I want to do this master's!
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*** Press Release ***
3rd March 2009A brand new MA in The Beatles, Popular Music and Society has been launched at Liverpool Hope University and is the first MA of its kind in the World.
The new course, which can be studied both full- and part-time, covers four modules with specific issues relating to The Beatles and Popular Music, consisting of four 12-week taught modules plus a dissertation.
Mike Brocken, Senior Lecturer in Popular Music at Liverpool Hope University said: "There have been over 8000 books about The Beatles but there has never been serious academic study and that is what we are going to address.
The Beatles influenced so much of society, not just with their music, but also with fashion from their collar-less jackets to their psychedelic clothes.
Their output covered a huge range from the black and white film 'A Hard Day's Night' to Strawberry Fields Forever which was accompanied by arguably the first pop video.
Forty years on, now is the right time and Liverpool is the right place to study The Beatles. This Beatles MA is expected to attract a great deal of attention, not just locally, but nationally and we have already had enquires from abroad, particularly the United States.
The MA the Beatles Popular Music & Society is a seminal moment in popular music studies. For the first time in the UK and possibly the world a post graduate taught course is offered to research into the Beatles, the city from which they emerged, the contexts of the 1960s, technology, sound and songwriting, and the industries that have set up in their wake to capitalise on tourism in the city of Liverpool.”
Popular music studies is now rightly regarded as an academic discipline in its own right and its interdisciplinary nature will appeal to those who have come from backgrounds in the humanities, cultural studies as well as music. There are also opportunities to study at certificate and diploma level.”
The one-year full time course will cover not just The Beatles but popular music in general and its effect on society since the sixties.
The first module introduces methods and approaches of how we go about studying popular music and is linked to a specific text that is recommended to students, Longhurst - Popular Music and Society. This module then focuses down on several short Beatles-related issues that can be covered by some of Longhurst's text - issues such as covering and authenticity, locality, the music industry of the post-war era, and subcultures.
The second module discusses Liverpool in the immediately pre and then post wwii eras and how various social and musical issues fed into the early Merseybeat & Beatles profiles. It will also discuss the politics of place and focus on venues in and around Merseyside, genres, class and suburbia.
The third module looks at the studio sound and compositions of the Beatles and will bring in popular music semiotics. There will be an opportunity in this module to present a case study of one song and this will be linked to a performance if the student so wishes, otherwise assessment via a presentation and written work will be acceptable.
The final module deals with social anthropology and ethonography of the Beatles and gives the student the opportunity to get out and interview people with a presentation and report to submit. Students may wish to study some local musicians or media or even the local industry that has now set up to capitalise on the group.
*** ENDS ***
Notes to Editors:1. Students on the full-time course would attend two evenings per week and cover all four modules in one academic year. Part-time students would attend once per week for two years. In both cases a dissertation is due towards the end of August.
2. There is no need to be a music reader for the final module as popular music semiotics allows us to study a musical text in a different way.
3. Different guest lecturers will be available for all three modules.
4. Assessment will be via an annoted biblio, a presentation, and an essay.For further information please contact The Press Office at Liverpool Hope University on telephone: 0151 291 3355 or e-mail: [email protected]
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You're a Beatles fan? Which guy is your fav?
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yellow submarine ftw.cool course.
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Originally posted by cassie:
You’re a Beatles fan? Which guy is your fav?
paul and john -
The Long and Winding Road
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COMsKPeWAsw&feature=related -
dun b lame can.
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cool wor simi lame
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but but but .... you already gotch a PhD ! ....
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there are ppl with 2 PhDs or 1 PhD + a few master's................
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Hope it offers online or overseas application. Its too good to be true...
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Interesting!
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You don't need to do this masters, just hang out with me, you'll be at least half as cool as me babe.
