The Singing Sociologist: Details

Program Descriptions

These presentations are suitable for a wide range of classes including Gender and Women's Studies, Sociology of Gender, Environmental Sociology, History of Social Activism, and Creative Writing. The themes listed below can be used singly or in various combinations to fit the particular needs of exiting courses.

Women and Industrialization
Women at Sea
Body Image and Fat Politics
Social Movements in Song
Songs of Environmental Activism
The Work of Art
Price Schedule

Women and Industrialization

Women were and continue to be among the first workers in factories when a society begins to become industrialized. This program explores the issues surrounding this phenomenon through songs like James Taylor's "Millworker" which beautifully illustrate the difficulties of factory work.
Other songs such as "Bread and Roses" and "Union Maid" celebrate the efforts of women workers to organize. Songs selected for this program reveal how women's work and women's activism is both gendered and raced.

Women at Sea: Cross-dressing and the Sailor-Maid Dichotomy

A song/lecture based on Minna's 1993 performance, In Men's Array, this curricula looks both to traditional folk songs as well as to a handful of contemporary ballads which explore gendered role of the "Sailor."
The largest genre represented here is "Handsome Cabin Boy" songs. Variations on a familiar story—"woman dresses as a man and joins a ship's crew in hopes of finding her lost love"—these old songs raise timely issues including the attractiveness of gender-bending and societally-embedded notions of women's strength and competence doing "men's work." Newer songs about women at sea include parodies on this older form and Mary Ellen Healy's marvelous role-reversing tune "Sailor's Husband's Lament."

Body Image and Fat Politics

This curriculum combines searing originals ("The Bathing Suit Song" and "High Ground") with irreverent and uproariously humorous songs like "Show Us the Length" to open a space for her audience to consider conceptions of body image. A self-proclaimed fat feminist, Minna lets her confidence and grace in singing about potentially painful subjects challenge and inspire her students. Bringing a fresh take to a traditional feminist theme, this program foregrounds Minna's own experiences, fusing the personal and the political, and encourages students to bring into their own lives the victory of self-acceptance.

Social Movements in Song

Song continues to be a living force in movements for social change. A wide variety of historical movements provide source songs among them the anti-war, civil rights, and free speech campaigns, as well as more recent initiatives to abolish the death penalty ("Two Good Arms") and secure housing for the poor ("Going Down to the Rich Man's House"). Whether showing how spirituals were adapted to fit the views of the Civil Rights Movement ("Eyes on the Prize") or bringing attention to hot-off-the-picket-line protest songs ("Close Down the SOA" [School of the Americas]), this program encourages students to think about how songs are used for mobilization, outreach, and support.

Songs of Environmental Activism

This curriculum presents a collection of songs interesting not only for their usefulness in environmental education, but for what they reveal about how environmentalists frame and construct "Nature." Focusing on the rhetoric of environmentalist groups provides a case study for an exploration into the ways cultures express their relation to Nature and explain roles for human beings to take in it. Supporting a "from the trenches" outlook on the role of song in environmental activism, the program includes originals like "What Price Liberty?" as well as songs not originally intended as agitprop such as John Prine's "Paradise."

The Work of Art

This program—ideal for students of writing and poetry—showcases Minna's own songs and songs-in-progress in an effort to demystify the creative process. Best suited to small classes where active discussion is highly encouraged, topics covered can include the interplay between exertion and inspiration, the rewards of self-examination, and the role creativity plays in everyday life.

Price Schedule for Singing Sociologist

The price for a basic package ranges from $700-$1500 plus expenses. A basic package includes at least one in-class or small group program, and one public concert. Union contracts require an additional pension contribution of 10%. Because one of the goals of singing sociology is to reach a wide and diverse audience, those who are able to pay more are expected to do so in order to allow for reductions in fees to accommodate those who cannot afford the minimum fee.

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