Course Details in 2026/27 Session

Module Title	LH Popular Music as Performance
School	Eng, Drama, & Creative Studies
Department	Drama and Theatre Arts
Module Code	09 30684
Module Lead	David Pattie
Level	Honours Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 2
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Seminar-20 hours Guided independent study-180 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	This module will deal with the analysis of live popular music events. Live performance in popular music, the course will argue, operates as a crucial part not only of the economy but also the ecology of popular music. It is a site of authentication; it is a place in which genre behaviours are acquired, demonstrated and enforced; it is a testing ground for the evolving performance personae of groups and individual musicians; and it is a performance style in which new staging technologies are utilised in the creation of commercial gesamstkunstwerks- total theatre experiences which serve to brand the music and the artist, to shape and develop audiences, and to place the event in a wider social and cultural context. The course will explore the history of these events; it will discuss the evolution of particular performance behaviours in live music; and it will place the live music event within a variety of theoretical contexts, drawn from performance studies, pop music studies, and cultural studies.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: demonstrate an advanced understanding of the relation between performance in popular music and contemporary theories of performance. demonstrate an advanced understanding of the place of live popular music performance in contemporary debates in popular music studies and cultural studies. critically analyse and contextualise the performance of popular music through the appropriate use of theoretical models drawn from performance studies, popular music studies, and cultural studies. Critically analyse and contextualise the relation between performance and political, social and cultural developments within contemporary society.
Assessment	30684-04 : Group Presentation : Coursework (25%) 30684-05 : Essay : Coursework (75%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment: 25% Group Presentation (approx. 5 minutes per student) 75% Essay (3000 words) Reassessment: Failed component only Group or solo presentation (approx. 5 mins per student depending on group size), which may be submitted as a recording 25% 75% Essay (3000 words)
Other
Reading List