This semester I am teaching an intro to theology course and I decided to use music as a resource to demonstrate concepts and develop discussions.  While I have utilized film clips and other resources for this purpose in the past, this is the first time I decided to bring music into the classroom.  I have a personal passion for music and I thought it would be an interesting method to bring theological concepts to light.  In addition, because the course is required and rarely taken out of interest, I thought it would be a good way to grab attention.  What I found was that the use of music was a major success and created an atmosphere where students were excited to participate and gained a better grasp of the course material.

My course was structured by themes.  I began each new section with a song that conveyed the theological concept we were focusing on.  For instance, when discussing the topic of sin and evil I utilized the follow clip of the video of “Katrina Klap” by Mos Def:

When discussing social justice and personal responsibility I played the song “Dive In” by the Dave Matthews Band:

The discussions that spawned from this tactic were incredibly fruitful.  It created a communal experience for the students increasing dialogue.  Because the students were comfortable with the music being utilized, they were more confident in their own abilities and were empowered to engage critically in discussions.  In addition, because the music utilized was viewed as part of their culture, the students felt ownership of the material and were committed to their learning process.

Towards the end of the course, I welcomed the students to participate in this method by presenting a theological concept through a favorite song as a final project within groups.  Their enthusiasm was incredible as were the projects.  The students were excited to engage in the work and the entire class, myself included, took away a very positive learning experience.   After this course, I will continue to utilize music in the classroom and highly recommend it as a resource.