Schedule, syllabus and examination date

Course content

How does gender affect the way we relate to music?

A wide range of musical genres, intellectual traditions and research methods will be explored to address this question in the course.

We will look at the different ways that ideas of gender are expressed and possibly reinforced in musical communities. We will also explore instances where music participants have rebelled against, or at least challenged such norms and practices.

The course will introduce students to the exciting range of actors that they can critically engage with: from singers and composers of the 18th century, studio music of the 60s, to famous contemporary boy bands; from students in the school music classroom, to techno-biopolitics and the marketing of sexuality in classical and pop music.

In engaging with this rich, complex, and generative field of sources and ideas, this course aims to equip students with a broad conceptual and methodological vocabulary to make sense of the multiple issues at stake in music and gender, and to articulate these effectively.

Learning outcome

Critically analyse relationships between gender and music in practice, drawing upon:

  • A range of musical genres and practices.
  • Examples from academic literature, primary sources, and students’ own experiences.

Describe and evaluate the broad history and development of gender in music practice and theory, including:

  • How these histories manifest in past and present musical practices.
  • ?The challenges to, and subversion of gender norms by past and current music participants.

Outline and participate in current debates, explain different theoretical and academic positions, concepts, and methodologies relevant to music and gender research.

Admission to the course

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.

This course is for students admitted to Musicology (master) (being phased out) and Gender Studies (master). Students enrolled in other Master`s Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.

Overlapping courses