1. Making the Dismal Science Less Dismal: An Economic SONG and Dance Incorporating Music into the Economics Classroom Brian O’Roark – Robert Morris University

2. What’s all the fuss about?  AC-DC the economists  Money Talks Money Talks

3. Music for Econ – lives!  Now housed on CriticalCommons.org. No passwords required.  Songs are played from the CC server  Choose high quality or standard and enjoy.  Seems to work better with Firefox

4. Creating a Classroom Community  Becker and Watts (2006) – encourage the discipline to “teach economics in as many ways as possible”  Music creates a classroom community where students share a common experience -- this makes students want to come to class!  What are the costs/benefits?  I play the animations before class begins and synchronize the start of the class with the end of the music.  This creates a welcoming environment that is also rich in content.

7. Fair Use Debate  Key questions of court look at whether economic harm occurs to copyright holder  Fair Use is a user’s right  Supreme Court views this as a way to keep copyrights from violating the First Amendment  Courts use the rule of reason to determine fair use  Did you transform the media?  Is what was taken appropriate

8. No worries!  There is very little chance you will actually get sued.  Cease and Desist is the preferred path.  No cases against educators brought by an American media company.

9. Getting Started  I am not technically gifted  I don’t teach with Power Point  Specific software isn’t necessary  I fancy myself as a director not an actor  This involves a degree of creativity  A good presentation is NOT all economics

10. A few tips from:  Make it your own – have fun insert yourself in the song.  Song choice is everything Molasses to Rum to Slaves – Bad Money Talks – Good

11. How do students benefit?  Seeing economics in action  Apply it themselves – making music together  Semester review  End of semester XC

12. Q1. Do you feel that playing music animations before class starts adds to the educational environment?  Really great way to kick start the class. Makes me think and ask questions. Also gives the music more meaning that it used to!  I definitely think the music adds to the educational environment. It helps to think about economic principles in scenarios other than a graph on a slide that we can't really relate to. It helps to bring the learning full circle.

13. Q2. Do you always pay attention to the economic explanations in the animations?  I do because they are a nice way to break up a large amount of information. Relating economics to everyday life helps me to better understand the concepts.  No, not always. If I really like the song anyway I will definitely pay attention to the economic explanations but if I do not like the song I will usually just listen.  I try to do my best. Sometimes when the songs are really fast it's more difficult to finish reading everything, but I always try.

14. Q3. Do you feel that playing music animations before class adds to the social environment of class (i.e. creates a more relaxed atmosphere)?  I think it does create a more relaxed atmosphere, especially when it's a popular song that most students know.  Yes, I actually met two really good friends by just conversing about the song that was on.  It makes the class more current and interactive.  A little bit. I think it shows that the professor isn't gung-ho on strict, boring lectures.  no, it makes people talk louder (and its too early in the day!)

15. 50 Years of Economic Songs: From the Beatles to MacElmore Brian O’Roark – Robert Morris University Dirk Mateer – University of Arizona Kim Holder – University of West Georgia

16. Q & A  Suggestions for new songs?  This has been talked about on websites and blogs, but if there’s an education center who could help promote this, or a publisher???  Any comments?