Certificate in Popular Music
This certificate prepares learners for engaging with popular music (rock, jazz, country and hip hop) in the local community, as a supporter of the arts, a member of a garage band, a donor or more educated concert-goer.
Popular Music – Certificate
Popular Music, Certificate
Offered as an Academic Certification
This program is designed for non-music and music majors, and there is no requirement to have prior experience playing music. Explore the role cultural and historical forces, racism and capitalism that have played a part in American popular music. The social conditions of the performers illustrate multiple systems of discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, sex, sexual orientation, social class and more. We interrogate intersections of identities and discriminatory social structures. As consumers of music, we can play a role in lessening oppression through the support of music and musicians created by marginalized groups. Music is all around us – we may hear it at home, while in a car, at the grocery store, at the dentist’s office, live in concerts, in tv and movie soundtracks and so many other places. But too often, what we don’t do is talk about the startling inequities experienced by Black, Indigenous and/or People of Color working in the popular music industry.
Degree Fit
Program Preparation
This program is designed for non-music and music majors, and there is no requirement to have prior experience playing music. This program invites learners to a change of consciousness. Explore the role cultural and historical forces, racism and capitalism that have played a part in American popular music.
Degree Roadmap
This program is centered on a survey of the development of all forms of popular music, through the social and political movements of the time. Topics will include the blues, glam, metal, country, punk, progressive, indie, and alternative styles, the sound of Philadelphia, disco, reggae, ska, new wave, music video, hip hop, rap, grunge, country music, jazz, world music, the pressures of stardom and music piracy. Learners will examine the relationships between popular music and the larger cultural, political, and economic formations.
Guided Pathways
Contact: Dr. Vicki Purslow – 541.552.6538 – purslowv@sou.edu
Associate Degree Paths
Music AAOT, RCC – Music AA, PCC – Music AA, Lane CC – Music AS, UCC
Similar Majors
Similar Minors & Certificates
Similar Micro-Credentials
Sample Graduate Degrees
MA, Popular Music Pedagogy, UM – MM, Commercial Music, CSLA – MA, Popular Music & Culture, WU
Credit for Prior Learning – Learn More
Career Opportunities & Outlook
Contact the Music Program
SOU Music Program
1250 Siskiyou Blvd.
Ashland, OR 97520
541.552.6101
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