Syllabus for the dictation section of Sight Singing & Dictation 1. This class was taught virtually and synchronously.

The main goal of this Environmental Science 99 Laboratory course is for you to think about how we interact with the environment, our impacts and the results of these, not just in our immediate vicinity but globally. We will focus on three main topics; sustainability, pollution and climate change.

An additional goal is to gain knowledge of the fundamental scientific basis of major environmental issues facing society, including climate change, air, soil and water quality, food production for a growing population, sustainable energy resources and biodiversity. We also consider these problems in the context of the current social, economic, & political environment. In addition to discussing these environmental challenges, we will address potential solutions and management practices that have been or could be implemented to mitigate the negative impacts of the current environmental issues facing our neighborhoods, cities, countries and planet.

Everyone eats. In this sense, the experience of food is common to us all. Yet the meanings we attach to food—as individuals with complex personal histories and needs, as members of particular cultures, communities, and belief systems—are remarkably diverse and powerful. In this course, we engage works by scholars, poets, and other writers to explore the significance of food as the source of inspiration and debate. This exploration will serve as a basis for our own writing. Our written responses will explore food as it relates to identity, social justice, and the environment—showing how far inquiry into one topic can stretch.

Course: ENG 110: Food as Philosophy, System, Controversy
Instructor: Nicole Cote
This project was first developed during the Open Pedagogy Fellowship (Winter 2021), through the Mina Rees Library at The Graduate Center.

Read more about this project: Cultivating Resources for the Future by Nicole Cote
https://gclibrary.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2021/04/22/cultivating-resources-for-the-future/

In this course you get the opportunity to research a gentrifying neighborhood in NYC and develop a mini case study that examines housing and urban restructuring through a critical lens. Drawing on various methods (including field observations), weekly assignments, and discussions with your peers; you’ll build toward completing your case study over the 6-week period. During this time you will also learn:

how gentrification impacts affordable housing
why gentrification is a form of racial capitalism
what forms of local resistance exist
theories that attempt to explain how gentrification operates, and
methods for studying urban space

A small group activity in which students interpret an example of Renaissance dance notation: “The Washerwoman’s Branle,” taken from Thoinot Arbeau’s 1589 book Orchesography. Students are tasked with figuring out what information is communicated by each column, imagining how one might use the example to learn this dance, and considering the strengths and weaknesses of the notation method. This worksheet includes space to summarize the group discussion and an image of the dance notation divided by rectangles.

An icebreaker activity for the first day of class. Instructor introduces the idea of the “Three Bs” in classical music, before introducing the “Three Bs” of current popular music (this instructor chose Beyonce, Bad Bunny, and BTS). Students choose their favorite “B” and pair up with others who made the same choice. Other grouping prompts can easily be substituted here, like favorite genre of music. Students then take turns interviewing each other, asking two questions and summarizing their partner’s answers in writing. At the end, groups can share their answers with the clas and the instructor can type them out on the Powerpoint.

Peer review pair activity intended for early stage of the writing process. Students ask each other questions about their project and record the answers, allowing them to explore and articulate the ideas that will eventually be included in their paper. After finishing the interviews on pages 1 and 2, students write down helpful suggestions for their partner on page 3. The questions in this activity can easily be changed to fit other writing assignments like a concert report or research paper.

In-class activity for small groups of 3-4 students; intended to review the musical characteristics associated with four genres of sacred music: plainchant; organum; Renaissance mass; chorale. In the first phase, groups are asked to fill out a table with the musical characteristics of each genre while looking over their notes and textbook. In the second phase, groups are given online access to four anonymous musical examples (one for each genre). While listening and discussing at their own pace, groups should identify the genre for each example and give two reasons behind their choice. The format of this activity can be easily repurposed to fit other musical genres, periods, or styles.

In-person, non-major introduction to music featuring quizzes in combination with a midterm presentation and final project. Assigned textbook: Esther M. Morgan-Ellis’ Resonances: Engaging Music in its Cultural Context.

COURSE GOALS

Develop an appreciation for literature and its analysis as part of encountering and understanding the world and its regions in a cultural and historical context;
Develop close reading skills to interpret literary texts across different genres;
Develop familiarity with some conventional disciplinary language and its use to think about how texts work (for example, assessing literary works in terms of voice, tone, and structure);
Understand how context works with ideas to produce the meaning of a text;
Use both informal and formal writing as opportunities to discover one’s own ideas in conversation with the ideas of others;
Write a thoughtful, analytical and coherent essay that is firmly grounded in the text and adheres to MLA guidelines.

Exploring Music (aka Introduction to Music) examines how music communicates and embodies social and personal ideas, beliefs, and values relevant to both music makers and users. Musical elements and listening skills are introduced and developed throughout the course in order to explicate musical meanings. We will investigate topics such as music and love, music and gender, music and politics, war, ethnicity, et cetera. We will also examine how these topics are embedded in different genres of music, including popular music, world music, and Western art music (also known as classical music). No previous musical expertise such as knowledge of musical notation is required to succeed in this class. At the end of this semester, students will better understand how different musics function within their social context.

Medical anthropology examines how health and illness, as well as medical knowledge and practice, are shaped not only by culture but also by social, political and economic realities. In this course you will be introduced to the key theoretical frameworks, concepts and debates that have shaped this vast subfield of cultural anthropology. Together, we will draw on this knowledge to critically examine questions of cultural difference, power, and inequality in relation to local and global current events as well as our own experiences of health, illness and medical care. On this site you will find all of the readings, assignments and resources associated with the course as well as a virtual space to connect with each other beyond the classroom.

In this course, we examine contemporary discourse and practice around writing instruction in the secondary English Language Arts (ELA) classroom. School-based composition is often framed and assessed as a specific set of discrete skills that can be developed through decontextualized “best practices.” We will interrogate the assumptions about writing and literacy that sustain these practices and contextualize them within larger (settler) colonial projects. Ultimately, we will develop our own writing philosophies and associated curricular innovations and pedagogical moves.

Specifically, throughout this course, we will:

Review the social, historical, and political contexts that shape contemporary approaches to standards-based writing instruction
Investigate our assumptions about the writing process and our conceptions of “good” writing
Explore the challenges, tensions, and possibilities of a decolonial educational framework
Develop a range of creative, collaborative, and nontraditional approaches to standards-based writing instruction

Read more about the course design:
Mina Rees Library | Drafting Possible Futures
https://gclibrary.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2020/05/06/oer-drafting-possible-futures/

See also: Drafting Possible Futures: An Open-Access Handbook for English Educators
Link: https://764handbook.commons.gc.cuny.edu/
This website was collaboratively created by students enrolled in Multimodal Writing in the Standards-Based ELA Classroom. Students wrote the introduction and all chapters, and two student editors reviewed all pieces and created the website design. The result is a document that can be used by any ELA teachers as well as future English Education students.

Syllabus and schedule for a graduate level course designed to introduce Master’s students in music theory and musicology to the academic music research process (e.g. reference tools, citation styles, types of sources, etc.) and build their skills in academic writing. The course is taught seminar style: each week features readings from Booth et. al, The Craft of Research; Sampsel, Music Research: A Handbook; and contemporary selections from various writing genres across the fields of music theory and musicology. The core assignment for the semester is a 15-18 page term paper broken down into various stages.

Syllabus used for the sight singing portion of MUSIC 171 at the Queens College Aaron Copland School of Music. MUSIC 171 is divided between sight singing and dictation, for which there are separate syllabuses. The sight singing portion met twice a week (Tuesday and Friday) for one hour. This syllabus outlines the course policies and content goals, which mainly include cultivating understanding and fluency of movable do solfege, confidence in singing melodies with steps, leaps, and uncomplicated rhythms in major and minor modes, and ability to sight read easy melodies and rhythms in a variety of simple and compound meters.

Sheet with various permutations of the major-key tonic triad arpeggio, including iterations that start on all three chord members. Used in class as a warmup exercise during the first several weeks of sight singing 1. One way you can mix up this in-class activity and/or make it more challenging is to change the key: have students sing these arpeggios in a key other than C major, even though they are reading in C major. An even further challenge is to have them sing it in minor, without showing the accidentals/change in key signature.

A written assignment that asks students to locate and compare two reviews of the same piece from different locations/periods, including specific features to discuss from both reviews. This prompt is best suited to advanced music majors familiar with research and musical reception, ideally within a class focused on a specific composer or genre.

A written assignment that asks students to examine and compare multiple editions of the same Bach composition. This prompt can be easily adapted to fit other composers.