Feminist Theory and Electronic Music

Course Description

Summary

In the 1960s, a number of female-identified electronic music composers directly addressed the politics of the time through their choices in composition and technology, querying themes of embodiment, agency, power and materiality. This class will engage close listening and reading of works by Oliveros, Williams, Amacher, Radigue, Oram, Nova, and Spiegel, to discover how second-wave feminism influenced their music. As a main project, students will choose a female-identified electronic music composer active today (ie. Maja S.K. Ratkje, Las Sucias, On Structure) and research how later feminism, as well as intersectionalism, is articulated in their work, finally presenting their findings through either performance or written work.