Reeder Scholars Invite Campus to Discuss “Music and Society”

The Reeder Scholars, a new intellectual residence community, invite the campus to participate in a discussion of music in today’s society 9 p.m. Tuesday in the back room of Gilbert’s.

The event will be led by electrical and computer engineering major Chris Jacoby ’07 (Madison, N.J.), accompanied by guitarist Jorge Torres, associate professor of music, who is conducting the First-Year Seminar entitled Elvis Everywhere. Dessert will be provided.

For his discussion, Jacoby poses the following questions:

• What is the purpose of music in society?
• How does music change with society and how does society change with music?
• What makes music good?
• What do you focus on: words or music, and which one is more important/why?
• What is the role of tonal, rhythmic, lyrical complexity and simplicity in “good” music?
• What is “pop” music? How and why does pop music change over time?
• What is the difference between music and poetry, specifically in relation to rap music?
• What is the importance of originality? How necessary or important is it to come up with completely new material, instead of borrowing or modifying old material?
• Classical music is no longer as popular in contemporary society as it was in the past. Why has the instrumental or orchestral music from the past been replaced on a large scale by small bands often with much simpler chord progressions and more relatable to the average person’s life?

Named for its Reeder Street residence, the Reeder Scholars program borrows its basic structure from the McKelvy House Scholars program – regularly holding discussions open to the campus and organizing activities both on and off campus – but its students are determined that the program have its own distinguishing characteristics.

Past Discussions
Nov.15 – “Discussion”
Nov. 1 – “Gender Differences”
Oct. 25 – “Sex”
Oct. 18 – “Human Animal”
Oct. 11 – “Guilt”
Sept. 27 – “Consumer Behavior”
Sept. 20 – “Human Nature”
Sept. 13 – “Food as a Cultural Identity”
Sept. 3 – “Offensiveness and Media”