Summer Courses 2006

MUSI 131: Basic Musical Skills

Session I May 15 - June 10

Allison Robbins

No previous knowledge of music required. Enrollment limited to 15 students. The course begins by establishing a basic competency in reading and writing musical notation, and subsequently examines principles of melody, and the construction and progression of chords. We study rhythm, melody, and harmony in selected single pieces, including some popular songs.

MUSI 207A: Hip Hop History and Culture

Session I May 15 - June 10

Loren Ludwig

Enrollment limited to 15.

No prior musical experience necessary.

An exploration of hip hop from historical, cultural, and musical perspectives with an emphasis on issues of race and gender. Through critical listening and reading, class discussion and writing, students will develop a nuanced understanding of this cultural and musical force.

MUSI 202/306: Opera: Then and Now

Session I May 15 - June 10

Mary Simonson

In this course, we will explore opera as a musical genre and cultural phenomenon. Using several operatic works (by composers such as Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, Bizet, and Puccini), we will explore the ways in which the composition, libretti, and most importantly, the performance of operas are connected to the cultural, social, and political contexts that surround them. What did opera mean to audiences and performers in the 18th and 19th centuries, and what does it mean to us today? We'll also think more broadly about opera's relationship to contemporary entertainment forms, such as film, Broadway musicals, and music videos: in what ways do the movies and shows we watch draw upon, resemble, and move beyond operatic traditions? Coursework will screenings of a number of opera films, popular films, and musical theater productions, readings in opera history, film theory, and popular culture studies, and potentially, attendance at a live performance.

Music 207B: History of Rock Music

Session II June 13 - July 11

Michael Bishop

Enrollment limited to 25 students.

This course traces rock music to its roots in African American and white southern vernacular music through its major periods of development toward the present day. We will consider some of the scholarly issues associated with rock history: race and issues of racial appropriation, minstrelsy, gender identity, sexual politics, rock as a political and symbolic force. Using images, videos, films, and music, the course will also foster an understanding of the ways new media have shaped rock reception and style, the impact of new technologies on rock as a corporate entity.

MUSI 207C: Bluegrass

Session II June 13 - July 11

Lee Bidgood

Enrollment limited to 25

Bluegrass, a sub-genre of country music that has grown far beyond its putative origins in Kentucky horse country, provides both a fascinating array of insights into American culture and life and a surprising variety of responses all over and outside of the US. This course will use discussion, readings, and active engagement with performance (in class and out in the world) to open up discourse on this music that addresses locality and identity, race, gender, faith, transcendence, and numerous performance issues.

MUSI 205: Ecoacoustics and the Sound of Place

Session II June 13 - July 11

Peter Swendsen

No previous knowledge of music is required. Enrollment limited to 15.

Composers have long been fascinated with nature, using it as inspiration, motivation, and material in a variety of musical forms, but the second half of the 20th century saw the emergence of deeper relationships between artists and their natural surroundings. This course will examine this movement of "ecoacoustics" by exploring the writings and compositions of its leading figures while touching on the related topics of recording technologies, ecological psychology, cultural environmentalism, and art as activism.

MUSI 409: Gender and Sexuality in Popular Music - Cancelled

Session III July 13 - August 10

Shana Goldin-Perschbacher

Enrollment limited to 15 students

Major identity issues of our time are played out in popular music. This course will investigate topics of gender identity and sexuality, as well as intersecting race issues, in recent popular music. We will study musicians including (but not limited to) Eminem, Lil' Kim, Missy Elliot, Madonna, Jeff Buckley, Led Zeppelin, Bjork, Ani diFranco, Radiohead, Janis Joplin, Meshell NdegeOcello, kd lang, and Prince. We will read feminist and music scholarship, as well as popular music criticism (from Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, The Village Voice, and other magazines), listen to and analyze music and watch music videos, and interview fans of the band or performer you decide to write about. No special knowledge of music required, just an interest in popular music. One paper, one presentation, and an open book final exam. (Music majors will write a final paper discussing further the same performer/band of the first paper instead of taking a final exam). All course materials (reading and music) will be available online via Toolkit as well as in a course packet.

MUSI 207B: History of Rock and Roll

Session III July 13 - August 10

Nicholas Rubin

Enrollment limited to 15.

No previous knowledge of music required.--what is required is a willingness to engage a wide range of sounds and styles, from the familiar to the esoteric.

Through intensive reading and listening, this course will provide students with an overview of the roots and evolution of rock and roll, keeping broader historical, social, and economic contexts in clear view. In addition to noting the most canonized movements in rock and roll - such as the British Invasion - we will devote attention to less-glorified developments - such as "girl groups," prog, bubblegum, and postpunk. Daily discussion will move beyond "the music itself" to issues of race, class, and gender, inflected by our growing knowledge of rock and roll's business and legal history. There will be daily quizzes, several short writing assignments, a class presentation, and a final exam.

MUSI 239/339: Intro to Music Technology

Session III July 13 - August 10

Edward Coffey

Enrollment limited to 15.

This course will serve as an introduction to the theory and practice of working with music technology in a studio setting. Students will gain knowledge of key figures and works, and will gain hands-on experience with recording equipment and digital audio software by completing computer-based composition projects.