This course will focus on popular culture and music in Taiwan, and particularly on the way

it constitutes new spaces and forms of sonic worships. During the lessons we will observe

different music genres, figures and phenomena that took place in Taiwan since the 1930s,

and discuss their social and cultural meanings and implications. We shall see, on the one hand, how local idols have influenced millions of fans and followers in Taiwan and throughout South and East Asia. Then, on the other, we will examine the means by which

global musical trends and technologies are implicated within Taiwan's youth culture and urban society. In addition, we will look at (and listen to) the way musical places and spaces, such as, festivals, concerts halls, street performances and soundsacapes reflect, and at times create, social realities, communication channels, collective and individual practices, identities and believes.