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Finally, Michael Jackson As Academic Subject

billyworld99

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Although a great deal has been written and said about Michael Jackson's life, much of it is tabloid in nature with little research done and even less truth told by the media. Only a small fraction of the "news" has focused on his immense and without parallel artistic, cultural, and humanitarian contributions. Although we still must endure tabloid writing about Michael as will be on full display in Randall Sullivan's upcoming book, Untouchable: The Strange Life and Tragic Death of Michael Jackson, with its numerous questionable sources and outright lies which can be easily disproved, the academic world has been increasingly turning its attention to him. Each factual, responsibly-researched, thought-provoking book, article, interview, course of study, film, etc. that explores Jackson's life will help balance the scales now heavily weighted down with 40 years of tabloid trash. Mr. Jackson was a whole being, not a series of separate compartments each unknown to the other. He lived a BIG, eventful and panoramic life of high value, warts and all, and it's telling is way overdue.



Already in the past few years, symposia about Michael Jackson have been held at Harvard, Princeton, Columbia College Chicago, NYC's Schomburg and Lincoln Centers, and the Louvre. The short film "Thriller" is the only music video to be selected for the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, and Jackson himself is likely to remain the only pop star inducted into the Dance Hall of Fame alongside other distinctive architects of American dance heritage like Astaire, Graham, and Balanchine. The publication of books, blogs, and academic treatises about Michael Jackson's art has begun, characterized by the kind of in-depth study that illuminates its subject, and that connoisseurs of music have been waiting for. It seems Jackson's extraordinary story is finally being told.



Spike Lee's "BAD 25" documentary has received rave reviews from nearly all media outlets. It also received standing ovations at the Venice, Toronto and Rio film festivals recently. It will be shown on ABC Television on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2012, in the U.S. It is another significant step along the path of truthful examination of Michael Jackson.



Joe Vogel, author of the excellent book, Man In the Music: The Creative Life and Work of Michael Jackson, is an instructor at the University of Rochester. He will be teaching a class, "Black or White: Race, Identity, and Representation" where the work of Michael Jackson, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Spike Lee and others will be explored. Joe recently wrote about the exciting academic progress regarding Michael in a recent blog, "Studying Michael Jackson." Joe does an excellent job of noting upcoming academic courses, books and papers. We will highlight a few here but please visit Joe's website for even more links to serious study of Michael Jackson's life and work.



Studying Michael Jackson



Zack O'Malley Greenburg, a Forbes staff writer, is working on a business focused biography of Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson, Inc., to be released in 2014. Zack regularly writes about the business of Michael Jackson for Forbes and is very thorough in his research and very fair to Michael in his writing.



http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2012/08/29/my-next-book-michael-jackson-inc/



This fall, Duke University is offering a course on Jackson, "Michael Jackson & The Black Performance Tradition," taught by Dr. Mark Anthony Neal. The entire course is dedicated to the study of Jackson's life and work. Here are the links to a paper written by Dr. Neal and the course syllabus. It will feature books such as Michael's Moonwalk, Joe Vogel's Man In The Music: The Creative Life and Work of Michael Jackson, and a large variety of academic papers featured in publications like "Popular Music and Society" and "Popular Music Studies." All papers are listed in the course syllabus.



"Sampling Michael: Rhythm, Masculinity & Intellectual Property in the 'Body' of Michael Jackson" by Mark Anthony Neal



http://newblackman.blogspot.com/2012/08/sampling-michael-rhythm-masculinity.html



Dr. Mark Anthony Neal's Duke University course syllabus

http://newblackman.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-syllabus-michael-jackson-black.html?m=1



Clark Atlanta University will be offering an MBA course on Michael Jackson this fall. Former entertainment attorney James Walker, "whose clients have included Jamie Foxx, DMX and Bobby Jones, will teach "Michael Jackson: The Business of Music" and show how his success grew to such heights through negotiations, deals, merchandising, real estate and film projects."



http://www.bet.com/news/fashion-and...sity-to-teach-michael-jackson-mba-course.html



The University of CA - San Diego is currently offering a Popular Music class focused on Michael Jackson.



http://musicweb.ucsd.edu/ugrad/courses_offered.php



"You Rocked Our World, Michael: Your Moves, Your Look, Your Music, Everything!" by Stan Hawkins. Other articles are also available at this site like Jacqueline Warwick's "You Can't Win, Child, but You Can't Get out of the Game": Michael Jackson's Transition from Child Star to Superstar."



http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rpms20/35/2



Dr. Susan Fast will be publishing a book on Michael Jackson's "Dangerous" album. Here is a piece, "Difference That Exceeded Understanding: Remembering Michael Jackson (1958-2009)," written by Dr. Fast.



http://z3.ifrm.com/432/80/0/p314858/Exceed_Understanding.pdf



Sylvia Martin has written several academic articles on Michael Jackson including "The Roots and Routes of Michael Jackson's Global Identity" and "Remembering Michael Jackson: Moonwalking Between Contradictions."



"Remembering Michael Jackson: Moonwalking Between Contradictions" on the Norman Lear Center's website.

http://blog.learcenter.org/2010/06/remembering_michael_jackson_mo.html



There are so many more great articles published about Michael but there is limited ability to share them due to possible copyright infringement but MJTN wants you to be aware of them. The increased academic study of Michael Jackson offers hope that the tabloid narrative can be replaced with well researched and analyzed documentation about his cultural, artistic and humanitarian legacy.



www.MJTruthNow.com
 
I would no doubt pass each and all those classes with straight A's. LOL.

"Hey you coming out tonight?"..."Nah, I'm studying Michael friggin' Jackson."
Most valid reason to be a geek EVER! :D
 
There's also a new book out that Joe Vogel mentioned recently: "Michael Jackson: Grasping the Spectacle," published by Ashgate, an academic publisher from the UK. I just received my copy from Amazon, so don't know yet how it is.
 
This is wonderful for Michael & his legacy. This is the perfect way for people to learn about Michael without the trash the tabloids add to Michael's articles. This feels so good & so bad because the one who should be celebrating is not here but still, this is the best way that Michael would be known for many, many years to come. I wonder if Michael talked about himself when he said something about the artist dying but his work remains? Well, he's still is a success.
 
Please let us know about this book. I would be interested in purchasing it.

I am so happy that finally we have serious articles, books, and curriculum on the fascinating, out of this world talent named Michael Jackson. Let's push all that garbage aside and start replacing it with truth and facts and unbiased research on this amazing talent. And kudos to Joe Vogel!!!
 
Yep id definately go in this class if i could lol
 
Jazzebel said:
I would no doubt pass each and all those classes with straight A's. LOL.

"Hey you coming out tonight?"..."Nah, I'm studying Michael friggin' Jackson."
Most valid reason to be a geek EVER! :D
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SAME HERE! most of my essays in college have been about Michael anyway :laugh: and I'm happy to say most teachers agree with me when I talk about how influential he's been and how his life should be in HIStory books (lol). Now this article makes me happy beyond words, how I wish my college had a subject on Michael, that'd make school way more enjoyable.
 
You can find so many books analyzing the cultural significance of the Beatles, Elvis, the Rolling Stones and others, but there are so few about Michael. I'm glad it's beginning to change.

Michael is such a complex subject that it's probably very challenging to write about him - IMO a lot more challenging than about the Beatles, Elvis etc. and probably that's why so many are wary of writing seriously about him. He got many people confused, including critics, that many just don't know what to make of him. But this is exactly why he'd be such an interesting subject of artistic analysis! And you cannot seperate his art from his interaction with society and how society reacted to him and analyzing those reactions and what they tell about us, at least as much as about Michael.
 
piperdarcy said:
There's also a new book out that Joe Vogel mentioned recently: "Michael Jackson: Grasping the Spectacle," published by Ashgate, an academic publisher from the UK. I just received my copy from Amazon, so don't know yet how it is.
Click to expand...

i saw that and was wondering what it was about and was thinking of asking if joe had read it.

let us know what it's like, i'm curious if it's worth the read.
respect77 said:
Michael is such a complex subject that it's probably very challenging to write about him - IMO a lot more challenging than about the Beatles, Elvis etc. and probably that's why so many are wary of writing seriously about him. He got many people confused, including critics, that many just don't know what to make of him. But this is exactly why he'd be such an interesting subject of artistic analysis! And you cannot seperate his art from his interaction with society and how society reacted to him and analyzing those reactions and what they tell about us, at least as much as about Michael.
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and unfortunately, normally, we just have to find out everything about what the journalist/author believes about life, and never about michael.

instead of reading about michael, we have to read another author going on about how michael's 'bleached white skin' really offends them, instead of anything substantial.

i'm hoping that at least that might've changed or is starting to significantly change.
 
It takes pretty much something like a Renaissance human to adequately describe, acknowledge, cherish and praise another Renaissance being. Hence the current lack of books of this type. But the trend is PROMISING.
Michael is not a one trick pony - very counter to what the media wanted to court of public opinion to judge.
When his critics finally appreciate him both for praising the "Bathing of Apollo" and playing a good arcade game - and what Cienega said: All authors need to forget about their own hangups entirely. Then - and only then will they be able to see the world from his perspective. That kind of unconditional worldview is akin to universal love and therefore hard to find in a book market that isn't exactly driven by a spiritual understanding of "Human Nature". More like a very narrow focus.

I think a lot of it has to do with necessary honesty with oneself. Or in other words, what was Neverland?
A family home, a philanthropic haven, a child's paradise, a temple of the arts, an amazing art collection, 'cheesy statues', porn collections and a business empire.
Pretty much all the facets of a being. Since we all tend to 'compartmentalize' our lives by necessity, it's hard for many authors to acknowledge another in a way that is not compartmentalized.
It becomes an artificial "Madonna or Whore" black and white thinking that is fake - the complex many project onto Michael, while it is THEIR issue, not Michael's. It seems to reflect in the Saint/Sinner glorification/vilification books we've seen.

The more wholistic - the more balanced a book can be.
 
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Why am I studying law? Screw that, I need to study THIS. I would be top of the class!! :D
 
MjsLovelyOne88 said:
SAME HERE! most of my essays in college have been about Michael anyway :laugh: and I'm happy to say most teachers agree with me when I talk about how influential he's been and how his life should be in HIStory books (lol).
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Yeah! For me too! I actually graduated from my study with a project on Michael's fashion. They took that really professionally too and the graduation committee was super positive and interested. The first thing they mentioned after my presentation was if I wanted to turn it into a serious business and if I hadn't thought about it that I should do so. Haha.
 
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