First-Year Seminar (104-6-1)
Topic
Life, Love, and Sex on the Dancefloor: Berlin Danc
Instructors
Domenic Joseph DeSocio
Meeting Info
Kresge 3354 German Seminar Rm.: Mon, Wed, Fri 10:00AM - 10:50AM
Overview of class
This course offers a study of Berlin, Germany's world-famous role as a major center of contemporary dance music (techno, house, disco) and nightclub culture. Beginning in the 1990s with the end of the Cold War and the reunification of Berlin, the city quickly became home to cutting-edge DJs, party planners, club owners, and dancers, including notorious clubs like Tresor and Berghain. Coming together, they pioneered new ways to express oneself and connect with one another through music and dance.
This course examines many aspects of this culture, from the unique genres of music and how DJs create music to the technology of sound, the experience of dancing and of clubs as spaces, and the politics of belonging, representation, and identity on the dancefloor, in particular its complicated exchanges with Black communities and music in Chicago and Detroit, the birthplaces of this music. We also will consider the social, cultural, and political implications of nightlife and dance music as a site of community-building, friendship, and love within contemporary Western society, especially for queer communities.
As our course is a First-Year Seminar, we will discuss various aspects of college academic life. Moreover, our writing assignments will be the core of this course's exploration of dance music and culture. Through our writing, we will learn how to interpret what others have said and made and how to make knowledge ourselves. Each week, we will practice and discuss a specific component of the writing process, from asking good questions to finding sources, synthesizing what others' have said, and constructing arguments. We will hone our skills in crafting college-level writing through summative, comparative, analytic, and research writing assignments as well as practices of revision and editing.
There will also be an experiential component to the course involving workshops with DJs in which you will engage in a hands-on approach to topics such as the work of DJing and making music and the politics and logistics of dance.
Learning Objectives
Understand and practice various forms of analysis and criticism with scholarship and cultural objects across genres, materials, and media.
Learn to summarize, synthesize, analyze, and present complex information effectively and critically for multiple purposes and through diverse lenses and methodologies.
Develop your own writerly voice to join intellectual discussions and scholarly communities through original insights and argumentation.
Pose effective research questions to explain, describe, and/or explore a puzzle or problem.
Find reputable evidence to construct a convincing argument and conduct college-level scholarly research.
Develop a personalized practice of writing as a process involving planning, drafting, composing, and revising texts.
Exercise skills and habits to succeed in a discussion-based university seminar course.
Learn about the history and culture of dance music in the United States and Germany.
Evaluation Method
Attendance
Class participation
Group work
Homework
Paper, final
Papers
Presentations
Readings
Writing assignments
Class Materials (Required)
All materials will be available on Canvas. No purchases necessary.
Class Attributes
WCAS First-Year Seminar
Enrollment Requirements
Enrollment Requirements: Reserved for First Year & Sophomore only