Using Music and Lyrics to Teach Political Theory

Abstract

Since the fall semester of 2008, I have used music to teach political theory to undergraduate students. I use song lyrics to make analogies to concepts used by political theorists, and I use the music to create associations that improve students' memory of those concepts. Unlike other teachers who incorporate music into their classes by linking lyrics to concepts, I choose songs that refl ect important ideas of specifi c theorists through multiple allusions to their ideas. The songs I choose serve four objectives: introducing concepts that may be diffi cult for students to appreciate, illustrating the application of those concepts, reinforcing students' memory through issue-spotting songs, and presenting biographical information about the theorist that they are reading. I illustrate how I achieve these objectives through songs drawn from artists including Billy Joel, Ace of Base, and Supertramp, and musicals including West Side Story and Camelot .

Effect of the use of music on definitional knowledge in an introductory statistics course: Evidence from a Pareto chart activity

“…We argue that the distinctive music features, such as hook and chorus, increase learning outcomes. Similarly, several qualitative studies suggest that music-based learning is beneficial in undergraduate education (Zagerman, 2018;Rozinski, 2015). The psychology literature demonstrates that music has positive short-term effects on thought processes and spatialtemporal reasoning in college students (Sarnthein et al, 1997;Rauscher et al, 1995).…”

“…Music-based experiential learning is increasing in undergraduate education, including economics (Al-Bahrani et al, 2017;Hall et al, 2008;Knudsen & Duncan, 2018;Krasnozhon, 2013), marketing (Weinrauch, 2005), political science (Rozinski, 2015;Soper, 2010), and statistics (Zagerman, 2018). Recent findings in cognitive neuroscience show that music is distributed through the brain, contrary to the previous notion that the right hemisphere processes art and music, with language and mathematics in the left (Levitin & Tirovolas, 2009).…”

“…Pedagogical research has shown that in-class discussion, game-based learning, semistructured classroom activity, and other forms of experiential learning lead to an increase in student learning, engagement, and satisfaction as compared to lecture format (Brau et al, 2019;Dickie, 2006;Hammer, 2000). Moreover, several qualitative studies suggest that music-based learning is beneficial in undergraduate education (Al-Bahrani et al, 2017;Krasnozhon, 2013;Rozinski, 2015;Zagerman, 2018). Does the use of music in experiential classrooms increase learning outcomes?…”

“…Several studies show that the organization of Mozart's music and his above-average use of the melodic line improve cerebral cortex performance (Thompson et al, 2001). 2 Qualitative research suggests that music in undergraduate education improves student outcomes, such as classroom engagement, retention, and test scores (Knudsen & Duncan, 2018;Rozinski, 2015;Soper, 2010;Weinrauch, 2005). However, empirical studies provide mixed evidence about the effect of experiential learning on student outcomes.…”

Queering Moments in Classrooms: An Arts-Based Research Project Using Songs to Teach

“…While there exists literature on the use of songs to teach subjects such as historical social justice events and movements (Elterman 1983;Isaacson Ritt, 1974;Singer, 1997;); economics (Krasnozhon, 2013;Tinari and Khandke;; geography (Smiley and Post, 2014); political theory (Rozinski, 2015); and language acquisition (Jolly, 1975;Tumanov and Tennant, 2000;and Willis and Mason, 1994), there is little literature focused on the use of songs as a way to teach about homophobia, transphobia, cisheteronormativity, and gender and sexual diversity. One exception is Sapon-Shevin's (1998) article, "Using Songs to Teach Against Homophobia."…”