20th-Century Women Songwriters

Department - LART
Offered - Fall
Course number - LHIS-P320

This course is a comprehensive study of influential female songwriters of the 20th century and their relationships with their cowriters and producers. Students explore the work of Dorothy Fields, Jerome Kern, Laura Nyro, David Geffen, Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Joni Mitchell, David Crosby, Diane Warren, Jack White, and others, and examine these songwriters' inspirations, as well as their impact on subsequent writers. Students also study the interaction of these songwriters with other contemporary artists and thinkers, including other musicians, writers, and visual artists. Students analyze the influence of George and Ira Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, and doo wop on the songwriters' work, as well as the songwriters' own personal and political lives. In addition, students analyze the elements that brought these exemplary songwriters to the top of the music industry at a very competitive time and investigate the combination of factors that led to success.

Credits: 3
Course Chair: Darla Hanley
Prerequisites: LENG-111
Required of: None
Electable by: All