2008 Woodie Awards
Oh the course offerings, they are a changin'
Students enjoy world's first ever J-term class devoted solely to Bob Dylan
Mike Murali
Issue date: 1/24/07 Section: Features
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On May 24, 1941, Robert Zimmerman was born to a Jewish family in Duluth, Minnesota. By the time he turned 18, the aspiring artist changed his name to Bob Dylan - a name that would become legendary in the world of music.
This J-term, a slew of students enrolled in a class offered by the Music Department entitled "Bob Dylan's America." Taught by Assistant Professor of Music Larry Hamberlin, this class is the first course in the United States to be taught exclusively on Dylan. It covers the cultural influence of the artist and his impact on several social movements, in particular those of the 60's.
"A few years ago, when I was teaching a survey of rock music, I started thinking about Dylan's place in music history, and I realized that he is probably the most influential figure in American musical history," said Hamberlin of the idea for the class. "I can't name any other individual who so fundamentally changed our ideas of what a popular song can be and what it can say."
From these initial thoughts, he came up with the idea for the class and spent last Fall listening to Dylan's music and conducting extensive research on him.
"Before Dylan, pop songs are somewhat universalized, in that song lyrics tend to be about generalized experiences that just about everyone can identify with. After Dylan, people expect a good song to convey a personal message and bear the mark of the songwriter's personality, even to the extent that the lyrics might be obscure and hard to understand."
The class not only deals with Dylan, but also with the politics of his time, including the Civil Rights Movement, nuclear disarmament and student antiwar movements, as well as the literature and music which influenced him, such as work by musicians Hank Williams, Little Richard and Allen Ginsberg. Chris Hassig '09 said of the class, "We've talked about his beat influences, mostly Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. We've gotten a sense of the state of music when Dylan arrived, his personal journey to prominence, his simple but brilliant combination of the folk/blues music tradition and the social commentary and poetry of the beats and his reluctant roll as a figurehead of the civil rights/ anti-war/ early 60's protest movement."
This J-term, a slew of students enrolled in a class offered by the Music Department entitled "Bob Dylan's America." Taught by Assistant Professor of Music Larry Hamberlin, this class is the first course in the United States to be taught exclusively on Dylan. It covers the cultural influence of the artist and his impact on several social movements, in particular those of the 60's.
"A few years ago, when I was teaching a survey of rock music, I started thinking about Dylan's place in music history, and I realized that he is probably the most influential figure in American musical history," said Hamberlin of the idea for the class. "I can't name any other individual who so fundamentally changed our ideas of what a popular song can be and what it can say."
From these initial thoughts, he came up with the idea for the class and spent last Fall listening to Dylan's music and conducting extensive research on him.
"Before Dylan, pop songs are somewhat universalized, in that song lyrics tend to be about generalized experiences that just about everyone can identify with. After Dylan, people expect a good song to convey a personal message and bear the mark of the songwriter's personality, even to the extent that the lyrics might be obscure and hard to understand."
The class not only deals with Dylan, but also with the politics of his time, including the Civil Rights Movement, nuclear disarmament and student antiwar movements, as well as the literature and music which influenced him, such as work by musicians Hank Williams, Little Richard and Allen Ginsberg. Chris Hassig '09 said of the class, "We've talked about his beat influences, mostly Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. We've gotten a sense of the state of music when Dylan arrived, his personal journey to prominence, his simple but brilliant combination of the folk/blues music tradition and the social commentary and poetry of the beats and his reluctant roll as a figurehead of the civil rights/ anti-war/ early 60's protest movement."
Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 5
Howie Rossman
posted 1/24/07 @ 6:39 PM EST
Succintly stated. I concur, Bob Dylan's impact upon my generation was immense. We identified with the changing times, we recognized that the events had potential long lasting consequence. (Continued…)
Julia Thomas
posted 1/25/07 @ 1:10 AM EST
As a huge Bob Dylan fan, I am extremely happy to hear about the addition of this course to Middlebury's campus! There is, however, one inaccuracy within the article-- this is not actually the first exclusively Dylan class being instructed at the university level, at least one having been taught for three semesters, by my dad. (Continued…)
Julia T
Julia Thomas
posted 1/25/07 @ 1:12 AM EST
As a huge Bob Dylan fan, I am extremely happy to hear about the addition of this course to Middlebury's campus! There is, however, one inaccuracy within the article-- this is not actually the first exclusively Dylan class being instructed at the university level, at least one having been taught for three semesters, by my dad. (Continued…)
Matt Groneman
posted 1/25/07 @ 1:54 PM EST
I don't know what a J-term is, but I am working on developing an intersession course on Bob Dylan at Kansas State University. I would love it if someone could provide me with a syllabus from this class, or that by Dr. (Continued…)
Robert Kemp
posted 1/26/07 @ 9:40 AM EST
Dr. Richard Abrams in the English department at the University of Southern Maine has been teaching an upper level seminar on Bob Dylan for some years. (Continued…)
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