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Unit outline_

MUSC2638: Jazz Riots and Revolutions

Semester 2, 2026 [Normal day] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

This course examines the powerful link between jazz and moments of social revolution in the United States. It illuminates the central role jazz musicians played in changing hearts, minds and social structures during four distinct historic periods: the Harlem Renaissance, the post-War 1940s, the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and the Black Nationalist movement of the 1960s. Its central focus is on how music can both ride and resist the political energies that charge particular historic moments.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit Analysis, History and Cultural Studies
Credit points 6
Prerequisites
? 
None
Corequisites
? 
None
Prohibitions
? 
None
Assumed knowledge
? 

None

Available to study abroad and exchange students

Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator Hilary Geddes, hilary.geddes@sydney.edu.au
The census date for this unit availability is 31 August 2026
Type Description Weight Due Length Use of AI
Written work Final Research Essay
Essay
35% Formal exam period
Due date: 20 Nov 2026 at 23:59
Unsecured assessment AI allowed
Outcomes assessed: LO1 LO2 LO3
Out-of-class quiz Early Feedback Task Early Feedback Task Listening Quiz
Online quiz
5% Week 02
Due date: 14 Aug 2026 at 23:59
5 questions AI allowed
Outcomes assessed: LO2
Written work Annotated Bibliography
Written task
30% Week 06
Due date: 08 Sep 2026 at 09:00
Unsecured assessment AI allowed
Outcomes assessed: LO1 LO2 LO3
Interactive oral Annotated Bibliography Oral Examination
Following a workshop in which we unpack how annotated bibliography entries build on each other, students will present the connections between the texts they have selected for their annotated bibliographies to their tutorial groups.
5% Week 07 2 minutes AI prohibited
Outcomes assessed: LO1
Written work Research Essay Introduction
Written task
20% Week 11
Due date: 20 Oct 2026 at 09:00
Unsecured assessment AI allowed
Outcomes assessed: LO1 LO2 LO3
Interactive oral Research Question Oral Exam
Open discussion about the state of play and gap you have identified for your research paper. Assessed in your scheduled tutorial.
5% Week 12 5 minutes AI prohibited
Outcomes assessed: LO1 LO2 LO3
early feedback task = early feedback task ?

Early feedback task

This unit includes an early feedback task, designed to give you feedback prior to the census date for this unit. Details are provided in the site and your result will be recorded in your Marks page. It is important that you actively engage with this task so that the University can support you to be successful in this unit.

Assessment summary

  • Early Feedback Task Listening Quiz:听In this listening quiz, you will be introduced to some of the artists (and artistry) we will explore in this course. Each question contains an audio excerpt. After you listen to a question's audio excerpt, you will be asked a simple question about what you heard in the recording. There is no pre-requisite knowledge required to pass this quiz, but it is unlikely you will be able to pass it without listening to the audio excerpts carefully and in full.听
  • Annotated bibliography:听You will trace claims about a particular jazz artist or jazz work through a maximum of five and a minimum of three scholarly sources. Your aim is to demonstrate how authors have nuanced or debunked the opinions of their predecessors in relation to the artist/work that you choose. Pay particular attention to the argument each author uses and the sort of evidence they select. This will help you distinguish when authors echo each other and when they provide new insights. The 3-5 texts in your annotated bibliography must build on each other. While it is not necessary that the most recent text cites the initial text, a citation chain must exist connecting all of the texts that you present. Each entry must be preceded by a full citation of the text, formatted in accordance with the Chicago Manual of Style. Students are required to BRING a hardcopy of their annotated bibliography to class in week 6.
  • Annotated bibliography oral examination:听Following a workshop in which we unpack how annotated bibliography entries build on each other, students will present the connections between the texts they have selected for their annotated bibliographies to the class.听This oral examination takes place in your tutorial. It is a secure AI assessment. All instructions for completing the task are delivered in person during the workshop. The only preparation required is to have submitted the Annotated Bibliography assignment. This examination is marked pass/fail with a pass = to 5% of your total mark for the course.
  • Research essay introduction:听You will write a research essay that grows naturally out of your annotated bibliography. In this essay, you will survey the history of claims made about a particular artist or work, identify a gap or paradox in relation to these claims and propose a way this gap might be filled. The first part of this assignment is the essay introduction, due both in class and online in week 11. For the introduction, you will need to complete the following:

Your first paragraph should read like an abstract, summarizing the state of play, research gap (or paradox), methodology and findings (so what?) of your proposed paper.

Example from class workshop:鈥

The history of jazz is often presented as a succession of musical geniuses and innovators, such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker or Miles Davis, who, it is believed, single-handedly invented new styles and genres [State of play]. In truth, there were numerous musicians, composers and arrangers, active in hundreds of bands, who all helped to shape and alter the face of jazz. In the 1940s, a generally overlooked group explored a direction in which they merged turn-of-the-century European idioms and jazz into an 鈥楢merican impressionism,鈥 as it were [Research gap (or paradox)]. In the bands of Boyd Raeburn, Claude Thornhill and Duke Ellington, young composer-arrangers experimented with a new orchestral language [Filling the gap]. Their work turned out to be seminal for the development of the later 鈥榗ool jazz鈥 genre [So what?] (Van de Leur 2001).

The rest of your introduction should expand on the first two areas:

1.) For example, in relation to the abstract above, our first set of paragraphs after this opening would discuss authors who present the history of jazz as a succession of musical geniuses [State of play].

2.) Our next section would point out how recent studies have complicated these readings by showing the influence of not only more minor figures but of economic and political pressures 鈥 taking a more socio-cultural approach to the study of the music (the Ramsey chapter read for week four comes to mind here)[Gap].听

  • Research questions oral examination:听This open discussion about your state of play, gap, and research question will provide an opportunity for you to demonstrate the depth of your understanding about your selected topic. Instructions for completing this oral examination will be delivered in class.听This oral examination takes place in your tutorial.听It is an AI secured assessment. The only preparation required for this assessment is to have submitted the Research Essay Introduction assignment.听This examination is marked pass fail with a pass mark = 5% of your total mark for the course.
  • Research essay:听The remainder of your essay will expand on the third and fourth research steps.

3.) In relation to this model, the next section would discuss how the economic pressures of the late 1940s pushed Raeburn, Thornhill and Ellington to develop a type of music that would reach out to new audiences (discussion of Baker and Floyd would be good here). Musical analysis would go into this section [Filling the gap].

4.) The final section would sum up this data and explain how it complicates the standard mythology of jazz - that Miles Davis was the 鈥渋nventor鈥 of cool jazz [So what?].

Hints: Identify what you see as a paradox or research gap FIRST. Then plan what you are going to do. Then draft your opening paragraph.

Assessment requirements

All assessment tasks must be attempted. Failure to submit or attend any assessment task will normally result in an Absent Fail (AF) or failure of the unit.

If a task is specified as a hurdle requirement, you must obtain a minimum mark of 50% in that task to pass the unit, even if your overall mark is higher.

Assessment criteria

The following rubrics are for the written work submitted in this unit. They are to be read row by row and left to right.听

Annotated Bibliography

Criterion Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4
(Re)presenting Scholarly Arguments (9) Select appropriate scholarly sources. (>0 to 3 points) Clearly explain the central argument of each source using your own words. (>3 to 6 points) Build on this by foregrounding each author's most important contribution through concise summaries, strong topic sentences and carefully chosen evidence (quotes or paraphrase). (>6 to 9 points)
Mapping Scholarly Conversations (12) Identify where scholars build upon, challenge or refine previous work. (>0 to 3 points) Build on this by making these relationships jump out for the reader by using effective sequencing and making the connections explicit and specific as you move from one source to another. (>3 to 6 points) Build on this by identifying the larger trajectory of the scholarly conversation you have identified: Discuss how the conversation is evolving or expanding. Who is getting involved and why? (>6 to 9 points) Build on this by constructing a compelling narrative of scholarly development that reveals not only how a scholarly conversation has evolved, but also where future scholarship鈥攊ncluding your own essay鈥攎ight contribute. (>9 to 12 points)
Use of Academic Conventions (9) Ensure that everything you have quoted from a text is placed in quotation marks and accompanied by a citation. (>0 to 3 points) Ensure that everything you have quoted or learned from a source text is cited in your annotated bibliography. (>3 to 6 points) Build on this by ensuring your citations are perfectly formatted in accordance with the Chicago Manual of Style. (>6 to 9 points)

Research Essay Introduction

Criterion Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4
State of Play (7)听 Identify the scholars most relevant to your research question. (>0 to 1.75 points) Build on this by explaining each scholar's most significant contribution in your own words. (>1.75 to 3.5 points) Build on this by connecting scholars together to reveal agreements, disagreements, or changing perspectives. (>3.5 to 5.25 points) Build on this by tracing how the scholarly conversation develops over time, foregrounding the most important turning points or shifts. (>5.25 to 7 points)
Gap (5.25) Identify something that remains unknown or underexplored in the scholarly conversation. (>0 to 1.75 points) Build on this by explaining why this unresolved issue matters. (>1.75 to 3.5 points) Build on this by positioning your project as the logical next step in advancing the conversation and explaining the significance of resolving this problem. (>3.5 to 5.25 points)
Proposed Analysis (5.25) Identify the evidence or material you will analyse. (>0 to 1.75 points) Build on this by explaining how you will analyse that evidence. (>1.75 to 3.5 points) Build on this by explaining why this evidence and analytical approach are especially well suited to addressing the problem you have identified. (>3.5 to 5.25 points)
Use of Academic Conventions (2.5) Ensure that everything you have quoted from a text is placed in quotation marks and accompanied by a citation. (>0 to .83 points) Ensure that everything you have quoted or learned from a source text is cited in your annotated bibliography. (>.83 to 1.6 points) Build on this by ensuring your citations are perfectly formatted in accordance with the Chicago Manual of Style. (>1.6 to 2.5 points)

Final Research Essay听

Criterion Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
Develop your project by responding to feedback (10.5) Edit your research essay introduction in light of the feedback you received for that assignment. (>0 to 3.5 points) Identify the principal issues raised in the feedback you received on your research essay introduction and reframe your introduction in accordance with this feedback. (>3.5 to 7 points) Build on this by ensuring the revised framing is connected to/launches the analysis presented in your final essay. (>7 to 10.5 points)
Filling the Gap (10.5) Identify new evidence for analysis. (>0 to 3.5 points) Build on this by analysing the new evidence in a way that fits with the research gap you have identified. (>3.5 to 7 points) Build on this by selecting and connecting only the most significant analytical insights you uncover so that they are presented as a coherent and persuasive illumination of a new phenomena. (>7 to 10.5 points)
So What? (10.5) Explain why you think your analytical findings are meaningful. (>0 to 3.5 points) Build on this by connecting your findings back to the broader scholarly or cultural questions established earlier in the essay. (>3.5 to 7 points) Build on this by showing how your findings reshape or extend existing scholarly understandings rather than simply confirming them. (>7 to 10.5 points)
Use of Academic Conventions (3.5) Ensure that everything you have quoted from a text is placed in quotation marks and accompanied by a citation. (>0 to 1.2 points) Ensure that everything you have quoted or learned from a source text is cited in your annotated bibliography. (>1.2 to 2.4 points) Build on this by ensuring your citations are perfectly formatted in accordance with the Chicago Manual of Style. (>2.4 to 3.5 points)

For more information see .

For more information see guide to grades.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI)

You can use generative AI tools for open assessments. Restrictions on AI use apply to secure, supervised assessments used to confirm if students have met specific learning outcomes.

Refer to the assessment table above to see if AI is allowed, for assessments in this unit and check Canvas for full instructions on assessment tasks and AI use.

If you use AI, you must always acknowledge it. Misusing AI may lead to a breach of the听Academic Integrity Policy.

Visit the听Current Students website听for more information on AI in assessments, including听details on how to acknowledge its use.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

  • Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
  • After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

Academic integrity

The University expects students to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

Our website听provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. This includes advice on how to avoid common breaches of academic integrity. Ensure that you have completed the听Academic Honesty Education Module (AHEM)听which is mandatory for all commencing coursework students

Penalties for serious breaches can significantly impact your studies and your career after graduation. It is important that you speak with your unit coordinator if you need help with completing assessments.

Visit the听Current Students website听for more information on AI in assessments, including听details on how to acknowledge its use.

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a听simple extension.鈥 The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can鈥檛 complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for听special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students,听听includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Support for students

The Support for Students Policy听reflects the University鈥檚 commitment to supporting students in their academic journey and making the University safe for students. It is important that you read and understand this policy so that you are familiar with the range of support services available to you and understand how to engage with them.

The University uses email as its primary source of communication with students who need support under the Support for Students Policy. Make sure you check your University email regularly and respond to any communications received from the University.

Learning resources and detailed information about weekly assessment and learning activities can be accessed via Canvas. It is essential that you visit your unit of study Canvas site to ensure you are up to date with all of your tasks.

If you are having difficulties completing your studies, or are feeling unsure about your progress, we are here to help. You can access the support services offered by the University at any time:

Support and Services (including health and wellbeing services, financial support and learning support)
Course planning and administration
Meet with an Academic Adviser

WK Topic Learning activity Learning outcomes
Week 01 Jazz histories and unit overview Lecture (1 hr) LO1
Jazz histories and unit overview Tutorial (1 hr) LO1
Week 02 The weary blues - An introduction to double-voiced texts Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2
The weary blues - An introduction to double-voiced texts Tutorial (1 hr) LO1 LO2
Week 03 Moldy figs and modernists Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2
Moldy figs and modernists Tutorial (1 hr) LO1 LO2
Week 04 Bebop and revolution (or not) Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2
Bebop and revolution (or not) Tutorial (1 hr) LO1 LO2
Week 05 Hipster cults Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2
Hipster cults Tutorial (1 hr) LO1 LO2
Week 06 Birth of the cool and death of the big band Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3
Birth of the cool and death of the big band Tutorial (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3
Week 07 Jazz diasporas: Indigenisation and resistance Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2
Annotated Bibliography Oral Examination Tutorial (1 hr) LO1 LO2
Week 08 Freedom on the march: 1960s jazz activism and the power of "African" rhythm Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2
Freedom on the march: 1960s jazz activism and the power of "African" rhythm Tutorial (1 hr) LO1 LO2
Week 09 Intersectionality in jazz studies Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2
Intersectionality in jazz studies Tutorial (1 hr) LO1 LO2
Week 11 Jazz fusion and the "broken middle" Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2
Jazz fusion and the "broken middle" Tutorial (1 hr) LO1 LO2
Week 12 Research Question Workshop Lecture (1 hr) LO3
Research Question Oral Exam Tutorial (1 hr) LO3
Week 13 Time travel and teleporliquization - The quantum mechanics of afrofuturism applied to jazz Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2
Time travel and teleporliquization - The quantum mechanics of afrofuturism applied to jazz Tutorial (1 hr) LO1 LO2

Attendance and class requirements

  • Lecture recording:听Lectures for this unit of study will be recorded and made available to students via Canvas.
  • Attendance: Students are expected to attend a minimum of 90% of timetabled activities for a unit of study, unless granted exemption by the Dean, Head of School or professor most concerned. The Dean, Head of School or professor most concerned may determine that a student fails a unit of study because of inadequate attendance. Alternatively, at their discretion, they may set additional assessment items where attendance is lower than 90%.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

  • Week 2:听Hughes, L. (1925) The Weary Blues.
  • Week 3: Self-selected as modelled in Week 2 lecture and brought to class.
  • Week 4: Lott, E. (1988). Double V, Double-Time: Bebop鈥檚 Politics of Style. Callaloo, 36(Summer), 597鈥605鈥听AND ALSO READ听Ramsey, G. (2003). Mapping New Modernisms. In G. Ramsey, Race Music: Black Cultures from Bebop to Hip-Hop (pp. 105鈥11). Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • Week 5:听Monson, I. (1995). The Problem with White Hipness: Race, Gender and Cultural Conceptions in Jazz Historical Discourse. Journal of the American Musicological Society, 48(3), 396鈥422.
  • Week 7:听Johnson, B. (2002) The Jazz Diaspora. In M. Cooke & D. Horn, The Cambridge Companion to Jazz (pp. 33-54). Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press.
  • Week 8:听Monson, I. (2007). Activism and Fund-Raising from Freedom Now to the Freedom Rides. In I. Monson, Freedom Sounds: Civil Rights Calls out to Jazz and Africa (pp. 152鈥98). New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Week 9:听Monson, I. (2008) Fitting the Part. In N.T. Rustin and S. Tucker Big Ears: Listening for Gender in Jazz Studies (pp. 267-287). Durham: Duke University Press.听AND ALSO READ:听Tucker, S. (2008) When did Jazz go Straight? Critical Studies in Improvisation/脡tudes critiques en improvisation, 4(2), 1鈥16.
  • Week 11:听Fellezs, K. (2011). Introduction. In K. Fellezs Birds of Fire: Jazz, Rock, Funk and the Creation of Fusion (pp. 1-14). Durham: Duke University Press.
  • Week 13:听Solis, G. (2019). Soul, Afrofutursim and the Timeliness of Contemporary Jazz Fusions. Daedalus, 148(2), 23-35.

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

  • LO1. evaluate the strengths and limitations of various musicological approaches to the study of jazz
  • LO2. rationalise and utilise various analytical approaches to describe jazz phenomenon within specific historical moments
  • LO3. develop and answer new research questions on particular jazz topics.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all 爆料王 graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1 Depth of disciplinary expertise

Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.

GQ2 Critical thinking and problem solving

Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.

GQ3 Oral and written communication

Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.

GQ4 Information and digital literacy

Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.

GQ5 Inventiveness

Generating novel ideas and solutions.

GQ6 Cultural competence

Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.

GQ7 Interdisciplinary effectiveness

Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.

GQ8 Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity

An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one鈥檚 personal and professional selves in an ethical context.

GQ9 Influence

Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes Graduate qualities
GQ1 GQ2 GQ3 GQ4 GQ5 GQ6 GQ7 GQ8 GQ9

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

Based on class feedback, we have developed more precise marking rubrics for submitted written work.
  • Disability Services:听The University is committed to supporting students to achieve their best possible results. The University鈥檚 Disability Services offer a range of services and adjustments to minimise the impact of any disability on your learning experience and to optimise your academic success. Please see:听听for more information and to register for relevant support.
  • Learning analytics:听Participation in this unit of study permits the University to use your learning analytics for the purpose of improving your learning.听听This includes data from the Canvas website, and the results of the Unit of Study Survey conducted at the end of the semester. Students should complete the听Unit of Study Survey听at the end of this unit of study.听听Comments and survey results are confidential. Only the Unit of Study coordinator, the Associate Dean (Education), and the Head of School and the Dean can view student comments made in this survey.听 It is essential that you complete this survey so that we can maintain the highest standards of teaching at the SCM and the University.

Disclaimer

Important: the 爆料王 regularly reviews units of study and reserves the right to change the units of study available annually. To stay up to date on available study options, including unit of study details and availability, refer to the relevant handbook.

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