Bob Dylan's America

Few figures in American music have had the far-ranging influence of Bob Dylan, who, willingly or not, personified the social turmoil of the 1960s. In this course we will examine the musical and literary traditions on which Dylan draws (rock 'n' roll, country music, the urban folk revival, and the Beat poets), assess his art of crafting songs, and survey the principal phases of his career. Drawing on a range of biographical and historical materials, we will also consider the relationship between the social movements of the post-1960s and the carefully crafted public persona that Robert Zimmerman named Bob Dylan.