At IU, a total of about 1,000 students take the various rock-history courses offered each semester, with a lecture hall seating 360 used for the most popular classes. For the professors, the subject is just as enticing. But there's much more to studying rock history than just rocking out, the instructors say. All are in harmony when it comes to the value of the courses. First, it's about cultural significance.
Rock music is both a reflection of our culture and an influence on it.
Learning about the rise of Elvis Presley encompasses such topics as race relations, economics and politics. By the 1960s, rock music became a force of change, a call to action. Of course, most of today's college students hadn't even been born by the time all this happened. So, even though they've likely heard many of these songs ad nauseam on classic-rock radio, they haven't really listened to them. Understanding the culture of the times gives the songs new significance.