Course Description
This project-based course investigates ways in which jazz music intersects with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. Students will explore existing jazz music, as well as principles and practices of individual and group development that have been characteristic of the art form from the early 20th century to the present. The 17 Goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 global targets adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The SDGs provide a comprehensive framework for international cooperation and action to create a more sustainable and equitable world. They address a wide range of social, economic, and environmental challenges with the aim of promoting prosperity, well-being and environmental sustainability worldwide. The SDGs address concerns such as clean water and sanitation, underwater life, affordable and clean energy, sustainable cities and communities, climate change, poverty and hunger, health and education, gender equality and global partnerships. Jazz, as an art that balances improvisation, discipline, individual expression, technical skill, shifting leadership and focus, will be examined as a microcosm and laboratory of societal cooperation in relation to the SDGs. Units of the course will be sequenced to focus on how specific artists and communities of musicians across time and place have addressed or intersected each goal through text, aesthetics, creative process and public interaction. Some class assignments will connect with the 17 Stations installation project (Pilot exhibition scheduled in 4th Space, April 15-16) and will provide students the opportunity to be involved in real research-creation.
The course is open to music majors and non-music majors.
- Teacher: BARON TYMAS