Southern Utah University

Course Syllabus

Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Summer Semester 2026

Popular Music in America (Face-to-Face)

MUSC 1020-01

Course: MUSC 1020-01
Credits: 3
Term: Summer Semester 2026
Department: MUSC
CRN: 20669

Course Description

This course will explore the rich and diverse genres of popular music in America from their origins to their development in the 20th century. (Fall, Spring) [Graded (Standard Letter)] Registration Restriction(s): Intensive English Program majors may not enroll General Education Category: Fine Arts

Required Texts

REQUIRED TEXT: There is no required text for this course. The class is based on a textbook, but it will not be necessary for assignments.
RECOMMENDED TEXT: American Popular Music: From Minstrelsy to MP3. Larry Starr and Christopher Waterman, 4th/5th Edition.
REQUIRED APP/PROGRAM: Spotify, Apple Music, or some other music streaming application.
CANVAS: Canvas is the main method for submitting assignments, quizzes, and exams in this course, and a source of inter-class communication. Check Canvas often, and have notifications enabled so you do not miss announcements. (THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT IN THE SUMMER.)

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the General Education Arts requirement, students will
be able to:
  • Understand: Explain the creative artistic process as an iterative and recursive practice culminating in an expression of human experience and emotion through a medium;
  • Appreciate: Apply artistic concepts and ideas drawn from traditions of artistic creation and theory to better engage with, analyze and understand a creative work;
  • Connect: Examine connections between art and society and articulate how the arts are a historical and cultural phenomenon.

Assessments Table

Concert Reports | #1, 2
Song Analyses | #1, 2, 3
Group Project Final | #1, 2, 3
Listening Quizzes | #1, 2
Exams | #1, 2, 3

Course Requirements

Assignment Outline

Concert Reports (20%)
Song Analyses (20%)
Group Project Final (20%)
Listening Quizzes (10%)
Exams (30%)

Grade Scheme

The following grading standards will be used in this class:
GradeRangeA | 100 % to 94.0%
A- | < 94.0 % to 90.0%
B+ | < 90.0 % to 87.0%
B | < 87.0 % to 84.0%
B- | < 84.0 % to 80.0%
C+ | < 80.0 % to 77.0%
C | < 77.0 % to 74.0%
C- | < 74.0 % to 70.0%
D+ | < 70.0 % to 67.0%
D | < 67.0 % to 64.0%
D- | < 64.0 % to 61.0%
F | < 61.0 % to 0.0%
 
Concert Reports: 
  • Students will attend or view online two live (or pre-recorded) concerts. They will then write a 500 page paper, font size 12, with the works cited being on the last page. The works cited page does not count toward the word limit, but should include any resources used, as well as the link/website viewed and date viewed.
Song Analyses: 
  • Students will write a 1-page+ paper on a song of their choice. Students are expected to submit papers having analyzed songs using the terminology found in the Elements of Music handout. Texture and Form analyses may be submitted in bullet format, rather than paragraph format. Each analysis should be a page long or longer and include important and creative details.
Group Project Final (Artist Report PowerPoint): 
  • You will be randomly assigned partners. Each member will be graded on their individual work, complete 15 minute PowerPoint presentation (or Google slides), and a peer review grade for and from their partner.
  • Your group will pick two artists to present on.
  • The presentation will include info, images, audio links (optional), and visual links (youtube), as well as works cited page.
  • Each student will be responsible for: 1 biography slide, 2 song analysis slides on one song each (using Elements of Music vocab), 1 comparison slide which discusses similarities and differences between your two artists, and 1 works cited slide. The Song Analysis slides can be more brief than your paper was for the Song Analysis assignment and the works cited slide info should be compiled into 1 final works cited slide.
  • Questions to be answered: 
    • 1. Who is the artist or group, and why are they worthy of exploration? 
    • 2. What is the artist's necessary background information? OR What is the band's origin? 
    • 3. Who are the person/group's major influences? 
    • 4. What are their major works? 
    • 5. What styles/themes do they explore? 
    • 6. What musical elements do they incorporate? 
    • 7. How has their music changed over the years? 
    • 8. Who have they influenced? 
    • 9. Based on all you have read, what do you believe to be the artist or group's major contribution to the American/World music scene?
  • *Be sure you use reliable academic sources and cite them. As a group, you can choose how to assign the topics - which may be individually, or as a group.
  • *Be sure to time your presentation to make sure it is 14-15 mintues. Do not go over the time limit! 
Listening Quizzes: 
  • These will occur at the beginning of some classes. Songs will be named, but you will be asked to identify certain characteristics of the songs - way fun!
Exams: 
  • There will be four exams, with the final being exam #4. Tests will be given in class. 

Course Outline

Schedule

5/11  | Syllabus | Chapter 1: Themes and Streams |
5/12  | Chapter 1 part 2 |
5/13  | Ch. 2: Pop Music in the 19th Century |
5/14  | Ch. 2 part 2 | Ch. 3: Social Dance & Jazz |
5/15  | Ch. 3 part 2 |
5/18  | Ch. 4: Tin Pan Alley |
5/19  | Ch. 4 part 2 |
5/20  | Review |
5/21  | Exam 1 |
5/22  | Ch. 5: Blues | Concert Report 1 Due |
5/25  | MEMORIAL DAY | NO CLASS |
5/26  | Ch. 5 part 2 | Ch. 6: Swing
5/27  | Meet With Partners |
5/28  | Meet With Partners |
5/29  | NO CLASS | Song Analysis Due | 
6/1    | Ch. 6 part 2 | Ch. 7: Postwar | 
6/2    | Ch. 7 part 2 |
6/3    | Ch. 8: 1950s (Rock 'N' Roll) |
6/4    | Review |
6/5    | Exam 2 |
6/8    | Ch. 9: 1960's (British Invasion/USA Pop) |
6/9    | Ch. 9 part 2 | Ch. 10: 1960's (Country/Folk/Rock) |
6/10  | Ch. 10 part 2 | Ch. 11: 1970's (Rock/Disco/Pop) |
6/11  | Ch. 11 part 2 | Ch. 12: 1970's (Punk/Funk/Rap) |
6/12  | Ch. 12 part 2 | Concert Report 2 Due |
6/15  | JUNETEENTH OBSERVED | NO CLASS |
6/16  | Review |
6/17  | Exam 3 |
6/18  | Ch. 13: 1980's (MTV/Mainstream) |
6/19  | Ch. 13 part 2 | Ch. 14: 1980's/1990's (Hip-Hop Alt.) |
6/22  | Ch. 14 part 2 |
6/23  | Ch. 15: 2000's (Internet) |
6/24  | Group Presentation Day
6/25  | Review |
6/26  | Final /Exam 4 |
 

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

Late Policy: Late work will be accepted but on a case-by-case basis. ie a day or two late is acceptable, and the grade will be reduced, but turning in an assignment 2 weeks late will not be accepted. Just communicate with the professor when you need help.
Make-Up Work/Extra Credit: Students will be allowed to do an extra concert report or two in order to make up for lost points.

Attendance Policy

Attendance: Attendance is required. If you are ill, please communicate with the professor and/or provide a doctor's note.  If there is a death in the family, please communicate with the professor about how to proceed with make-up work. 4 absences is grounds for being withdrawn from a class. Communicate with the teacher beforehand or on the day of class, and try to get the absence excused.

Canvas Information

Financial Security Statement

Finances are an integral part of maintaining your wellbeing. If you are struggling financially or wish to know more about budgeting, please visit the Financial Wellness Center in room 201C in the Sharwan Smith Center, contact Ashleigh Zimmerman at (435) 865-8436, or text the Financial Wellness line at 435-708-1952.  

AI Policy

In this course, students are allowed to use AI tools such as ChatGPT and Grammarly in moderation. However, students are not permitted to submit an annotation, reflection, essay, or other non-exam activity that is entirely generated by means of any AI tool (even if it isn’t listed here). Note that if you submit AI-generated information which is incorrect, misleading, or hallucinated in any assignment, you are taking responsibility for it. Exams are explicitly and totally excluded from the use of AI tools; use of AI on exams will result in a 0.

Students who use AI tools to generate or alter any portion of an assignment or activity—including the use of Grammarly—must credit the tool in the Works Cited; clearly label with Word’s highlight tool which part(s) of the submission were generated by the AI tool; and in an appendix at the paper’s conclusion, briefly explain why an AI tool and the resulting output were used on the item. The explanation of how the AI was used does not count towards the assignment’s word count. Failure to provide this explanation, submitting a vague or AI-written statement, and/or not highlighting the exact portions of the paper that were altered with AI will be treated as plagiarism due to the lack of proper citation.

Using AI incorrectly is cheating & will result in penalties up to and including disciplinary measures through the Dean of Students Office.

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.