Stanford Continuing Studies Offering an Online Course Exploring the Music of the Grateful Dead
A quick heads up: On October 3rd, Stanford Continuing Studies will kick off an 8‑week online course called Did It Matter? Does It Now? The Music and Culture of the Grateful Dead. Led by David Gans (author of Playing in the Band: An Oral and Visual Portrait of the Grateful Dead), the course will feature a number of special guests, including Jesse Jarnow (host of The Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast), Dennis McNally (author of A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead) and David Lemieux (Grateful Dead Archivist). Open to any adult, the course description reads:
The Grateful Dead’s groundbreaking fusion of music, counterculture, and community engagement forged an enduring legacy that transcends generations while shaping the evolution of music and cultural expression. Nearly 30 years after the band played its last show, Grateful Dead music is more popular than ever—in both live and recorded form. This course invites students to delve into the phenomenon that is the Grateful Dead through a captivating exploration of the band’s history, music, and cultural impact.
The course will feature a collection of stories and conversations with scholars and historians, each offering facts and personal perspectives illuminating every aspect of the Grateful Dead culture. Together, we will take a guided tour of the music in the form of focused excerpts from live and studio performances to learn what makes the Dead’s music-making unique and explore the broad musical universe the band created in its 30-year history.
Finally, we’ll examine the Dead’s impact on society, diving into the band’s influence on art, literature, and social change, as well as its unique fan culture and the phenomenon of the Deadhead. By the end of the course, students will have a well-rounded appreciation for the roots, struggles, and milestones that shaped the Grateful Dead’s trajectory, an understanding of their profound impact on music and culture, and insight into a legacy that still resonates deeply today.
Again, the course starts on Thursday, October 3rd. Tuition is $465. You can enroll here.
Stanford Continuing Studies also offers many other courses online, across many disciplines, at a reasonable price. Check out the catalogue here.
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