The Music Professors of YouTubiversity

Abstract

This dissertation explores the current use of YouTube in music studies in higher education while suggesting a reconsideration of the academic as both source and resource in the neo-information age. In it, I summarize interviews with ten current YouTube content creators who run music education channels, focusing on their role as teachers in an invisible classroom. I also share findings from a nationwide survey of instructors who teach music studies in higher education. The results illustrate how music professors use YouTube for teaching and learning in a post-pandemic world. I aim to bridge the divide between the ivory tower and cybersphere by highlighting current collaborations between traditional and YouTube academics and suggesting how the two can cooperate to maximize learning effectiveness for Generation Z. Chapter 1 serves as an introduction and provides a brief history of YouTube. Chapter 2 offers a literature review. In Chapter 3, I review the sociology of knowledge, hyperreality, and the idea of the “unacademic,” all of which are philosophical concepts central to my discussion of YouTube content creators and their role as educators in relation to traditional professors in higher education. Chapter 4 describes the survey results, and Chapter 5 summarizes the content creator interviews. In the conclusion, Chapter 6, I offer my thoughts on the future of music studies in the traditional university and YouTubiversity.