As per our course theme, there's more to the stage picture than meets the eye (& ear). Before an actor even enters a rehearsal studio or first steps onto the stage, months and often years of creative work and research will have gone into that play and production. In this course we will explore and try our hand at some of that pre-production creativity, as well as improvising, adapting, performing and writing short scenes and monologues that will be created and presented in small groups as part of your Final Project.

This course will introduce you to the various elements of the theatre with particular attention to the following inquiries: What is theatre? How is it created? What are the various occupations in the theatre? What is the position of theatre in society? My goal for this course is to give you the means to discuss theatrical experiences (either as theatre makers or spectators) as well as a great variety of theatrical traditions and provide a basis for your future endeavors with this art form. This will be based on lectures, readings, in-class discussions, and seeing four theatrical productions in person.

Scaffolded large assignment in which students watch a concert video of their choice, analyze one song from it, and review the concert as a whole. Students may choose to submit their final product as a written review or in podcast form. Designed for online asynchronous class during COVID-19 pandemic.

Low-stakes written assignment that functions as an “in-class” activity for asynchronous course. Comes in 3rd week of class, after reading about music’s significance/meanings (as a concept) from textbook “Soundscapes: Exploring Music in a Changing World” (Shelemay 2015). Helps students engage with the concept by grounding it in their everyday musical experiences, individually and in relationship with one another. Students cite this activity as one of their favorites because it gives them the chance to share musical examples that are important for them in some way with their classmates, and to gain exposure to diverse musics shared by their classmates. I like this simple activity because it helps students grasp how specific musical meaning is, dependent upon many social factors (social context, identity/ies, physical setting, geographic orientation, etc); in other words, it helps counter the myth of music as universal language, in a way that builds from students’ own experiences and thus is more memorable and meaningful for them.

This syllabus & schedule is presented to students as a Google doc. In the first week of the semester I ask students to comment on the doc with any questions, feedback, observations, etc that they want to share. I then respond to student comments and adapt syllabus accordingly if needed. After doing so, students take an open-book syllabus quiz that asks them to locate certain information on the syllabus. This ensures that students are familiar with the syllabus. This Word doc is a clean version of the syllabus, what students see before commenting on it.

Lecture notes/class plan for 16th class in semester, on Tibetan Buddhist ritual music. References Powerpoint slide deck that accompanies lecture. Includes core questions (how I frame learning objectives for the lesson) and low-stakes participation activity embedded throughout lecture.

First day activity in which students are challenged to answer the question “what is music?”. Helps students identify their assumptions about what music is, and challenges those assumptions by providing counter-examples. Leads to discussion about “music” as contextual, ambiguous, and subjective concept. By the end of the activity, students have both a working definition of “music” to use for the course, and an understanding that that definition is fluid, imperfect, and always up for debate. Also begins to build listening skills by challenging students to identify as many different sounds as possible in their current soundscape.

OER Based Syllabus for MUS 145 Intro to Jazz course at City College. Covers the history and development of jazz along with basic music fundamental vocabulary.

This syllabus is for a Freshmen Inquiry Writing Seminar, which is a two-section, collaboratively taught course wherein one of the two courses engages students in critical thinking, reading, and writing about the issue of language and literacy, while the other introduces students to conventions of academic writing and mentors them in social and rhetorical writing processes. Thus, this course draws on the topic of language and literacy as a vehicle for critically analyzing students' own languages and literacies and developing especially their academic and information literacies.

This syllabus is for a Freshmen Inquiry Writing Seminar, which is a two-section, collaboratively taught course wherein one of the two courses engages students in critical thinking, reading, and writing about the issue of language and literacy, while the other introduces students to conventions of academic writing and mentors them in social and rhetorical writing processes. Thus, this course draws on the topic of language and literacy as a vehicle for critically analyzing students' own languages and literacies and developing especially their academic and information literacies.

" This class explores the creation (and creativity) of the modern scientific and cultural world through study of western Europe in the 17th century, the age of Descartes and Newton, Shakespeare, Milton and Ford. It compares period thinking to present-day debates about the scientific method, art, religion, and society. This team-taught, interdisciplinary subject draws on a wide range of literary, dramatic, historical, and scientific texts and images, and involves theatrical experimentation as well as reading, writing, researching and conversing. The primary theme of the class is to explore how England in the mid-seventeenth century became "a world turned upside down" by the new ideas and upheavals in religion, politics, and philosophy, ideas that would shape our modern world. Paying special attention to the "theatricality" of the new models and perspectives afforded by scientific experimentation, the class will read plays by Shakespeare, Tate, Brecht, Ford, Churchill, and Kushner, as well as primary and secondary texts from a wide range of disciplines. Students will also compose and perform in scenes based on that material."

Examines the field of theatrical lighting design. Students gain an overall technical working knowledge of the tools of the trade and learn how and where to apply them to a final design. Explores artistic, conceptual, and collaborative processes of the craft. Hands-on approach with several classes spent in the theater. Students take advantage of the Boston theater scene by touring several off campus spaces and learning how theater architecture affects design choices. Assignments include: written script analysis, plot and paperwork for theoretical design in MIT theater space, and adaptation of plot to different spatial situations and locations. Oral presentations and in-class critiques. Final project required in which students execute a fully realized production (frequently a dance concert) from start to finish. This class explores the artistry of Lighting Design. Students gain an overall technical working knowledge of the tools of the trade, and learn how, and where to apply them to a final design. However essential technical expertise is, the class stresses the artistic, conceptual, collaborative side of the craft. The class format is a "hands on" approach, with a good portion of class time spent in a theatre.

This site is an open educational resource where you will find the course materials for ENT 4440 maintained by Professor Susan Brandt.

Since we all miss going to (or even having the option of going to) see concerts and other live performances, for this essay we will re-visit what makes art performed live such a marvelous experience. This assignment was created by Beth Counihan, Queensborough Community College, Department of English

The course offers a History of Western music through the study of various complete works. Focus on the skills and perspectives needed for informed listening. There are three main topics to which this course provides an introduction: First, the sonic structure of music, apprehended through analytical listening. This is centrally concerned with the musical elements of rhythm, pitch, timbre, and dynamics, both for themselves as well as for the ways in which they are organized into melody, harmony, texture, form, and, ultimately, style and genre. Second, the history of the main genres and stylistic trends in the notated music of Europe and North America over the last millennium. Third, the interaction of music with its various contexts: social, religious, technological, performative, commercial, artistic, and intellectual.

Introduces the study of music’s fundamental elements, forms, styles, and genres. Analyzes the historical development of music -- its social impacts and influences on various cultural aspects, Considers how musicians use art to portray, criticize, and transform their societies. Requires the recognition of selected works, styles, and musical forms though perceptive, active listening.
This term, the course will focus on popular music in America, 1900 to 2000.

This assignment details the specific information required for a writing assignment based on a formal live music experience of Western art music (excluding ballets, operas, and Broadway musicals) from any period ranging from The Middle Ages/Medieval to the Twenty-first Century. The guidelines include a brief self-critique questionnaire at the end.