Using Music and Lyrics to Teach Political Theory

Abstract

Since the fall semester of 2008, I have used music to teach political theory to undergraduate students. I use song lyrics to make analogies to concepts used by political theorists, and I use the music to create associations that improve students' memory of those concepts. Unlike other teachers who incorporate music into their classes by linking lyrics to concepts, I choose songs that reflect important ideas of specific theorists through multiple allusions to their ideas. The songs I choose serve four objectives: introducing concepts that may be difficult for students to appreciate, illustrating the application of those concepts, reinforcing students' memory through issue-spotting songs, and presenting biographical information about the theorist that they are reading. I illustrate how I achieve these objectives through songs drawn from artists including Billy Joel, Ace of Base, and Supertramp, and musicals including West Side Story and Camelot.