MUSI 3570 - University of Virginia

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
I. Attendance and Class Participation – 10%
Your presence in class, both physically and mentally, is essential for satisfactory completion of the
course. Material that is not covered in the readings will be presented in class, and the natural course of
our class discussions will determine relevant topics that will appear on exams. Additional music and
video will be presented in class, all of which are fundamental to properly understanding the music and
concepts we cover.
You are expected to be in class prepared to discuss the assigned reading for the day. Everyone is
required to contribute to class discussions, and I will occasionally call on students in order to equalize
participation. Please help create a positive environment by respecting your fellow students, their
thoughts, and comments by paying attention and refraining from talking or other disruptive behavior.
This applies to when I am talking as well. Eating is also not allowed in class.
Laptops, iPads, and any other electronic device will not be permitted in class. I do not care to
compete with Facebook, photos, email, or blogs. All notes will have to be taken in class by hand.
Attendance policy: Excessive absences will hurt your chances of performing well in this course. If you
need to miss class due to an injury or illness, you must speak with me no later than the following class
with the reason for your excuse and documentation from the health center. More than two absences in
the semester will affect your attendance/participation grade and any unexcused absence will have a
detrimental affect on your grade. Serious illness/injury and other extenuating circumstances will be
dealt with on an individual basis. If you miss class, it is your responsibility to get the notes from that
day from another student.
II. Written Assignment – (5%) – Due B3 (Sun. Jan. 29)
One short written assignment will be handed in early in the semester that will be designed to engage you
with some of the relevant issues related to popular music as they apply to music that you are familiar
with. By thinking about how music in our own lives reflects some of the same issues we will encounter
throughout the voyage, we will be better able to see some of the commonalities among diverse popular
music genres and cultures of the world. Specific details about the assignment will be covered in class.
III. Field Component – Paper and Presentation (10% each, 20% total)
Every student will be required to complete two FDPs associated with this course and complete and
paper and presentation on them for the class. The field component of this course will be an opportunity
for students to engage some of the issues and topics discussed in class with their experiences with
popular music in various ports. Details regarding the nature of the activities, investigations, and analysis
will be covered specifically in class. Experiences in the field will also help build personal adaptability
and ways to develop strategies for negotiating a variety of cultural, linguistic, and geographic contexts.
Your field reports/papers will be approached as ethnographies and will incorporate a combination of
course-related Faculty Directed Practica (FDP) and independent activities. Details about FDP’s and
other port activities that can be used to satisfy the field component will be handed out separately.
SEMS – Spring 2012 – Popular Musics of the World Syllabus, p. 2