MUS 235, Critical Studies in Music, Fall, 2009
Michael Dessen, University of California, Irvine
Syllabus

syllabus | schedule

Course meets: Tuesdays, 2:00-4:50pm, MM 316
Course webpage: http://music.arts.uci.edu/mdessen
My office: 105 Music and Media
Phone: Victim of budget cuts. Please use email.
Office hours: Tuesdays, 11am - 1pm, and by appointment
Email: mdessen@uci.edu

Course description

For this course, you are invited to explore new ways of thinking about music and culture. Rather than emphasize a single scholarly discipline or musical tradition, we will study writings by a range of researchers, philosophers and artists, and highlight questions that have shaped interdisciplinary discourses of music and cultural studies during recent decades. The focus is on strengthening your analytical skills, primarily through close reading, as well as writing exercises, oral presentations, and take home exams.

Reading

Weekly readings are the core of this course. The articles are grouped very loosely around key ideas but diverge in topic and method. I expect you to have carefully read the three assigned articles each week, and to be prepared to summarize their main points. In addition, during the beginning of the course we will also read the Sardar book, a comic-style introduction to cultural studies, for general background. For the final week of classes, you will choose a book from a list I'll provide, or read any other book you clear with me in advance.

Abstract and presentation assignments

For many of the articles we will read, one student will be assigned a five-minute presentation and one-page handout, and another student will bring to class an abstract of 300 words or less. We will have 12 or more students in this class, and you'll each be responsible for one abstract and one presentation (on different days) for the quarter. We'll assign the dates/articles randomly in the first class.

Most weeks, we'll spend the first half of class analyzing the abstracts and presentations and focusing on the content of the articles in an objective way, and the second half for a more free-flowing discussion including your personal reactions.

About the abstracts

An abstract is a concise summary. Most scientific articles are accompanied by abstracts so that researchers can quickly glean the results of an experiment. Abstracts are also used in the humanities and social sciences to capture an author's thesis and method. While some abstracts are very short and meant only to describe the topic of the article, the kind we'll be writing is slightly longer and is intended as a "boiled down" version of the article that conveys maxiumum information in a limited space.

Some of the articles we'll read will lend themselves well to an abstract, in that they have a clear central idea with supporting arguments. Others will be more poetic in style and difficult to summarize. But in every case, the challenge is to capture the essence of the article as fully as possible within the word limit.

Use a word processor that has "word count" feature to make sure your abstract is within the 300-word limit. Please revise your work carefully, and submit it to the Dropbox "weekly assignments" folder before the beginning of the class in which it is due. Use rtf, txt, or MSWord format.

About the presentations

For the presentations, you have five minutes plus a one-page handout with which to summarize the article. Please do not fill an entire page with text or quotes. Using some quotes and key terms is fine, but paraphrase when possible and use a concise format such as an outline or list.

Please post your handout to the Dropbox "weekly assignments" folder before the beginning of the class in which it is due. Use rtf, txt, or MSWord format. You can use your five minutes in any way your choose, but try to get through your handout during that time. Treat this as a teaching exercise: How would you quickly explain the author's key ideas to an audience who has not read it?

Book presentation assignment

For the final week of class, you'll give a five-minute presentation on your chosen book with a concise handout, followed by questions from the class. I'll provide details on this assignment and the book list two weeks ahead of time.

Midterm and final exams

Both the midterm and final exams will be take-home writing assignments. The essay questions may reference the material we have read and/or new material I'll provide. Each test will be given out a week before it's due. The dates are:

Midterm: Handout on Tuesday, Oct. 27, due by 2 pm, Tuesday, Nov. 3
Final: Handout on Tuesday, Dec. 1, due by 5 pm, Tuesday, Dec. 8

Please note that we will not meet on Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 24, and will instead have an online writing/discussion assignment that week because (based on past experience) many students will have left for the break by that time.

Required materials

There is one required book, available in the UCI Bookstore: Introducing Cultural Studies, by Ziauddin Sardar and Borin Van Loon. The bulk of the course readings will be individual essays, which you will normally access through the library's electronic reserves.

Grading

Sources and academic honesty

Please do not use published abstracts or other sources such as Wikipedia to write your abstract or presentation, since that limits the effectiveness of the exercise. If you are completely lost and absolutely must use outside sources to better understand an article before producing a presentation or abstract, cite your sources carefully and use your own words as much as possible.

You should also be aware of the UCI policy on academic honesty, which is online at:
http://www.senate.uci.edu/senateweb/default2.asp?active_page_id=754

Late/makeup/absence policy

Assignments, presentations and exams must be completed on time, or they will receive an F. If you have a truly severe illness or emergency you should contact me on the due date (and be prepared to provide documentation). Repeated absences or failure to come to class prepared will lower your participation grade.

Special needs

If you have a disability that affects your performance in this course, you must document it through the Disabilities Services Office at the beginning of the quarter, and have them contact me to establish the necessary arrangements.

Office hours and getting help

If you have any trouble with the course, it is important to seek help as early as possible. If you want to meet for help but cannot make my office hours, please email me some times you are free.