We have a variety of class options available to meet a variety of music interests. Our music appreciations courses include MUS 100-ST1 (History of Jazz), MUS 100-ST2 (American Popular Music) and MUS 100-ST3 (American Popular Music). All sections offer a non-technical discussion designed to increase the enjoyment and appreciation of music.
Course Descriptions
This course provides students with an understanding of the history and development of jazz music and its’ genres and sub genres in the United States. Additionally, it will examine the backgrounds and contributions of major jazz artists. Lastly, the class will tie in major social issues and historical events in the United States and how they influenced the development of jazz.
American Popular Music is a course designed to elicit non-technical discussion and intellectual reflection upon popular music in the United States, its roots in the past century, and how those formed the foundation of music in the U.S. through the present day.
The course will inform students on various elements of music in today’s society. Students will learn where American popular music started, how it progressed through history, and how economic and social elements impacted its styles, sounds and genres.
Our classes meet SGR Goal #4, which is defined as follows:
System Goal #4: “Students will understand the diversity and complexity of the human experience through study of the arts and humanities.”
Student Learning Outcomes:
As a result of taking courses meeting this goal, students will:
- Demonstrate knowledge of the diversity of values, beliefs and ideas embodied in the human experience.
- Identify and explain basic concepts of the selected disciplines within the arts and humanities.
In addition, as a result of taking courses meeting this goal, students will be able to do at least one of the following:
- Identify and explain the contributions of other cultures from the perspective of the selected disciplines within the arts and humanities.
- Demonstrate creative and aesthetic understanding.
- Explain and interpret formal and stylistic elements of the literary or fine arts.
- Demonstrate foundational competency in reading, writing and speaking a non-English language.