CLASS ON 12/2/99

Research Assignment: (20 % of the course grade).

* The Research Paper project requires you to research and write an analytical paper on some aspect of world music. For example, you could take a comparative approach by discussing the role of a particular musical style in one country and comparing it with what you know about the role of popular music in the United States. Alternatively, you could focus on a specific artist, group, musical style, period, or movement and discuss its broader relevance to the development of popular culture.
The topic of the paper is open. You may address any issue you feel is worthy of attention, although it must have an explicitly cultural geographic component. Talk to me as early as possible about your topic choice to ensure that it meets the requirements of a geographic/cultural approach. You may conduct your research on any part of the world, not just the United States.
* You must present your research paper using the following framework:
(a) State a working hypothesis or research question. Why is this topic or issue important?
(b) Provide some basic background to your research using the textbook, readings, or other research sources. Make sure you cite the source of your research. You MUST have references to at least four ACADEMIC journal articles or edited book chapters and these references must be clearly cited and discussed in the text.
(c) Analyze the specific issue you are addressing clearly and thoughtfully. What, why, how, where, and when are important questions to address.
(d) Close the paper with a clear conclusion. What have you learned? What conclusions might you draw from your research about similar issues/movements in other societies?
Basic Requirements:
* Your essay should be SIX pages minimum and TEN maximum of text, TYPED, double-spaced, normal 1" margins all around, NORMAL Times Roman/Courier 12 cpi font) about your topic of choice based on the framework set out above. * Note : You will earn an "F" for the paper if you submit less than the minimum pages required. Include maps, tables, and other data where appropriate, but these will be IN ADDITION to the SIX minimum pages of text required.
* Writing quality is extremely important. Make sure you edit your paper properly and use that spellcheck!!
*** All materials are due in class as stated above. No late materials are accepted (unless you have a documented excuse!). Please do not use fancy folders, binders, etc. Save the environment.

For help with the mechanics of writing the research paper, click on: Paper Help.

October 28, 1999 ..... GEOG436 .....

Study Guide (NOTE: Exam rescheduled for Thursday November 11, 1999).

Part I. A short map quiz of key places in world music will cover about 10 locations.

Part II. Approximately 5-8 short-answer essay questions will be drawn from the following material and key concepts (you'll have some choices):
(a) High Culture and Popular Culture
(b) Marshall McLuhan's Tetrad Cycles (Recording Studio/Disco changes)
(c) Textbook Readings (Chapters 9, 10, 2 and 3)
(d) Social Change in the late 1960s
(e) Asian Musical Influences

Part III. Long essay question. One of these two essays will be on the review:
(a) Discuss how politics affected popular music and how popular music affected politics in the period from 1966 to 1970. Focus specifically on the Vietnam War and on the Black experience and provide at least three musical examples of each. Pay specific attention to the different social contexts within which the music developed and provide plenty of examples from the readings, lectures, videos, and music to explicate your analysis. (You should write a minimum of 2.5 to 3 pages.)
OR
(b) Compare and contrast the evolution of sexual identity in popular music from the beginnings of rock and roll through to the end of the 1970s. Provide examples of how changing social values were reflected in the music and how the "establishment" responded. Pay specific attention to the different social contexts within which new sexual identities developed and provide plenty of examples from the readings, lectures, videos, and music to explicate your analysis. (You should write a minimum of 2.5 to 3 pages.)

Study Guide for the Final Exam -- Thursday 12/16: 6:00 - 8:00 pm

Part I. A short map quiz of key places in world music will cover about 10 locations (comprehensive).

Part II. Approximately 5-8 short-answer essay questions will be drawn from the following material and key concepts (you'll have some choices):
(a) The Role of MTV in Popular Culture.
(b) Marshall McLuhan's Tetrad Cycles (MTV/Videos/CDs)
(c) Textbook Readings (Chapters 8 and 5): VERY SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
(d) Rap Music and Political Consciousness from the Ghetto
(e) Contemporary Music and the Media

Part III. Long essay question. One of these two essays will be on the review:
(a) Discuss how politics, social structure, and music converged in the 1980s/1990s in the voice of urban African-Americans and their musical style imitators. Focus specifically on the Black urban experience and provide at least three musical style examples. Pay specific attention to the social contexts within which the music developed and provide plenty of examples from the readings, lectures, videos, and music to explicate your analysis. (You should write a minimum of 2.5 to 3 pages.)
OR
(b) Respond to the argument that contemporary popular music challenges the values embedded in the Puritan myth. Address the issue of pornography in lyrics, in music videos, and in the way artists promote their "message." Explain how social issues such as transvestism, homosexuality, gender identity, anti-conservatism, and anti-establishmentism are manifested in popular music. Pay specific attention to the different social contexts within which new musical expressions and identities are developed and provide plenty of examples from the readings, lectures, videos, and music to explicate your analysis. (You should write a minimum of 2.5 to 3 pages.)

Return to the SYLLABUS

You can email the instructor directly if you have questions about this assignment. Just click on: david.keeling@wku.edu

Last updated on 12/7/99.