Starting next semester, students at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte can do more than just watch the TV hit show "American Idol" - they can receive credit for watching it.
The first-time elective "Examining American Idol through Musical Critique" will be offered by the music department in the spring of 2005, to coincide with the premiere of the show's fourth season in January.
James Grymes, a professor in the Department of Music at UNC-Charlotte, will teach the "Idol" course. He said students in his class will discuss basic music vocabulary and the art of performance while developing criteria to determine the ideal "American Idol."
The class is available to music and non-music majors and will require students to watch the show weekly, discuss voting results, participate in online discussion forums and evaluate contestant performances. Students are not, however, required to vote.
Grymes described himself as a big fan of "American Idol." According to Grymes, he came up with the idea for the class when he was watching the show last season. "Randy (Jackson) would say that (the contestants) sounded really pitchy. Most people wouldn't know what that meant," said Grymes. He decided that the show would make a good learning tool for examining aspects of performance and critiquing and "training college students to be better consumers and critics."
Grymes described the influx of reality television over the last few years as an "interesting phenomenon." He added that he found himself drawn to shows such as "American Idol," including "The Apprentice," in which contestants compete for a job as assistant to mogul Donald Trump. "The artist in me prefers the audition more so than eating worms on 'Fear Factor,'" said Grymes.
Grymes said he hopes his class will leave students better equipped to make judgments about what makes good music and good performances, as well as making students critical of media in general.
UNC-Charlotte has not started its second semester registration yet, but enrollment in the class is expected to be high. "At UNC-Charlotte, 'American Idol' is a bit of a religion," Grymes said. He attributed the show's popularity to the success of Clay Aiken, the second season's runner-up and a UNC-Charlotte alum, and third-season winner Fantasia Barrino, a North Carolina resident.
Grymes said he is not sure if he will offer the class again. He described the class as a pilot project and said that he will "see how it goes."
The class will also cover the history of different genres of music when "American Idol" gets into theme weeks - for instance, Motown week, he said. The semester will end before the season, so there will be four or five contestants left after the class ends, Grymes said. The final project will probably be based on who should win based on the discussed criteria or who should still be on the show that has been voted off, he said.
Grymes confessed that as a music professor who often hears students audition, he sometimes finds himself thinking some of the acerbic comments that "Idol" judge Simon Cowell makes. "I may at times relate to some of the things Simon says. Sometimes students are great, but other times students are just not ready to be music majors," Grymes said. But he keeps most of these thoughts to himself. "You don't want to ruin them," he said. While he has his Simon moments, Grymes said in general he identifies more with Jackson, who shares his background as a performer and is "critical without being hurtful."
Although Brown does not offer any classes based around a single television show, the subjects of reality television and the music industry are addressed by classes in the music and Modern Culture and Media departments. Lynne Joyrich, associate professor of Modern Culture and Media, teaches both MC 44: "Introduction to the Study of Television" and MC 230: "Real TV," which looks at the construction of the reality of TV through genres including talk shows and broadcast news.
Joyrich said an academic approach to "American Idol" and other shows in the newly dubbed "reality genre" should take a critical perspective to develop cultural literacy. She said that while she would not structure a class around a single show, there is nothing inherently wrong with doing so.
Joyrich confessed that she was a big fan of "American Idol" and "quite fond of Paula (Abdul) - she's always saying something constructive."
"'American Idol' raises interesting issues about the TV industry," Joyrich said, but she said many of the show's viewers do not do so with the proper perspective.
Brown's music department also offers various classes focused on contemporary music and the music industry. One such class is MU 126: "Music and Modern Life," taught by Marc Perlman, associate professor of music.
Perlman also expressed his skepticism of the show's accurate portrayal of the music industry.
"Obviously it gives a very partial idea of how one becomes a star. There certainly are plenty of commonly accepted narratives and stereotypes about the life of a performer in the industry, fed by shows like 'American Idol' and VH1's 'Behind the Music,'" he said.
Perlman said that what he finds interesting about "American Idol" is that the show has found a way of popularizing performers that is independent from the traditional star-making techniques of major record labels.
Perlman said he does not expect Brown's music department to offer an "American Idol" course anytime soon. "I don't see it fitting in our curriculum," he said. But the music department does offer courses on popular music more generally - MU 2: "Introduction to Popular Music in Society" and MU 126: "Music and Modern Life" deal with popular music, the music industry in general and related topics from a historical perspective. These classes are intended to make people more aware of the position of contemporary music in society and to give students a broader and deeper understanding of contemporary music, Perlman said.
