This course surveys how musical artists and their communities participate in, and often critically shape, social movements and political activism. As a guiding theme for the course, collective action can be found to manifest in both the musical expression and social justice ideology of movements like the Harlem Renaissance, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Music (AACM), and the anti-apartheid struggles of South Africa, among others. Students will also explore collective action through a practicum assignment that connects music production to a social justice project to be selected and researched by the class. By combining historical analysis with student-led democracy in action, this course is geared toward students at all levels of musical experience interested in finding new and creative approaches to art and activism that can address today’s complex world.