Popular Music and Everyday Life – HaberVesaire
Faculty: Pınar Üzeltüzenci
In this module of C-LAB, we will explore the world of popular music and its social backgrounds.
Students choose one popular genre, such as Turkish rap and trap, reggaeton, K-pop, EDM, Afrobeats, or global hip-hop, and examine its history, production and consumption patterns, and the social dynamics it embodies. We will address questions such as how class, gender, migration, and identity shape both the creation of music and everyday listening, or consider why and how certain music genres become so popular, and what they reveal about society.
This project is suitable for students interested in exploring the intersection of music and society. No technical musical knowledge is required; only an interest in connecting popular music with questions of everyday life and social context is needed. Students should be ready to combine critical research with creative production, and to explore why certain music resonates with ordinary people at specific times and places.
Projects are dossier-style and public-facing, designed for publication in the Culture and Society page of HaberVesaire. Work is not limited to writing. Students are encouraged to utilize interviews, short videos, photo essays, data visuals, and transmedia storytelling to bring their research to life. The aim is to combine rigorous analysis with creative communication that speaks to both ordinary listeners and a more informed audience.
What you will practice: critical research on music and society, audience analysis and reasons for mass appeal, critical cultural journalism, and creative mixed-media production.
Who should join: students curious about popular music and everyday life. Openness to fieldwork, interviewing, and experimenting with media formats is a plus.
What we will learn:
- Research on music genres and their historical and social contexts
- Critical thinking about class, gender, migration, and cultural identity in music
- Understanding audience reception and reasons for mass appeal
- Creative use of different media formats (video, audio, text, visuals)
- Writing and editing skills for public-facing cultural journalis
Final output: a publishable multimedia dossier on a chosen genre, showing both its social background and why people connect to it today.