You may not know it, but the jazz-as-democracy metaphor is a thing. You can teach core concepts - even best practices - of a democratic society through the jazz aesthetic. Through engaging classroom activities, plus tons of audio and visual media - including exclusive interviews with jazz greats - get inside the jazz process and find out how society might improve if we just behaved like good jazz musicians! (On the bandstand, that is. No accounting for what they do after the gig!)

DELIVERY MODE

• Face-to-Face

SUGGESTED READING

• TEDxFillmore, Passing the baton: From the jazz Masters to American democracy: Wesley Watkins, Ph.D at TEDxFillmore
• ABC Radio Sydney, What can jazz teach us about democracy?
• United States Studies Centre, What can jazz teach us about democracy?

COURSE OUTLINE

• What is going on? (How jazz works)
• How do they do that? (Developing expertise, a.k.a. practice)
• Do you want to live in this country? (Why good jazz is a good model for society)
• Transferable skills: Jazz leadership
• Jazz philosophy: Swing and Mistakes
• Higher ideals: The Zone/Flow State

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the jazz process.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the connections between the jazz aesthetic and the democratic process.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of where the jazz-as-democracy metaphor falls short.
4. Play at least 1 note of a 12-Bar Blues using Boomwhackers®.