I've been teaching a Writing Seminar in the Princeton Writing Program since Fall 2010. It's gone through a few iterations/revisions. The most recent goes like this:
Music and Power
The explosion in popularity of mp3 downloads allegedly portends the end of the music industry’s power as we’ve come to know it, while musicians use their compositions to express scathing critique, subtle reinforcement, or outright support of society’s existing power dynamics. How do artists position themselves in relation to the business of music and to the dominant culture as a whole? How does the sound of cultural engagement manifest in music itself? This course explores music’s ability to advocate or question prevailing values and mores. First, we use Radiohead’s In Rainbows as well as its novel distribution scheme to test Walter Benjamin’s provocative assertions on the mechanical reproduction of art. Next, we examine Amiri Baraka’s “The Changing Same (R&B and the New Black Music)” and music criticism by Daphne Brooks in order to evaluate Erykah Badu’s incendiary New Amerykah: Part One (4th World War). Students then choose a long-form musical work and make a researched argument about its relationship to power. Possible topics include The Mingus Big Band’s Blues and Politics, Bikini Kill’s Revolution Girl Style Now!, and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony. We conclude by creating press kits for imaginary bands relevant to a particular cultural and historical moment.
Music and Power
The explosion in popularity of mp3 downloads allegedly portends the end of the music industry’s power as we’ve come to know it, while musicians use their compositions to express scathing critique, subtle reinforcement, or outright support of society’s existing power dynamics. How do artists position themselves in relation to the business of music and to the dominant culture as a whole? How does the sound of cultural engagement manifest in music itself? This course explores music’s ability to advocate or question prevailing values and mores. First, we use Radiohead’s In Rainbows as well as its novel distribution scheme to test Walter Benjamin’s provocative assertions on the mechanical reproduction of art. Next, we examine Amiri Baraka’s “The Changing Same (R&B and the New Black Music)” and music criticism by Daphne Brooks in order to evaluate Erykah Badu’s incendiary New Amerykah: Part One (4th World War). Students then choose a long-form musical work and make a researched argument about its relationship to power. Possible topics include The Mingus Big Band’s Blues and Politics, Bikini Kill’s Revolution Girl Style Now!, and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony. We conclude by creating press kits for imaginary bands relevant to a particular cultural and historical moment.
I was also an Assistant in Instruction for many courses in the Princeton University Department of Music while a doctoral fellow in the composition program. These included:
Music 104: When Music is Made with Paul Lansky
Music 105-106: Music Theory Through Performance and Composition with Dmitri Tymoczko
Music 205: Species Counterpoint with Dan Trueman
Music 206: Tonal Syntax with Dan Trueman
Music 265: Rock, R&B, and Hip-Hop with Rob Wegman/Stephen Arthur Allen
Music 104: When Music is Made with Paul Lansky
Music 105-106: Music Theory Through Performance and Composition with Dmitri Tymoczko
Music 205: Species Counterpoint with Dan Trueman
Music 206: Tonal Syntax with Dan Trueman
Music 265: Rock, R&B, and Hip-Hop with Rob Wegman/Stephen Arthur Allen
A long time ago, as an undergraduate at Williams College I was a teaching assistant in a few courses in the Department of Music:
20th Century Music Theory with Karl Korte (I ran the ear training and musicianship building components)
Revolutions in the History of Popular Music with W. Anthony Sheppard
20th Century Music Theory with Karl Korte (I ran the ear training and musicianship building components)
Revolutions in the History of Popular Music with W. Anthony Sheppard
