SPAN 330 - Socio-Culture of Hispanic Music

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisites: SPAN 202 or above or by permission of Department Head
In this course we will experience Hispanic music as a socio-cultural phenomenon as well as an instrument for storytelling. We will discuss topics such as migration, race, gender and mourning as leitmotifs for a collective self that sought a space to narrate its shared experiences in Salsa, Hip Hop, Reggaeton, etc. Likewise, the relationship between the diaspora in New York and Puerto Rico will be examined. Some of the most well-known Hispanic song hits, along with films and documentaries, literary texts, and cultural theories will be read and examined to strengthen the discussion. By understanding Hispanic music as a melting pot and/or as a guiso, one of the goals of the course is for students to be able to use musical experiences as a social and cultural manifestation that allows us to understand historical and social events.