Ohio Northern University will offer a history course that is hard to beat, or at least has a beat, during fall semester. “History of Rock ‘N’ Roll in the 1960s” will explore history through the lens of rock music.
The course will explore how society and rock music in the 1960s influenced each other, how rock ‘n’ roll music is a product of those times, and how rock music from that period continues to resonate in current music.
The class is an inter-disciplinary endeavor taught by Raymond Schuck, assistant professor of history; Dr. Rebecca Casey, associate professor of music; and William Mancuso, assistant professor of art.
The class meets each Monday from Aug. 22 through Dec. 12. from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Dicke Hall 230. Beyond ONU students, the class is open to community members.
Community members who are not ONU students can attend class sessions for this course without enrolling, and a schedule of topics will be available so non-ONU students can select which discussions to attend.
Community members who wish to enroll have options to take the course as a senior citizen or auditor, and information on those options is available through the registrar’s office.
The course covers a range of musical styles and social advances throughout the 1960s to explore and explain the roots of rock music as well as recent American culture. Among musical offerings that class members will discuss are soul music, the “British invasion,” psychedelic music, folk music, as well as country and western. Among cultural topics that will be addressed are the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement.
An interesting feature of the course is its emphasis on how the music and societal changes of the 1960s influenced each other.
“This course is designed to better understand how various popular musical styles developed in the 1960s and how that development expressed the cultural and social changes in America,” Schuck said.
“A wide variety of 1960s popular music, not all of which is classified as ‘rock music,’ will be explored to understand how rock ‘n’ roll music developed, was influenced by and contributed to other genres of music and American cultural and social history of the period.
"We’ll also look at how the music industry directed the selection and development of the music and, thereby, influenced a substantial portion of the cultural and social history of the period.”
The study of music is an appropriate lens to view history of a particular period, especially the 1960s, when the music and events of that period were so intertwined.
“Music is an important part of most, if not all, cultures. It can range from forms of simple communication to forms of large-scale celebration,” Schuck said.
“Individually and collectively, it can inspire, strengthen, sadden and provide a host of other attitudes and emotions that serve to define both the music and the society in which it is produced.
"From the simple tapping of fingers on a table to the melodious raucous cries of military charges, music infects the human spirit and psyche in a way many other forms of external sensory stimuli cannot. It is used to show how lifestyles and events of specific eras were both reflected in the music and influenced by the music.”
From the course, students should gain a grasp of the relationship between culture and specific time periods, specifically an understanding of how various popular musical and art styles developed in the 1960s and how that development expressed the cultural and social changes in America.
The class will include a concert on Oct. 24 at 8 p.m. in Presser Hall with the headliner group “Another Round” and will include a mix of ONU students and others.
