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COURSE INFO

INDEX

 ASSIGNMENTS
Listening Journal
Listening Tapes
Discussion Exercises
Papers
Rewrites
Acknowledgements
Class Recital
Reading
Tests/Quizzes


GROUP PROJECTS
Peer Comments
Email Discussion Group
Team Projects
Empirical Project (midterm)
Exhibit Project (final)


MISCELLANEOUS
Discussion Notes
Diversity Statement
Web Site
Coffee Break Meetings

Assignments

LISTENING JOURNAL: Please purchase a notebook or binder to record your listening observations. I will expect a minimum of two pages of notes per side of each listening tape. Your responses should not necessarily be academic and can be quite subjective. "This band stinks" is an appropriate note as long as it continues: "because..." It will greatly aid your preparation for the listening quizzes if you take notes on the distinctive elements of each piece/band/performance. I expect that listening and reading assignments for each class will be completed prior to the class under which the assignment is listed. You may also use the journal to record notes for your keyword summaries, reading introductions, or any other course-related issues or comments. If you didn't get a chance to speak to a certain topic during class, please use the journal as a forum to bring your ideas to my attention. Journals can be handwritten or typed&endash;your choice. Spelling and grammar will not be graded, but ideas and effort will. Be sure to date each entry and label it with the title of the listening tape, reading, or class session being discussed. If you choose to handwrite your journal, please write neatly! Illegible handwriting will force me to return your journal without a grade for recopying&endash; a waste of time for both of us.
DUE DATES: Sept. 29, Oct. 20, Nov. 17, Dec. 10.

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LISTENING TAPES: Tapes are available in two locations:

School of Music Listening Lab
North Campus

Room: 2231 SM
Hours: Mon.-Thr. 11am-noon, 1-10pm
      Fri. & Sat. noon-5
      Sun. 2-7pm

Language Resource Center
Central Campus

Room: 2018 MLB (next to Burton Tower)
Hours: Mon.-Thr. 8:30am-9:30pm
      Fri. 8:30am-5pm
      Sat. Closed
      Sun. 12:30-9:30pm


Directions to the School of Music Lab:
From Central, take any north campus bus to the first stop and walk north-west. The school of music is just over the hill with the tree trunk sculpture at its crest. There is a pond behind the school. Enter the doors at the end of the walkway and go past the message board. Take the door on your left and ascend one flight of stairs to the second floor. The music school listening lab is located in the south-west corner of the second floor in Room 2231. From the top of the stairs exit through the left door and turn right. Head down the hall past the information office and the lounge until you reach the last door on the left. You will need your syllabus and ID to check out a tape. At the north campus lab, tapes may be checked out overnight within 60 minutes of closing, but must be returned early the next morning within 90 minutes of when the lab opens.

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DISCUSSION EXERCISES (A&emdash;E): These one-page (hand-written) or half-page (typed) pre-discussion exercises are designed to familiarize you with the topic of the day's discussion and to help you begin to formulate your ideas. They will be graded on a zero/check/check plus system and must be turned in at the end of the class in which they are due. Late discussion essays will not be accepted.

Due Dates: Sept. 17 (A), Sept. 22 (B), Oct. 6 (C), Oct. 13 (D), Nov. 3 (E).

 

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PAPERS: Please turn in 2 copies of every paper: one for grading by the professor and a second for comment by a classmate. Papers should be two (2) (dos) (zwei) pages in length, no more &endash; no less. Papers longer than two pages will be graded down one-third grade. You will be graded on clarity of presentation and quality of ideas. Papers should be word-processed, spell-checked, and proofread. For advice on writing papers for this class and example papers click here.
Paper Due Dates: Sept.10 (#1), Sept.24 (#2), Oct.1 (#3), Nov.5 (#4).

REWRITES: Rewrites are optional. Each paper may be rewritten once, incorporating suggestions and comments from the professor and peers and/or any changes the author deems advantageous. The final grade for the paper will be the average between the original and the rewrite. Rewrites must be turned in prior to the date on which the next paper is due. For example, any rewrites for paper #1 must be submitted on or before Sept. 24, the date paper #2 is due. Rewrites for paper #5 are due on or before Nov. 19. I will not accept a rewrite after its respective deadline.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: To avoid inadvertent plagiarism, please cite the sources of the ideas discussed in your work when they have been suggested or influenced by others. This might include mentioning a comment made during class or group discussion as well as traditional footnotes of printed sources. You will not be penalized in any way for building upon the ideas of others. In fact, this shared discourse is the key to the intellectual project.

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CLASS RECITAL: For members of the class interested in performance, we will have a class recital on November 11 in the evening (time and place to be announced). The performer(s) should introduce the piece to the audience with a brief talk that emphasizes the themes of identity, politics, industry, or ideology as used in the course. Each person or group interested in participating should give me a written 1-page proposal by Oct. 15, listing the work to be performed, the personnel, performance requirements (stands, chairs, etc.), and explaining the relevance of this work to the course. I will need final repertoire, program note, and personnel by Nov. 5 in order to make up a program.

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READING: Reading should be complete prior to the class in which the assignment is listed as it will be used as material for class discussion. If desired, you may submit 1-2 page reading summaries (10 pts. each) that identify the main points of the author's argument. The final paragraph(s) of your report should present your own response to the article: do you agree/disagree; how might the author have presented this argument in a more convincing way?

Email Discussion Group: An email discussion group will be set up for this course to allow for discussion to continue outside of class. I will subscribe all class participants to this list using the information on your course information form. The email group will also allow me to post reminders, questions, and suggestions regarding the class. Although I will try to repeat all important information during class time, please check your email on a regular basis so that you don't miss these notices. Regular and thoughtful participation in email discussions will earn up to 50 points toward the final grade.

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Tests

QUIZZES Brief examinations will cover all aspects of the course, including listening, readings, and class discussion. Generally speaking, these quizzes will require you to analyze primary source materials, using short answer or single-paragraph essays.
Quiz Dates: Sept. 29, Oct. 20, Nov. 17, and Dec. 10.

FINAL EXAM: There will be no final exam in this class.

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Group Work

PEER COMMENTS: For each paper (except #2), a student colleague will offer comments and suggestions. You in turn will offer comments about his or her paper. You should use the Peer Comment Form provided with your coursepack. (Please make your comments legible.) Remember to 1) make at least two positive comments and 2) to make constructive, as opposed to destructive, suggestions. Honest evaluation is not an invitation to cruelty. At the same time, however, it's a waste of your time to offer vacuous praise. Your goal is to help your colleague improve his or her paper while learning about editing.
Due Dates: Sept. 15 (#1), Oct. 6 (#3), Nov. 10 (#4), Nov. 24 (#5).

EMAIL DISCUSSION LIST: Each member of the class will be signed up the MHM408/508 discussion list. I will use this post changes to the course schedule or jump-start discussions outside of class. You may use this forum to post questions to me or to the class. Participation is not required, however, frequent and quality participation will earn points toward your final rade.

TEAM PROJECTS / COLLABORATIVE LEARNING: Educational research indicates that students asked to do group work learn more and are more successful than students taught in the more traditional manner that emphasizes only individual accomplishment. Furthermore, employers today are requesting that college graduates possess the skills needed to be successful in the workplace. Many companies emphasize the importance of team building and group skills. For these reasons, we will be working together frequently in groups ranging in size from 2 to 18 people. Two class projects will be completed and presented by teams of 4. These work groups should remain intact throughout the semester and will be called your "hometeam." I will assign these teams using information taken from your course registration form as research shows that instructor-formed groups are twice as successful as self-selected ensembles. If your team has difficulty working together, you should address the problem within the group. a If this negotiation fails, bring the problem to the attention of the instructor and schedule a meeting to discuss it. In extreme cases a member may be fired from a group after 2 warnings. Likewise a member may resign after two warnings. (Please inform the professor of each warning.) Students who resign or are fired from their hometeam, must find another group willing to add them to their roster. Please do not use these options lightly. It is meant only as a last resort.

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Empirical Project:

For the midterm project, you will work with your home team to design, execute, and present an empirical research questionnaire (or other research project) exploring music in student life at the U of M. Due Dates: Group Interest Form (Sept. 24), Idea session (Sept. 29), Questionnaire Draft (Oct. 8), Progress Report (Oct. 15), Presentations (Oct. 27)

Empirical Project Instructions


Exhibit Project:

Your final project will also be completed by your home team. For this project you will explore a theme of music, politics, and popular culture, presenting your results to the class in a museum-style exhibit or web page. Projects will be presented at a "grand opening" exhibit held during class on Tuesday, December 8. See the projects section of the MHM408508 Web site for more information.
Due Dates: Idea Session (Nov. 5), Topic Report (Dec. 12), Progress Reports (Nov. 24 and Dec. 1), Exhibit day (Dec. 8).
 

 Exhibit Project Instructions

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MISCELLANEOUS

DISCUSSION NOTES:

DIVERSITY STATEMENT: At the core of this discussion based class is a mutual respect for the ideas, beliefs, and experience of others different from ourselves. I will expect and demand that courtesy be extended to all voices in the class. If an individual threatens to dominate a discussion and thereby silence others, I reserve the right to interrupt the discussion. Please be considerate of and respect this interruption. Everyone will have a chance to be heard.

Discussion and the importance of good Questions: Many students are intimidated by class discussion. My goal is to make classroom discussion a mutually rewarding and fun experience. (This is one reason that the class participation grade does not include a speaking component.) Part of the problem with speaking in public is the fear that one may be wrong. Since this course deals with interpretation more than facts, opinions rather than any supposed truths, judgments of absolute right and wrong do not enter into our discussions. In my opinion, the key to great discussions is not having good answers so much as having good questions. If you feel left out of class discussions, please spend some time thinking of questions on the material prior to class. (You are always welcome to ask questions during class.) Please approach the process of reading and listening in preparation for class as a means of generating questions to bring to class. I hope that everyone to have at least two questions for discussion prepared for each class. Use your course journal as a way of recording your questions.

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WEB SITE: I am experimenting with the use of the www in classroom teaching. The course Web site will be used in several ways: 1) information source (syllabus, assignments, tape contents, grades, etc.), 2) course evaluation and feedback, 3) as a posting site for class projects and exceptional work, 4) to disseminate advice about course assignments, 5) to present practice quiz questions. The course website is located at:

 

http://www.umich.edu/~claguem/MHM408508

 

COFFEE BREAK MEETINGS: At some point during the term, I would like to meet with each of the hometeams individually for coffee and some conversation. Primarily this session would be to work on your final project, but we could also talk about the course, your experiences with music, at U of M, etc... Have the scheduling coordinator of your project group find a 1-hour weekday time during which your group could meet and I'll be there.

 

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