Prerequisite: Admission to the graduate program in Music or permission of the instructor.
Textbook and Materials (Required; Used Copies Acceptable):
Course Objectives: This course is an introduction to the materials of music scholarship and the techniques and methods by which they are found and used. In this course you will become acquainted with and learn to use:
You will also learn:
Communication: It is your obligation to read, follow and complete all assignments and other instructions (verbal or written) given to you in the course of this semester. You are responsible for any information or instructions given out in any of the following ways:
Attendance: Regular class attendance is expected of all enrolled students. As graduate students you will not earn any formal credit for attendance, however attendance will be taken at every class meeting and poor attendance will affect your grade. You are responsible for all materials covered and all announcements made in every class, whether you are present or not.
Attendance Policy for Tests & In-class Assignments: No unexcused absence from an announced test, quiz or other in-class assignment will ever be allowed. Failure to appear for such a test or assignment will result in a grade of “0” (zero) for that test or assignment. Late arrivals at announced tests will not be given any additional time to complete the test, nor will instructions or audio portions of the test be repeated.
Make-up Policy: Should you be unable to attend an announced test due to participation in an officially sanctioned UCF event or personal observance of a religious holiday, you must notify me at least one week in advance of that test to schedule an alternate time. For personal or family emergencies (e.g., funerals), you must notify me as early as possible. At a minimum, send an email message as soon as possible to inform me of your situation. In some cases, I will require documented proof of the reason for your absence. You may then be allowed to take a make-up test or submit the assignment no later than 48 hours after the scheduled date or your return to campus, whichever is sooner. Make-up tests may be different from announced tests to ensure the integrity of the testing process.
Testing and Grading: Your grade in this course will be determined by your performance in the following:
| Assignment / Test | Weighting |
|---|---|
| Miscellaneous Assignments Attendance/Class Participation | 30% |
| Program Annotations | 10% |
| Book Review | 10% |
| WWW/Wikipedia paper | 10% |
| "State of Research" paper | 20% |
| Annotated Bibliography | 20% |
The miscellaneous assignments will consist of various tasks related to class discussions or minor resesrch & writing tasks, e.g., preparation of small reports, analyses, etc. Your ability and willingness to contribute to class discussions may also be noted here.
The Program annotations will be a written assignment of medium length that introduces and describes 3-4 pieces of music for an audience of non-musicians.
The Book Review will be a written evaluation of some monograph on a music topic written for an audience of music professionals.
The "WWW/Wikipedia paper" will be an extended research paper that discusses the value and use of various electronic resources available on the WWW.
The “State of Research” Paper and the “Annotated Bibliography” will be the culmination of your work in this course. Briefly, you will assemble a list of resources on some topic in music, using any and all of the materials covered in the course, and comment briefly upon them in the list. You will also prepare a research paper of significant length that discusses these and other resources, and their significance and value to the topic.
The following numeric equivalents apply to all grades (individual assignments & final course grade):
| 100.00 – 92.00 | = A | Clearly Superior Work at the Graduate Level, Assignments meet all stated requirements, Strong writing that contains either no or very few minor errors, Work submitted on or ahead of time. |
| 91.99 - 90.00 | = A- | |
| 89.99 - 88.00 | = B+ | Completely Satisfactory Work at the Graduate Level, Assignments meet most stated requirements, Writing that contains minor errors that do not impede understanding, Work generally submitted on time. |
| 87.99 - 82.00 | = B | |
| 81.99 - 80.00 | = B- | |
| 79.99 - 78.00 | = C+ | Marginally Satisfactory Work at the Graduate Level, Assignments usually meet most stated requirements, Writing that contains errors that begin to impede understanding, Work not always submitted on time. |
| 77.99 – 72.00 | = C | |
| 71.99 – 70.00 | = C- | |
| 69.99 – 68.00 | = D+ | Generally Unsatisfactory Work at the Graduate Level, Assignments do not meet many of the stated requirements, Writing that contains errors that significantly impede understanding, Work rarely submitted on time. |
| 67.99 – 62.00 | = D | |
| 61.99 – 60.00 | = D- | |
| 59.99 - 0.00 | = F | Unsatisfactory Work at the Graduate Level, Assignments do not meet stated requirements, Writing with excessive errors, lacks organization and approaches incoherence, Work not submitted or frequently late. |
Questions about the grading or evaluation of any test or other assignment must be raised at the time that item is returned to you. You may not argue for points based on your perception of the grading of a question vis-à-vis another student’s work. Only obvious clerical errors on my part will be corrected.
Special note on submitting papers and related items for grading: All papers and other written assignments must be submitted for grading as "electronic documents," i.e., as computer files in WORD or a compatible format (generally RTF). No "hard copies" will be accepted unless I have determined that our computers are completely incompatible. You may submit your assignment either by sending me the item as an email attachment or by bringing your item to my office on a jump drive or other form of transportable storage device. Additionally, you are expected to keep multiple copies of your papers and projects on different jump drives (or other devices) so that you may recover lost work as quickly as possible. Anyone claiming "computer failure" as the reason for not being able to submit an assignment will be given no more than 24 hours to produce the most recently saved version of your work from a back-up drive. The inability to produce such an item when requested will result in a grade of "0" for that assignment.
Items turned in late will be assessed a 10-point penalty for every 24 hours or fraction of a day that they are late. This penalty may be waived or lessened at my discretion, provided I am informed at least 24 hours in advance when you will not meet a deadline.
Final course averages are calculated to the nearest 1/100 of a point. In the case of a borderline final average, I reserve the right to award the next highest grade, based on class participation, preparation, attendance, and related factors.
No extra credit work or alternate assignments will be accepted in lieu of or in addition to the assignments and tests listed on this syllabus.
Due dates for all tests and graded assignments will be announced at least one week in advance.
The Final Examination period for MUH 6916 is scheduled for : Tuesday, 6 December 2011, at 7:00 - 9:50 pm. All graded materials are due by the end of that period.
Reserve Materials: As the semester progresses both optional and required supplementary items may be placed on reserve for reading or listening. You will be informed in class when such items go on reserve, and the course web page will include a list of all such items used in the term. Additionally, some assignments will require materials that are not on reserve. Students are advised to remember that other members of the class may need access to them, and to act accordingly.
Class Procedures and your Responsibilities: You will be given a variety of readings and other assignments on a weekly based (always posted on the course web site). It is your obligation to complete those tasks to the best of your ability on the announced schedule so that you may participate in class discussions and ask relevant questions.
You are strongly encouraged to bring your laptop or other portable computer to class for both note-taking and active work during class time. To ensure full use of your computer while on campus, go to: https://publishing.ucf.edu/sites/itr/cst/Pages/WirelessNetworkOverview.aspx for instructions on how to register your personal computer so that it has full access to the UCF wireless resources (including the UCF Library).
You should carry your textbook and notebook to all class meetings. You should take notes about any information presented in class, and you should feel free to ask questions at any time if something is not clear to you.
Following the class, you should re-read the relevant passages in the textbook and study any new materials presented in class.
As a matter of respect to others in the classroom, you are not to engage in conversations unrelated to the current activities of this course, use cell phones or other electronic devices (turn off such items before entering my classroom), or work on anything unrelated to MUH 6916 (assignments for other courses, newspapers, puzzles, etc.) during class time. Individuals engaged in such activities will be asked once to cease. The second time they will be told to leave the classroom, and they will be marked absent for that day.
YOu should know that the Music Building is a brand-new structure, and to keep it in good condition, department policies state that you are not to bring food into any classroom. You may bring water only to class. For those who must bring meals or snacks, use the terrace or other outside areas for eating during breaks.
This course is labor intensive, and it will require that you come to campus on many occasions beyond your class meeting day to use the library. In preparing for each class meeting you should allot a minimum of 3 hours for every hour of a class meeting, which means at least 9 hours of outside preparation and other work per week. You may find it useful to form study groups so that you may help one another in your preparations for class and for tests. You are not, however, allowed to collaborate on any graded assignments in this class unless you are specifically directed so. (see "Academic Integrity" below)
Academic Integrity: All graded work in this class must be yours alone. You are never to collaborate with anyone on tests or other graded assignments in this class. You are allowed and encouraged to work together with your classmates or any other individuals, e.g., professors, students not enrolled in this class, etc., when you are reading the textbook or other assigned readings, studying for tests, and even in the general research that you do before preparing your various projects, but any graded work that you present as your own may not contain the work or assistance of any other individual. Violators will be referred to the appropriate UCF authorities for prosecution (see the latest edition of The Golden Rule for more details).
Accomodations for Disabilities: Any student with a documented disability may receive a special accommodation to complete any requirements of this course. Any student requesting such an accommodation must contact the Office of Student Disability Services (SRC 132; phone 407-823-2371), where such requests are processed. The SDS will ask for documentation of the disability, and they will then notify the instructor of the appropriate accommodations that may be allowed. NB. You cannot simply tell me of your situation, nor can you make requests after the fact, e.g., after you have taken a test or completed the course.
Tentative Schedule: A tentative listing of all class meetings, topics for discussion, readings, and due dates may be found on the relevant web page for this course.