Music is the literature of the streets and a very effective teaching tool
Music, which is more accessible and readily available than books, is often the best medium to reach larger numbers of people
One of the main challenges educators face is getting our students to actively interact with course content, and perhaps explore its application to “real life”. One of the solutions to this age-old problem seems to be right under our ears. A few years back I stumbled on the article, Music and Cultural Analysis in the Classroom: Introducing Sociology through Heavy Metal by Jarl Ahlkvist. He explores cultural analysis of music as a tool for enhancing the learning experience of sociology students who are new to the discipline. Ahlkvist beautifully illustrates the value of using music as a bridge between theory and reality, and as a way to get students to actively interact with course content. Since this chance encounter, I try to use music in more or less the same way in my course. On hearing that hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his album Damn earlier in 2018 I could not wait to share the news with my class and my colleagues teaching English literature. ...
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