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Sounds of Summer

Chicago’s Festivals, Their Planners, Participants, and Soundtracks
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Summer at Roosevelt University

Join Roosevelt’s College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), Chicago College of Performing Arts (CCPA), and Heller College of Business (HCB) for the Sounds of Summer – a one-week, multi-disciplinary program focusing on Chicago summer festivals.

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A non-credit version of the course intended for prospective Bachelor's of Musical Arts students is also available.

Course Overview

June 9 – 13
Saturday – Wednesday | 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sounds of Summer: Chicago’s Festivals, Their Planners, Participants, and Soundtracks
(CLASS: HIST 208 – CRN: 31285 / CLASS: HOSM 208 – CRN: 31284 / CLASS: MUHL 208 – CRN: 31283)

Discover the history of summer festivals and who plans them. Students will view summer festivals through the lens of identity, ideology, politics, class, and nostalgia. Team-taught by professors Carol Brown (Hospitality Management), Sandra Frink (History), and Thomas Kernan (Music Conservatory), the intensive program will combine the arts, history, food and music for students to examine and experience.

Dorm space has been reserved for Sounds of Summer students. Rooms are priced at $50 per night for a week-long stay in our Wabash Building Residence Hall, located in the heart of downtown Chicago.

To apply for the Sounds of Summer program, complete our online Student-at-Large/Visiting Students application.
Course Plan

Site Visits

As a class, faculty and students will make daily site visits to actual festivals, rehearsals, or stagings.

Case Studies

Five festivals will serve as our case studies throughout the week:

  • Andersonville Midsommarfest
  • Blues Festival
  • Grant Park Music Festival
  • Old Town Art Fair
  • Pride Fest

Three Perspectives

Portions of each day will have components led by Profs. Brown (Hospitality Management), Frink (History), and Kernan (Musicology), so that students can see the complexity involved in these festivals. We will consider each of our case studies as a vibrant current event as well as a source for historical and cultural exploration.