Stanford University is now offering a course on The Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead are a band with an extensive history. Whether you are diving into their live archives or discovering the influence of the acid tests on US culture, the iconic group have plenty to offer students of music.
In an attempt to collate all that information, Stanford University has revealed that students can attend an online course that will address the band’s music and cultural influence. The course is called Psychedelia and Groove: The Music and Culture of the Grateful Dead and will last for six weeks.
The course takes place online, which allows people from all over the world to sign up. Each student will have one 50-minute session a week for the system, which divides the band’s history into three sections.
The first section will explore the historical perspective of the band’s evolution. Secondly, there will be an analysis of their diverse music catalogue (both studio and live), and lastly, students will look at the band’s cultural impact on society. The cultural impact on society will consider The Grateful Dead’s “connection to art, literature, and social change, as well as its unique fan culture and the phenomenon of the ‘Deadhead’”.
The course will be taught by David Gans, a journalist, musician, and, most importantly, the host of the nationally syndicated radio show Grateful Dead Hour.
“Grateful Dead music is collaborative and improvisational,” he said. “Accordingly, I have invited guest speakers to join me in at least five of the classes. I’ve been an oral historian and a radio interviewer for more than 40 years; I have learned that conversation is a vastly more effective mode of presentation than lecturing.”
The course begins on January 22nd and will cost students $405 to register.
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