All,



I tried to do a cool blog post about the materials I have found helpful in teaching about "power," but 'm not quite as clever as Pete and my attempt was a miserable failure. I'm pretty good at email, though, so here are some links to and attachments of readings that have been somewhat successful as aides in teaching the concept of "hegemony" to AMS 100 students.



Here is a link to a definition/introduction to the term from Cultural Theory: Key Concepts on Google Books, that I have students read first:



http://books.google.com/books?id=nyzORR-xYMIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Hegemony+Cultural+Theory:+Key+Concepts&source=gbs_similarbooks_s&cad=1#v=onepage&q=Hegemony&f=false



After reading that breif passage, I have them read from Gramsci's essay "Hegemony, Intellectuals, and the State", hoping that if thye undrstood that more approachable definition, that they might be able to pick out and understand some important concepts from the original. Here's a Google Books link to the piece:



http://books.google.com/books?id=LZ7mHdAVajYC&pg=PA210&dq=hegemony+intellectuals+and+the+state&hl=en&ei=F4GpS5fHOpv4MdGbzM4B&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=hegemony%20intellectuals%20and%20the%20state&f=false



Then I use the early days of rock and roll to talk about the way the "dominant/leading cultural group" (represented by big record labels and radio stations with their ties to big business and somewhat weaker ties to institutions like the governmnet and the church, as well as the general populous of middle-class adults, all of whose approval they relied upon to some degree) struggles and compromises with potentially threatening "suboridinate cultural groups" (here, musicians and consumers--often young people, and frequently from the working class and racial margins--with their heavily rhythmic, occasionally sexual music) in order to retain their position of power and cultural leadership.



I have attached a chapter form David Szatmary's book Rockin' in Time: A Social History of Rock and Roll that covers that period. I assigne this to students to give them the historical context and some background about the artists and the music business so they can exploreand discuss how the hegemony framework might be applicable to this situation.



Along with this information, I of course have them listen to music from some of the more prominent artists from the time including the working-class, black pioneers; the working class, southern, white musicians that grew up around the raw ingredients of rock and roll (black blues and gospel, as well as country music); and some middle-class, white pretenders hired by record copanies to cash-in on the new rock and roll sound.



Little Richard--Tutti Frutti, Good Golly Miss Molly



Chuck Berry--Maybellene, Johnny B. Goode



Pat Boone--Tutti Frutti, Ain't That a Shame



Elvis--That's All Right Mamma, Hound Dog, It's Now or Never



Jerry Lee Lewis--Whole Lot of Shaking Goin' On, Great Balls of Fire



Richie Valens-- La Bamba



(I provide a link to last.fm on my Blackboard site, but I don't think that will work for you guys, because you aren't in my class. Hopefully you've heard some of these songs.)



Now, if you read through all that, thanks. If not, don't sweat it too much; I think I get to explain some of my methods during our meeting tomorrow.



Later,



Will