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A Sociological Ear: Listening and Music
A Sociological Ear: Listening and Music
February 28, 2024

The Listening and Music Resource Collection pulls together assignments that ask students to apply sociology to the creation of playlists and analysis of lyrics and provides guidance on teaching students how to listen for learning. 

A woman listening using earbuds
A woman listening to a podcast
Gregory Kordsmeier; Jamie Oslawski-Lopez
Listening to Podcasts for Class: Tips for Success
February 29, 2024
Subject Area(s):
Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems, Social Psychology
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity, Lecture
Class Level(s):
College 100
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:

Assigning podcasts to your classes can be a great way to create a compelling assignment that most students will complete (Oslawski-Lopez and Kordsmeier 2021). At the same time, however, many students, when encountering podcasts in the classroom for the first time,...

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Top 10 Hits: Age Messages in Music
Anne Barrett, Skyler Bastow, Rachael Dominguez, Melissa Frost, Cherish Michael, Hope Mimbs, Brianna Soulie
Listening for Age: Analyzing Song Lyrics’ Messages about Age and Aging
April 17, 2023
Subject Area(s):
Aging/Social Gerontology
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:

Ideas about age pervade popular culture, including songs. They convey “age messages” – in other words, ideas about particular ages or life stages or about the experience of growing older. The ideas are often consistent with those that are dominant in...

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Anime action figures on a desk
Aiko Kojima Hibino
Globalizing Japanese Pop Culture
December 27, 2021
Subject Area(s):
Art/Music, Asians/Asian-Americans, Cultural Sociology, Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems, Race, Class and Gender, Racial and Ethnic Relations
Resource Type(s):
Assignment, Syllabus
Class Level(s):
College 100, College 200, College 300
Class Size(s):
Small
Abstract:

In this course, we will use various Japanese pop culture genres, including comics, anime, food, and music, and examine the interplay between local and global culturescapes. Students are expected to critically inquire into the reality and complexity of people's...

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Letisha Engracia Cardoso Brown
Social Inequality Annotated Playlist
April 19, 2021
Subject Area(s):
Race, Class and Gender
Resource Type(s):
Assignment
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
This assignment allows students an opportunity to demonstrate knowledge and understanding surrounding issues of social inequality through a creative lens: that of music. Students choose topics related to the course (i.e. social inequality) and then create an...
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David Arditi, Jennifer Miller
Digital Culture - Undergraduate
February 24, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Communication and Information Technologies
Resource Type(s):
Syllabus
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
Idealist thinking marked the development of the Internet and digital technologies, especially in the 1990s. Writers, both academic and popular, imagined a more democratic world where information would be unrestricted, communication would erase space, and technologies...
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Yvette A. JEAN
"Every Generation Has a Soundtrack" → Create an original insight piece highlighting music from a specific generation.
May 21, 2019
Subject Area(s):
Aging/Social Gerontology
Resource Type(s):
Assignment
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
Through this innovative music project, "Every Generation has a Soundtrack," students learn how songs are consciously constructed to convey messages to a target audience. This project-based learning (PBL) resource provides step-by-step instructions that teach students...
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Katherine L. Newton
Criminological Theories Through Rap Music
March 24, 2015
Subject Area(s):
Criminology/Delinquency
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
The objective of this classroom activity is to engage students with examples of criminological theories found in popular culture. This activity will assess students’ understanding of criminological theory such as labeling theory, differential association theory, and...
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