Teaching Bob Dylan: "Multitudes"

Table of Contents:
List of Figures Acknowledgements Introduction: Bob Dylan, Teacher Barry J. Faulk, Florida State University, USA, and Brady Harrison, University of Montana, USA Part I. Origins & Ways of Making 1. Teaching Bob Dylan’s Voice and the Old, Weird America John Mac Kilgore, Florida State University, USA 2. Bob Dylan and Conceptual Blending Michael Booth, University College Cork, Ireland Part II. Dylan & History 3. Teaching the “Revolutions” of the 1960s through Bob Dylan David R. Shumway, Carnegie Mellon University, USA 4. Bob Dylan and the Expansion of the History Classroom Court Carney, Stephen F. Austin State University, USA Part III. Love & Theft 5. Teaching the Gospel Lauren Onkey, George Washington University, USA 6. The World of Bob Dylan Gayle Wald, George Washington University, USA 7. Teaching the Roots of Bob Dylan as a Mode of Cultural Self-Reflection in the Classroom: Early Rock and Roll and Hip-Hop Robert Reginio, Alfred University, USA Part IV. Dylan & Literary Studies 8. On the Road (Again) with Bob Dylan, A Poet among (Beat) Poets S.E. Gontarski, Florida State University, USA 9. Mixing Up the Medicine: A Course on Bob Dylan and the Beats Paul Haney, Emerson College, USA 10. Romances with Durango: Teaching Bob Dylan’s Encounter with Mexican Culture Robert Hurd, Anne Arundel Community College, USA Part V. Dylan Beyond the Songs 11. Teaching Chronicles Graley Herren, Xavier University, USA 12. Bob Dylan and Documentary Film Leigh H. Edwards, Florida State University, USA Part VI. Afterword Why Teach Dylan? Richard F. Thomas, Harvard University, USA Appendix A: Contributor Syllabi Appendix B: Course Materials List of Contributors Index

About the Author :
Barry J. Faulk is Professor of English at Florida State University, USA. He is the author of British Rock Modernism, 1967-1977 (2013) and Music-hall and Modernity (2004), and he is co-editor, with Brady Harrison, of Punk Rock Warlord: The Life and Work of Joe Strummer (2016). Brady Harrison is Professor of English at the University of Montana, USA. He is co-editor of Teaching Western American Literature (2020) and co-editor, with Barry J. Faulk, of Punk Rock Warlord: The Life and Work of Joe Strummer (2016).

Review :
If only I had had this book when I began teaching college courses on Bob Dylan in the 1990s, my job would have been a whole lot easier. An invaluable resource! It’s been a long time since ‘Blowin’ in the Wind,’ but the generational talent of Bob Dylan continues to speak to us of what is past, or passing, or to come. Barry Faulk and Brady Harrison have gathered a range of scholars and educators to consider some of the ways in which Dylan’s work can be used to understand modern America in all its diversity and contradiction. The book is wide-ranging, multi-focused, and accessibly written; it also contains a generous archive of sources which can be used to take Dylan’s legacy to the next generation. Among all the hagiography and theorization, Teaching Bob Dylan is an essential contribution to Dylan Studies. Teaching Bob Dylan is an essential tool for educators that reinforces the importance of the Humanities. The collection's essays masterfully explain how Dylan’s life and work help students engage with, investigate, and understand the complexities of American history and culture and their place in it. Through a multitude of pedagogical approaches, leading Dylan scholars share their experiences and practical lesson plans for readers to adopt or adapt to fit their curriculum and institutional needs. This book is the definitive resource on incorporating Dylan in the classroom. As a writer, artist, performer, icon, and now Nobel laureate, Bob Dylan is among the most influential figures in modern America, but still we struggle to bring his enigmatic work into our classrooms. This innovative collection gathers an outstanding group of scholar-teachers from different fields and institutions to provide a masterclass on teaching Dylan’s music. Sparkling with innovation yet deeply rooted in the contemporary classroom realities, Teaching Bob Dylan not only offers invaluable guidance to teachers, but insists, page-by-page, on the fundamental importance of Dylan’s work to our cultural past and future.