Do you think disco was just about glitter balls, platform shoes, and staying alive? Think again. In the 1970s, the dance floor was a battleground for civil rights, queer liberation, and feminist empowerment. This course strips away the nostalgia to examine how marginalized communities used four-on-the-floor beats to demand visibility, claim space, and protest an oppressive status quo. We will trace the genre’s rise from underground sanctuary to mainstream phenomenon, explore the systemic backlash of the "Disco Demolition," and analyze its enduring political legacy in modern dance music. Amidst all the politics there will also be time for lots of great disco music. Come join us during the 2027 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras as we explore deeper into disco.

DELIVERY MODE

Face to face

COURSE RESOURCES

• Rodgers, Nile, Le Freak: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco and Destiny, Sphere, 2011.
• Becker, Morgan, “The hedonism and kinship of New York disco, through the lens of Bill Bernstein,” Document Magazine, 19th April 2022.
• Echols, Alice, Hot Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of American Culture, W. W. Norton Company, 2010.
• Kehrer, Lauron J., Queer Voices in Hip Hop, University of Michigan Press, 2022. 
• Lawrence, Tim, Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970–1979, Duke University Press, 2003
• Frank, Gillian “Discophobia: Antigay Prejudice and the 1979 Backlash against Disco.” Journal of the History of Sexuality 16, no. 2, 2007.
• Midgley, A, 'Macho Types Wanted': The Village People, Homophobia, And Representation in The 1970s.’ Australasian Journal of American Studies. Vol 33: No 1, 2014.

COURSE OUTLINE

• The great migration
• Countercultural America in the 1960s
• The birth of disco
• The appeal of disco to marginalised communities
• Black culture and disco
• Feminism and disco
• LGBT disco
• What disco music was all about
• The commodification of disco
• White boys and girls move in on disco
• Demolishing disco in a baseball stadium

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Have an understanding of the historical background of disco music and disco culture
• Have a knowledge of the way that disco music shaped American culture in the 1970s
• Understand how disco was commodified to appeal to a wider audience
• Understand how disco's influence on popular culture came to an end