This course aims to engage and involve learners in the big events of the decades. We will start with a short introduction of history and political expression in music and then we will begin in the 1960's and move forward through an exploration of the music of the time periods pulling out particular genres, artists and albums of political expression.

The course will begin with a quick overview of music as a form of political expression, looking far back into history and events such as the American Revoluntionary war. Very quickly though, we will move into the more modern decades of expression beginning with an introduction to Woody Guthrie, a pioneer of the American musical protest movement.

Turning to the decades of the 1960s and 70s - the era of civil rights, environmental rights, war and peace. Musicians such as the Beatles, Bob Dylan, John Lennon and the Sex Pistols will be analyzed. An understanding of the lyrics in the context of the historical events will be studied by the class. Further, learners will engage in analytical thinking concerning how the music evolved and its influence on its listeners and the greater world events. Looking to the 80s and 90s - the Cold War, the AIDS epidemic, the 'War on Drugs etc, the 80s may have seemed self serving but the music was still full of political expression. From Rock the Vote and MTVs involvement in organizing young people around causes to the emergence of hip hop and rap to bands such as the Police who explored the fears of a generation dealing with the silent threat of the Cold War, learners will seek to understand how artists were able to express their fears as well as the fears of a generation through music. With the cold war behind us and the era of protest music forgotten, it was the Iraq war which re-sparked musical artists to consider politics in music. From the Black Eyed Peas's 'Where is the Love' to Green Day's 'American Idiot' - from the Dixie Chicks to Pink, we will explore not only the particular music and the events which preceded the artistic expression, but the cross genre experience and how the various artist's followers influenced their musical expression. We will explore how political expression has changed over the years and will consider current day events and how artists have found a voice in the complex politcal era in which we are living. Exploring various genres from country to pop to international voices, learners will now listen and try to decipher for themselves whether artists of the day are political in nature and how the expression of their feelings and ideals about the world around them has changed from earlier artists of decades gone by. Finally, learners will share their final projects, having the opportunity to explore their own ability to express political fears, hopes and concerns through music.