CRE270H1

Listening: A Critical History

Surveying scenarios for public and private musical listening, from historical contexts to the present, this course explores critical questions about how we listen, including the relationship between musical genres and listening situations, the definition of music vs. noise, the influence of spectatorship, and the impact of changing technologies. Students discuss the changing aesthetics and ideologies of musical listening, considering ways in which listening shapes our understanding of the social and our awareness of communities.