SOC 3381 - Exploring Social Inequality through Music & Film

During the election campaign for President Barack Obama, our forty fourth President and our first African American President, one of candidate Obama's famous campaign mantras were the words "Yes We Can!" Soon the catch-phrase, reminiscent of other calls to action such as "we shall overcome" and "si se puede" for underserved populations and populations of color in U.S. history facing issues of social inequality, became a popular music video released by hip-hop musician and rapper Will.i.am. This wedding of issues of social inequality in U.S. politics and society with popular culture media such as music and film is the central focus of this course. Fundamentally, this course is a historical, theoretical, and ultimately, sociological exploration of race, ethnicity, class, and gender as axes of inequality in the United States, through the lens of music and film media. Materials examine the interaction between personal experiences and social structures as students explore how individuals carry varying degrees of penalty and privilege depending on their position within a complex matrix along axes of race, ethnicity, class, and gender that affects everyone in society. Students will be invited to explore the ways that people experience and respond to the matrix, that is, structures of racial/ethnic, class, and gender inequality, and the ways that people help to reinforce and reshape those structures.