HIST 170/HONR 178: Music & Politics

[Sample Syllabus]

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Stowe, David. Swing Changes: Big-Band Jazz in New Deal America. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press, 1994.
Music and Politics Coursepack, available at Copycat Photocopy Center (1203 25th St.)

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Assuming you complete all requirements and assignments, you should be able to:
-Identify major intersections of musical and political thought
-Understand and apply (in writing) broad musical concepts in melody, harmony, rhythm, and texture, among others
-Describe different ways in which politics can manifest in music (be it in the works themselves or in other indirect ways)

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

You will be assigned frequent readings, most likely three or so per week, and you will be expected to write a short paper (i.e., 1-2 pages, double-spaced) covering each of these readings. These should not be synopses (though you may have a sentence or two summarizing what it is you read), but should instead engage with the ideas or arguments laid out by the author. These will be graded as &Mac195;+ (interesting and well-supported opinions, insights, or queries about the reading; grammatically coherent prose), &Mac195; (demonstrates basic understanding of and engagement with major issues in the reading; some errors in grammar or syntax), &Mac195;- (limited engagement with material; significant problems with textual coherence), and 0 (did not turn in). These papers will be worth 35% of your overall grade, so it’s in your best interest to keep up with them.

MIDTERM AND FINAL EXAMS

Both the midterm and final exams will be worth 20% of your grade, or 40% total. These will be take-home tests organized as a series of essays on a selected topic or topics. You may (and will be expected to) use the assigned readings and notes from class to complete these exams. You will have approximately a week to complete each exam. You are expected to work independently of your colleagues; plagiarized exams, be they from your classmates or other sources, will receive zeroes.

CLASS PROJECT AND PAPER

The last few weeks of class will be turned over to you. You must choose a topic not covered during class time (though it may lie within a larger area of study that we address, such as “Music and Race”) and prepare 1) a presentation on that topic for the class and 2) a research-oriented paper of approximately 10 pages on that subject. You may work individually or in groups of no more than four people; please bear in mind that those pursuing group projects will receive one grade for the group as a whole (but will only have to submit one paper). You may structure your presentation in any way you see fit: a straightforward lecture, a field trip, a lecture-demonstration, whatever. If you have special audio-visual needs, please let me know ahead of time. The paper and project together will be worth 15% of your final grade.

ATTENDANCE

Students are expected to attend and arrive on time for every class, to complete all assignments before coming to class, and to bring all necessary texts. Attendance and class participation will count for 10% of your final grade (5% attendance + 5% class participation). More than three unexcused absences will result in a zero for the attendance portion of your grade. If you are unable to attend a class because of professional or university-related obligations, sickness, or extraordinary personal circumstances, please notify me at least one day in advance and provide appropriate documentation (e.g., a letter from your studio instructor for competitions, ensemble director for tours, health center for illness, etc); otherwise, it will be counted as an unexcused absence.

LISTENING EXAMPLES

A full understanding of music cannot be achieved without opportunities to listen and describe it, so it is in your best interest to keep up on all listening assignments. A variety of listening examples (MP3s), organized by week, will be posted on the Blackboard page for this class; this is accessible at http://bb2.drake.edu via the "Course Documents" link. The examples range from 2 to 7 MB in size, so you may want to have a fairly speedy internet connection at hand.

Please note that these examples are all intended for your personal educational use only. They are NOT to be redistributed through any electronic or mechanical medium. These excerpts are intended for the educational purposes of this class, with the expectation that you will delete them from your hard drive after the end of the term.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Academic dishonesty, according to the Drake University 2002-04 General Catalog (pp. 23-26), involves “any activity that seeks to gain credit for work one has not done or to deliberately damage or destroy the work of others.” This includes, but is not limited to, plagiarism (“misrepresenting another’s ideas, phrases, discourse, or works as one’s own”) and cheating (“the act, or attempted act, of giving or obtaining aid and/or information by illicit means in meeting any academic requirements, including examinations”). Penalties for violating academic honesty standards range from failing the assignment or exam to expulsion from the university. If you are unsure whether or not certain practices violate the principles of academic integrity, please ask me for clarification. For more, please refer to the Academic Integrity Policy in the Drake University General Catalog and to the entry Academic Dishonesty: Cheating and Plagiarism contained in the Drake Student Handbook.

Lecture-Exam-Paper Schedule; Reading and Listening Assignments

Week/Date Readings and Listening __________

1 1/19-21 Censorship: Nuzum, Parental Advisory, Ch. 11
2 1/24-28 Censorship: Winfield and Davidson, Chs. 2-3; Nuzum, Ch. 2;
Walser, Ch. 5
3 1/31-2/4 Censorship: Goldstein, Ch. 5; Frogley, “Constructing Englishness”
4 2/7-11 Music and Nation: Stradling and Hughes, Ch. 1; Kennedy, Ch. 1;
Harrington, “Holst and Vaughan Williams;” Vaughan Williams, excerpts from National Music; project proposals due (2/7)
5 2/14-18 Music and Nation: Werth; Tertz; McBurney, “Surviving Stalin”
(from Index on Censorship); Treitler (“Chaos Instead of Music”)
6 2/21/25 Music and Nation: Levi, Chs. 1 and 4; Treitler (Goebbels speech);
Ludwig, “Tales of Terezín” (from Index on Censorship)
7 2/28-3/4 Music and Race: Stowe, Intro and Ch. 1; Margolick excerpts
8 3/7-11 Music and Race: Stowe, Ch. 2; Garrett, “Chinatown, my
Chinatown;” Kenney, Ch. 1; Midterm exam assigned (3/11)
9 3/14-18 Music and Religion: Wagner, “The Jews in Music;” Verney, “Does
Allah Like Music?” and D’Endremont, “The Devil’s Disciples” (from Index on Censorship); Midterm exam due (3/18)
10 3/21-25 SPRING BREAK
11 3/28-4/1 Music and Political Expression: Greenway, Ch. 1; Street, “Rock,
Pop, and Politics”
12 4/4-8 Music and Gender: Walser, Ch. 4; Thomas, “Was G. F. Handel
Gay?”; something on castrati
13 4/11-15 Music and Patronage: Winfield and Davidson, Ch. 4; Stowe, Ch. 3;
Babbitt, “Who Cares if you Listen?” and Polin, “Why Minimalism Now?”
14 4/18-22 Class presentations
15 4/25-29 Class presentations
16 5/2-4 Class presentations; Final exam assigned (5/4)
17 5/11 FINAL EXAM PERIOD, 7:30-9:20 am, Final exam due

*This syllabus is to be used as an example, it is not meant for use by students currently enrolled in Hist 170/Honr 178