The Educated Omnivore: College Culture and the Cultivation of Music Taste

• In Event: 078 - Section on Sociology of Culture Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 05. The Sociology of Taste

Abstract

This mixed-methods study explores the connection between education and omnivorousness by examining music taste at a liberal arts college where the majority (76%) of students are cultural omnivores. Education influences music taste on several different levels. The main way college education promotes omnivorousness is increased diversity of social networks. Family influences are also a factor, though musicianship is a more important predictor of liking “highbrow” genres. Formal music classes increase appreciation of new genres, and the college culture promotes a cosmopolitan ethic which values engagement with a wide variety of genres. There are, however, patterned dislikes that suggest music as a symbolic boundary and omnivorousness as a status distinction. Even this population noted for its eclecticism has hierarchies of taste, with some types of music and listeners more highly regarded than others. Country music is especially disliked, in part because it is associated with conservative politics that is seen at odds with the cosmopolitan embrace of diversity. Over all, genres are valued based on the authenticity and musical skill associated with them. Students engage in different modes of listening, deeming some genres worthy of careful listening and others as merely “background music.” Rather than demonstrating an undiscerning acceptance of all music, these students embody omnivorousness as a type of expertise that allows one to engage in critical listening of quality music. Since omnivorousness, an esteemed mode of consumption, is linked to privileged opportunities, studying the cultivation of omnivorous taste can provide important insights into the cultural dimensions of inequality.

Author

• Anna Michelson, Northwestern University