Overview
HUMN 285 and HUMN 286 survey the history of North American popular music from the ragtime era to the end of the 1960s. This course concentrates on the period between the two world wars and takes the story of popular music up to the swing era of the late 1930s. HUMN 285 examines the evolution of musical styles and places such musical forms as blues, jazz, and hillbilly music in their social contexts.
Evaluation
To receive credit for HUMN 285, you must achieve a course composite grade of at least D (50 percent) and a grade of at least 50 percent on the final examination. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:
| Activity | Weight |
| Exercise | 20% |
| Essay | 30% |
| Final Exam | 50% |
| Total | 100% |
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Physical course materials
The following course materials are included in a course package that will be shipped to your home prior to your course’s start date:
Collier, James Lincoln. 1978. The Making of Jazz: A Comprehensive History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Malone, Bill C. 3rd ed., 2010. Country Music U.S.A. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Oakley, Giles. 1978. The Devil's Music: A History of the Blues. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Oliver, Paul. 1972. The Story of the Blues. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin.
Porterfield, Nolan. 1979. Jimmie Rodgers: The Life and Times of America's Blue Yodeler. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
Shapiro, Nat, and Nat Hentoff, eds. [1955] 1966. Hear Me Talkin' to Ya. Reprint. NY: Dover.
Other Materials
The course materials include audiotape lectures and a student manual. A radio program, The Long Weekend, is broadcast on CKUA Radio throughout Alberta.