Instructor Spotlight: Meg Santos
What inspired you to teach this course?
Whether it was playing trombone in my high school band, singing in choir, or playing gigs outside of school, I’ve always found music to be both a safe haven and a way to express myself. I was inspired to teach this course not just because of my personal relationship to songwriting, but also because of the involvement of my identity in my work. As a first-generation Filipino-American woman, I'm constantly thinking about my positionality in my surroundings and in the broader environment, and I've spent a long time wondering what that means for my music. As an intern at the Tufts Asian American Center and an American Studies major, this course is, at its heart, an intersection of two subjects I'm really passionate about.
What is your favorite song? What song would best represent how your course is going so far?
It's always changing but right now, it's probably “Across the Universe” by The Beatles. I would say my course can best be described by “With A Little Help From My Friends” (the Joe Cocker version). Since my class is made of students with varying levels of music experience, we've been unpacking a lot of the topics in this course together and they bring a lot of different perspectives to the table. The song is all about getting by with the help from your friends, which I think is very representative of my class environment.
What role does the music industry play in formulating artists’ identities?
The industry plays an enormous role. I think the relationship between identity and industry is one of those chicken vs. egg situations. Popular musicians have no way of evading the demands of the industry if their intention is to succeed. I do think that the best artists are the ones that are the most authentic to themselves, but in order to keep up with listeners' attention spans (if that's their intention), they have to consider what the audience is looking for with each new album they release.
What trends in music are we seeing this year and what does that mean for the current sociocultural and political climate in the U.S. right now?
That's a great question! Artists like Chappell Roan blowing up and music centering queer and POC communities have been really inspirational. Overall just having music as a support system at a time when these communities are under attack by higher powers in the U.S. is important.
What do you hope that students will take away from your course?
I hope that students will learn how to listen to music critically outside of lyrics. Lyrics are definitely one of my favorite aspects of songwriting, but what I've been trying to teach my students is how to look beyond words and analyze how the music can inform the message of a song. I also really hope that my students will think about how their own unique identities can facilitate the creation of art, whether it's music or any other creative medium.
Meg Santos is a junior majoring in Child Studies & Human Development and American Studies, with a minor in Music Engineering. On campus, she sings in the Amalgamates and the Tufts Jazz Orchestra, serves as one of the Co-Presidents of the Philippine Student Union, and plays in a band with other Tufts students called Token. Meg also works as a programming intern at the Asian American Center and the university mail room.