The Harmonious Classroom: Teaching Political Theory With Period Music

Abstract

The study of political theory is particularly well suited to pedagogical practices that involve music. Several canonical figures were themselves composers and instrumentalists who cared deeply about their musical commitments. For a notable few, including Plato, Aristotle, and Rousseau, music arguably constitutes an indispensable feature of their respective ideas about politics and the social order. Yet even when music is less central to a thinker’s written work, it remains a useful tool for illustrating historical context and providing a richer understanding of shifting cultural currents. This article explores several considerations that will aid in the selection of music as a way of promoting conceptual clarification and contextual elucidation. While the overwhelming focus on music in the classroom has relied upon contemporary popular music, I prioritize the use of period music, which avoids some potential challenges. The article includes a musical connection rubric intended to help in the selection of music that will prove most effective as a pedagogical tool.

Keywords:

• Music
• political theory
• active learning
• popular music
• period music

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Farid Abdel-Nour, Nabaparna Ghosh, Humayun Kabir, Xinghua Li, Dan Rogers, Joshua Sperber and especially Isabel Sobral Campos for their assistance in preparing this manuscript.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kristofer J. Petersen-Overton

Kristofer J. Petersen-Overton teaches politics at Babson College. His scholarly work centers on atrocity, transgressive violence, and structural injustice. His writing has appeared in Contemporary Political Theory, Arab Studies Quarterly, The Guardian, Politics/Letters, and WarScapes. He is a coeditor at Sputnik & Fizzle, a small press that publishes lectures by artists, activists, and scholars.