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Course on life and times of Bob Marley offered at NYU
(January 10, 2013)Course on life and times of Bob Marley offered at NYU
Students explore the legacy of iconic Jamaican musician whose work continues to shape the 21st century.
NEW YORK, United States, Thursday January 10, 2013 – “Every little thing’s gonna be all right” for students at New York University (NYU) who want to learn more about reggae icon Bob Marley and his enduring influence on post-colonial music.
The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, a division of the Tisch School of Arts at NYU recently embarked on an intensive three-week winter programme dedicated to the life and times of the Jamaican legend whose work made a lasting impression on the 20th century and continues to shape the 21st.
Instructor Vivien Goldman, known as the “punk professor” for her unconventional courses, is teaching the class “Topics in Recorded Music: Bob Marley and Post-Colonial Music.”
The course covers Marley’s music, as well as Jamaican history and Rastafarianism, according to Goldman, a British citizen, author and former journalist.
In the course description, it was noted that Marley is often called a “prophet,” and that the biracial musician and activist “smashed restrictions of race and class imposed on his generation by the colonial system.”
The class seeks to explore the question: “How did Marley, an effectively fatherless child from a tiny village, achieve his rise to global authority and influence, musically, socio-politically, spiritually, personally and in terms of the industry?”
Also coming under the microscope is Jamaica’s history and its connection with Britain; Marley’s evolution as a writer and musician and his creative partnerships; his struggle to control the business of his music, and his commitment to pan-Africanism and Rastafarianism as a way of life.
Goldman, an adjunct professor at the Clive Davis Institute for the past seven years, knew Marley personally from 1975 until his death from cancer at the age of 36 in 1981, and did promotions and public relations for the fast rising star before writing two books about him.
The two-credit, twice-weekly class features special guests and screenings and is open to anyone with a high school diploma, including non-NYU students.
The class got underway this week and will continue on Tuesdays and Thursdays through January 26.