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Experimental
College: Children of the Grave
Heavy Metal’s
Relevance in an Era of Globalization
Classroom: HSS 259
Time: Wednesdays, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Facilitator: Henry York
Websites: sfsuexco.org
INTRODUCTION and OBJECTIVES
Simultaneously
frightening, earnest, self-deprecating, hyper-critical, and welcoming, the culture
of heavy metal is a worldwide phenomenon that has inspired a burgeoning field
of metal studies (I know, I couldn’t believe it myself. Often as intriguing as
the music itself, is the ever-lively culture of metal. Students will gain
critical knowledge of heavy metal music and culture, and how these interact
with issues of race, gender, power, and globalization. Questions raised and
discussed will include:
What musical conventions distinguish heavy
metal? In what other musical traditions are these rooted? Does heavy metal
enhance or otherwise alter the understandings of these traditions?
Given metal's associations with hate, violence,
and supremacy, is there space for a critical defense of the genre?
With regard to developments in extreme metal,
what is the place of transgression in cultural expression?
How do prevailing trends of globalization
affect metal scenes worldwide? How is metal in conversation with this process?
(How) Have issues of race and gender in metal
changed throughout the history of the genre?
Students will
arrive at a deeper understanding of the global metal scene, and explore how
this knowledge implicates issues and ideas far beyond its own brutal borders.
Through an exploration of heavy metal, then, students will also arrive at a
more critical perspective on modernity in general.
CLASS PLAN
This class
will be focused on texts which constitute the burgeoning field of Metal
Studies, with a focus on issues of globalization as they intersect with the
music and culture of heavy metal. I expect everyone to come to class having
read the material, so that we can enter into a meaningful dialogue with the
texts. Texts will be made available to class members online. The texts will
provide a frame of reference for the musical and cultural elements of metal to
which class members will gain access, through in-class listening exercises,
documentary films, and (optionally) live shows. This is a music and a culture
that I greatly enjoy, and above all I’d like to share that enthusiasm with you,
so that this is not a mere exercise in dry academia, but rather a lively and
interactive experience!
Please attend
all classes having read the assigned materials for that week.
ASSIGNMENTS
Students will
complete a total of 15 pages of writing in the course of the semester. Students
will be asked to write 1-2 pages in response to readings within the class.
These assignments will consist of basic analysis of texts and/or in-class
discussions for relevant information. These assignments will be given the week
before they’re due.
Two in-depth
writing assignments (3-5) will
also be completed, as effective midterm and final. These assignments will
require research outside of class materials. Details for these assignments will
be covered several weeks before they are due.
GRADING
Grades
will be assigned by the student’s faculty advisor in conjunction with the
course facilitators. Failing grades will be administered for students who
registered for the course but stopped attending/participating and/or did not
complete the assignments.
REGISTRATION
Students
looking to take the course for credit will need to fill out an independent
study form. We will provide these forms on the first day of class. Independent
study requires a faculty advisor and a GPA of 3.0 or greater. The student is
responsible for submitting all paperwork.
Adding classes via permit number occurs August 27 – September 10
(ends at midnight, September 10)
CLASS SCHEDULE
(full class bibliography available
on class website)
I. “Into the Void” – First Impressions of the Thing Called Metal
In-class
exercise: Generational side-by-side song comparisons
II. Metal as a Global Genre
Reading: Excerpt from Robert Walser, Running
with the Devil (41-50);
Weinstein, “
The Globalization of Metal”
III. Societal Roots of Metal
Reading: Excerpt from Wallach, Berger, and
Greene, Metal Rules the Globe (Introduction,
15-19);
Walser,
“Eruptions: Heavy Metal Appropriations of Classical Virtuosity” (not required)
IV. Transgressions
Reading: Hjelm, Kahn-Harris, Levine, “Heavy
Metal as Controversy and Counterculture”;
Kahn-Harris,
“Racism, Globalization, and Play within the Global Extreme Metal Scene”
V. Gender and Metal
Hill, “Is Emo
Metal? Gendered Boundaries and New Horizons in the Metal Community”
VI. Gender and Metal, Pt. 2
Reading: Riches, “Embracing the Chaos: Mosh
Pits, Extreme Metal Music and Liminality”
VI. Race and Metal
Reading: Excerpt from Murray, Crosstown
Traffic (129-152)
VII. Race and Metal, Pt. 2
Reading: Fellezs, “Black Metal Soul Music”
VIII. Metal and Politics
Reading: Kahn-Harris, “The ‘Failure’ of Youth
Culture”;
Scott, “Heavy
Metal and the Deafening Threat of the Apolitical”
IX. Metal Movie Massacre: Heavy Metal in Baghdad
X. TBD
XI. TBD
XII. TBD
XIII. Last session; final papers due
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