CloseHelpPrint
Kies de Nederlandse taal
Course module: 200600056
200600056
Wild years: Youth culture and pop music
Course info
Course code200600056
EC7.5
Course goals
General aim is that students, after having finished this course, can apply social scientific theories and concepts on youth, adolescence and youth culture, so that different levels of analysis and knowledge become visible and that they are able to deal with these analytically and reflectively. Content-wise, this implies that students …:
  • have knowledge of developments with youth, youth culture, youth policy over the last decennia
  • have knowledge of a selection of core theories and models on youth and youth culture;
  • are able to recognize and name epistemological differences;
  • are able to search, read, compare and analyze theoretical insights related to the theme;
  • are able to combine the gained insights into an individually substantiated perspective.
At a skills-level:
  • have learned and are capable to read and analyze texts at a more epistemological level;
  • are able to compare these texts from a specific or self-formulated question, and assess them on their merits;
  • are able to write an essay in which they select and use these theories or models to interprete a self-chosen subject.
These aims will be assessed by means of an essay exam and a written essay. The exam will foremost test knowledge of literature and lectures. In the essay students have to apply theories to a self-chosen subject.
 
Content
Youth, youth culture and youth policy are at the core of the social sciences. Various sociological perspectives and concepts are used: generation, counterculture, youth culture or subculture. From a more psychology-oriented perspective: adolescence, identity and group behavior. Behind these concepts lay views on the nature of the young, the relation between youth and the older generation, and the place of youth in society. The differences that exist between (and within!) these views can be traced back to different disciplinary traditions, philosophical and epistemological approaches and analytical levels. For example, the generation theory of Karl Mannheim seeks an explanation for the culture-innovating powers of youth, while the youth culture approach of Parsons and Eisenstadt accentuates the role of youth in the continuation of social structures. Subcultural theory in turn emphasizes the importance of class, power and resistance for the development of youth culture. Developmental psychologist stress the search for an identity and a social identity as core in adolescence.
 
These theories and models are still used and discussed nowadays to help understand recent youth phenomena or cultures. For this reason, in this course an exploration is conducted with students into various theories that help provide an answer to the uniqueness of the youth phase, the emergence of youth cultures, the differences between youth cultures and subcultures, the changing of generations and, more generally, the role and position of youth in society. Theories on youth and youth culture will be discussed in a series of tutorials.
 
Music was, is and probably, will always be a crucial component in youth culture. As a result of their music preferences adolescents choose their friends and within the circle of friend their music taste is further groomed.  Music itself and music videos hold important messages in lyrics, images, and the medialized attitudes and behaviors of artists, that may influence their listeners/viewers.  In this course, In a second line of thought, the history of popular music in its connections to the development of youth cultures, from the fifties onward,  will be addresses in a series of six lectures.
 
The course consists of two parts: during the first six weeks we will read and discuss developments on youth, youth science and popular music, and study a number of  selected core texts. Students are asked to submit answers to questions regarding these texts. This part will be finished with a short exam. In the last three weeks students write an essay on a self-chosen subject in which they apply theories and concepts that were discussed during the first part of the course.

Assumed knowledge
Basic knowledge and understanding of the social or behavioral sciences, at least at a first year level. Sound knowledge of English language.


 
CloseHelpPrint
Kies de Nederlandse taal