The courses below were offered in summer 2024. They are listed here to indicate what is typically available during Summer Term. Please check back on December 15, when the full summer 2025 course schedule will be available.
Music
College of Fine Arts
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R&B, Motown, and Classic Funk: Soundtracks of Empowerment and Civil Rights
CFA MH 430
Rhythm and Blues, Gospel, Motown, Soul, and Funk are seminal in the development of rap, hip-hop, fusion, and contemporary urban and R&B styles. These styles provided the soundtrack for African American identity, empowerment, and protest from the civil rights struggle of the late 1950s and early '60s to the Black Power commentary of the 1970s, and, eventually into the hip-hop era. This course places these styles within their cultural and historical contexts and examines their musical characteristics in detail. This course does not require previous training in music. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness. 4 cr.