Ithaca College

Summer 2021 – GCOM 15000 Critical Listening in Contemporary Audiovisual Culture  

ICC Themes, Perspectives, Diversity: Power and Justice, Humanities, Liberal Arts, Diversity

TR 11am-1:30pm

Summer Session 1: June 2 – July 2, 2021

GCOM 15000 Critical Listening in Contemporary Audiovisual Culture  

What does it mean to listen for race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, age, and ability? How can one develop an ear to recognize power dynamics in audiovisual culture? In this course students analyze the roles sound and music in contemporary culture and media play in shaping our perception of the world. In this interdisciplinary course, we will develop critical listening skills to understand power dynamics in contemporary audiovisual or audio-only media such as podcasts, radio, cinema, television, music videos, and advertisements. 

Podcasts include episodes from: “Phantom Power: A Podcast on the Sonic Arts and Humanities,” “Sound Matters,” “Twenty Thousand Hertz,” and "Sounding Out!"

Screenings include: BlacKkKlansman (Spike Lee, 2018), Sorry to Bother You (Boots Riley, 2018), I am not an Easy Man (Éléonore Pourriat, 2018), Moonlight (Barry Jenkins, 2016), Lemonade (Beyoncé, 2016), and Hip Hop Is... (2015)