Breaking from Strict Chronology: Thematic Organization for Teaching Jazz History

Abstract: A robust understanding of jazz history is critical for those honing their skills to perform and build a career in jazz. While traditionally taught in chronological order, this article introduces one system for organizing jazz history courses thematically, exploring the instructional benefits of breaking free of strict chronology. Thematic organization deemphasizes the canon and allows for a focus on social context, which is important to many current students. The flexibility to explore topics such as the intersections of race, class, gender, or politics with the development of jazz is particularly useful for nonmajor courses designed to achieve enhanced understanding of diversity in the United States or fulfill general education requirements. Converting a chronologically organized class to a thematically organized one yielded 16 themes taught across a two-semester sequence with significant overlap between some themes. Provided are brief summaries of three themes: jazz during wartime, racism and colorism, and proximity to the source, as well as a detailed sketch of the politics, protest, and peace theme. The frequency and quality of student discussion and engagement with the course content was notably improved over previously taught chronological classes. In addition, this framework proved to be flexible and beneficial for instruction as it allowed for reinforcement through repetition and examination of different vantages.