SOC 109 - Sociology of Go-Go

Credits: (3)
This course provides an introduction to and sociological analysis of Go-Go music and culture. Emerging in the 1970s and indigenous to the DMV (that is, the greater DC, MD, and VA region), Go-Go blends various musical genres-funk, jazz, blues, gospel, and hip hop chief among them-with performative practices and traditions such as audience participation, ritualized dance, and call and response. Go-Go has evolved into much more than popular dance music–it has spawned a thriving Afrocentric community, subculture, and political movement. The key people, places, and sociohistorical conditions giving rise to Go-Go are explored and analyzed.