Course Syllabus
Syllabus: Introduction to Music
MUS 3, Lec B, course code 04020
UC Irvine, Summer Session 2, 2024
Instructor: Michael Dessen
TAs: Chieh Huang and Oliver Brown
Contacting the instructor and TAs: Please use Canvas messages (click on "Inbox" in the main Canvas menu)
Zoom office hours: Zoom links and info for weekly office hours is on this Page
Course description and learning areas
Welcome! This course will expand and deepen your relationship with music through a variety of lectures, readings, videos, writing assignments, and sound collages. We'll explore technical aspects of musical craft alongside broader cultural questions, drawing on diverse examples, both ancient and contemporary. The course is focused on four interrelated learning areas:
- Understanding fundamental music terms and concepts
What does it mean to say that a piece of music is in a key? What is rhythm? Do tuning systems vary across cultures? We'll explore concepts from both Western and non-Western music traditions, not merely defining terms but also asking what they reveal about our experience of music. - Thinking and writing critically about music's relationship to culture
Through diverse case studies, you will gain practice analyzing music's relationship to society. In addition to studies of specific musical works and artists, topics might include the use of music in treating dementia patients, intercultural collaboration through music, music as a form of political protest, the economics of streaming platforms, or debates about authorship and intellectual property. - Listening closely to music, with attention on subtle details
Many of us are surrounded by music throughout the day, but rarely listen to a piece of music with the singular concentration we might bring to reading a novel, or to having an important conversation. This course will give you opportunities to practice focused listening, improving your awareness of sonic details in both familiar and unfamiliar music genres. - Acquiring basic digital audio skills, and using them to create original work
A series of sound collage assignments will introduce basic concepts in digital audio and music production, giving you experience working with sound in time and increasing your awareness of the craft of composing. No prior musical experience is required, and most of these assignments give you freedom to make your own creative choices, while also including constraints and suggestions to help guide you.
Course format and engagement
This course is fully online. You will use Canvas to view lectures and other materials, complete assignments, and engage with other students, and you are not required to attend synchronous meetings. Information about optional weekly Zoom office hours is on this Page (and linked from the top of this Syllabus).
It is crucial that you set up your Canvas Notifications so that you receive Messages, Announcements and Submission Comments immediately (not in digest form), because we will use these tools for communicating with you.
Types of coursework
After a brief Welcome module, the course is structured in five Modules. Each module presents two or three different topics and includes the following types of coursework:
Assigned lectures, readings, and videos are the core of each module. You are expected to focus careful attention on these materials. There is no textbook and other than possibly one film rental, all materials will be made available for free.
Quizzes will cover the assigned lectures/reading/videos in that module, so you should take the quiz after completing them. Quizzes are timed but are open book/notes. Students generally find they do well on the quizzes as long as they thoroughly complete all of the assigned readings, lectures and videos first.
Writing Assignments (WA) address different topics each week, and are typically 400-700 words in length. You will also complete two peer reviews for most WAs. All WAs include a revision option, detailed below.
Sound Collages (SC) with digital audio software require no previous music training, and will introduce you in a hands-on way to working with sound in time. We will use a free, cross-platform software program called Soundtrap. Most SCs include two peer reviews, and SCs also include a revision option, detailed below.
Time management and work schedule
Because this course is asynchronous, careful time management is crucial for your success. Each of the five weekly Modules will open by Monday morning, and you must complete the work in each Module by two weekly deadlines, on Friday and the following Tuesday.
The simplest way to see all assignment submission due dates is to use the Canvas Calendar! Click on Calendar in the main Canvas menu, and make sure this course's calendar is checked. (Click "Calendar Feed" if you'd like to add this course calendar to your own.)
Weekly rhythm of due dates
Due 5pm each Friday (starting in week 1):
|
Due 5pm each Tuesday (starting in week 2):
|
When are grades released?
- WA scores are posted by Tuesday evening
- SC scores are posted by Friday evening
- Quiz grades are posted on Mondays
Is there a final exam? The assignment submissions in the final Module (WA5, SC5 and Quiz 5) constitute the final exam for this course, and there is no additional exam. If you need to submit a revision for WA5 or SC5, the turnaround time for submitting those revisions will be quicker than usual. Other than that difference, these assignments are similar to all others in the course (i.e. they cover only Module 5 materials and are not cumulative).
Grading
Quizzes are multiple choice, and are graded automatically by Canvas.
Sound Collages are graded as Complete/Incomplete, based on criteria detailed in the assignment's instructions. If you submit an SC in complete form by the due date, but it does not meet those criteria, you will be given an option to submit a revision (see "About Revisions" below for more details).
Writing Assignments are graded on a 2 points scale. WAs are designed so that you can achieve a grade of 2 (full credit) provided that you fully study the materials in the module and carefully prepare and revise your response before submitting. As with SCs, if you do not receive full credit (2 points), you will be given an option to submit a revision, as long as you submit the assignment by the due date and in complete form (see "About Revisions" below for more details). Grades for WAs are assigned as follows:
- 0 points: This grade means that you did not fully address the question, and/or that the quality of your writing was so poor that your ideas were not clear to us. The grader will leave you a comment indicating specifically what needs to be improved in a revision.
- 1 point: This grade means that both the writing and the ideas minimally address the question, but need improvement. The grader will leave a comment specifying what to improve if you wish to submit a revision, such as revising your writing for grammar, concision, and clarity, and/or more fully addressing one of the questions listed in the instructions.
- 2 points: This indicates full credit, and is given when both the writing and the content of your response are good quality and fully address the question.
Peer Reviews are graded Complete/Incomplete (see "About Peer Reviews" below).
How your course grade is calculated:
- Writing Assignments: 35% (5 total)
- Sound Collages: 25% (5 total)
- Quizzes: 30% (5 total)
- Peer Reviews for WAs and SCs: 10% (7 total)
Number to letter grade conversion will strictly follow the EEE/Canvas default grading scheme, without rounding up. There is no extra credit in this course, and grades are not curved.
About revisions
Why are revisions allowed? Writing about music (WAs) and creating collages with sounds (SCs) are new experiences for many students. We include the revision option so that students who are fully engaging with the assignment are not penalized due to lack of experience. Revisions for these assignments give you an opportunity to improve the quality of your work and learning, in response to feedback.
Under what conditions are revisions allowed? Revisions are only allowed if you submit the assignment in complete form by the due date. If your initial submission does not reflect a genuine attempt to engage with the assignment, then you will not be allowed a revision. This would happen, for example, if you submit a very brief WA response demonstrating very little effort, in response to instructions that asked for a thoughtful, 400-700 word response. To put this bluntly: The revision policy does not allow you to submit a quick, superficial response in order to buy more time beyond the deadline to actually do the work.
If my revision is giving a higher grade than my initial submission, is that revision grade counted as the final assignment grade? Yes.
How do I submit a revision? If you receive a grade of Incomplete on an SC, or a grade of 0 or 1 points on a WA, start by going to the assignment page (where you submitted the work) and reading the comments left by the instructor or TA, so that you know what needs to be addressed. If you have questions about their comments, it is usually better to message them directly, using the Canvas Inbox, rather than using the comment box on the assignment page. When you have completed your revised work, you must submit it the same way that you submitted it previously, by uploading it on the same assignment page. (Canvas will keep both versions and make the difference clear to us.) For Sound Collage revisions, you should upload new versions of all the required files.
When are revisions due? As noted above, the course Calendar lists all due dates, including revisions. Each WA and SC, in addition to a "due date," also has an "available until..." date, which is the deadline for submitting revisions. Note that if you received an extension on an assignment due to illness or emergency, your assignment due date and/or "available until..." date will be updated to reflect the new dates that were approved.
I don't see a "submit" button to upload my revision. Can I attach it to a comment? No. Do not submit your revised work as an attachment in the “comments” field. If the regular "submit" option is not available to you, it means you have missed the "available until..." deadline noted above and therefore cannot submit a revision.
When will my revision be graded? The instructor or TA will grade assignment revisions after the revision deadline for that assignment has passed. If you do not see a revised grade one week after that date, you can message the grader to ask about it.
About Peer Reviews
Where do I find Peer Review assignments? If you submit a Writing Assignment or Sound Collage by the due date, then once that due date passes, Canvas will automatically assign you 2 peer reviews by providing links to 2 other students' submissions. Those links are sent to you in a notification message, and you can also find them listed on the assignment page for the WA or SC that is being peer reviewed.
Will I be assigned a Peer Review if I don't submit that WA/SC assignment? No. If you do not submit a WA or SC assignment by the initial due date, you will not be assigned a Peer Review for that assignment, and will not be able to complete it.
How do I complete a Peer Review? To complete the peer reviews, you should leave a paragraph in response to your peers' submissions, using the "comment" box on the students' assignment page. You do not need to evaluate whether their work meets the assignment criteria. Instead, you should share what you found interesting in their work, or any other questions or viewpoints they might consider. We expect you to carefully review their work and leave a thoughtful response of a few sentences. You will not receive credit for a short response such as "Great job."
Do all WAs and SCs include Peer Reviews? Peer Reviews are required for WA1, WA2, WA3, and WA4, and for SC2, SC3 and SC4. (The first SC is more of a tutorial, and the final assignment in each category is not peer reviewed due to the shorter grading turnaround at the end of the course.)
What should I do if I only see one assigned Peer Review, not two? All assignments with peer reviews should show you links for two peer reviews, but in rare cases you will only see one because the second person dropped the class after being assigned to you. If this happens, send a message immediately to Prof. Dessen and you will be assigned a 2nd peer review.
Late policies
For Quizzes, late submissions will be penalized by 0.41% per hour, which equates to 10% each 24 hours. Canvas adds these penalties automatically, based on the submission time.
For Writing Assignments and Sound Collages, no late submissions will be accepted. If you wish to request an exception to the late policies due to illness or a genuine emergency, you must send a message via Canvas to Prof. Dessen as soon as possible, and include documentation (such as paperwork from a doctor's visit).
You should start Module work and assignments early, and avoid submitting assignments and quizzes in the final few hours before they are due. You will not be given an extension due to a failed internet connection at the last minute. This is a fully online course and it is your responsibility to plan ahead and ensure you have sufficient internet access to complete the work. This includes successfully setting up the VPN, which you are required to complete as part of the Welcome module. Similarly, if you have any technical difficulties working with Soundtrap, starting the work early will enable you to request technical help in time.
Academic integrity and Turnitin
All your work for this course must be entirely your own, and must conform to UCI's policies on academic integrity. You may not collaborate with others on any assignments (Quizzes, Writing Assignments, Sound Collages or Peer Reviews), and must not represent anyone else's work, or work created using AI tools such as ChatGPT, as your own.
You must avoid plagiarism by properly citing all sources, published or unpublished. Among other things, this means fully citing sources whenever you draw on others' work, even if you're paraphrasing it in your own words, and using quotation marks to indicate when you use another person's words verbatim. The required Welcome module includes a page with further details about what constitutes plagiarism.
The Turnitin integration in Canvas will be used for all Writing Assignments to help us identify cases of plagiarism, including copying from materials found on websites like Course Hero. Plagiarism and any other violations of UCI's academic integrity policies will affect your grade and will be reported. More than one academic integrity violation will likely result in a course grade of F.
Help and accommodations
If you have any trouble with the course, it is important to seek help as early as possible. When contacting Prof. Dessen or the TAs, please send messages through Canvas, write in complete sentences and sign with your full first and last name. To send a Canvas Message, click on "Inbox" in the main Canvas menu, then create a new message, select this course in the "to" field, and start typing the person's name.
For extension requests due to illness or emergency, contact Prof. Dessen, and be prepared to provide documentation.
For questions about a specific assignment submission/grade, contact the TA who graded it, which you can see in the comments left on the assignment submission page.
For questions about course policies or general content, you can either post in the Discussion "Ask general course questions here!" or send a message to Prof. Dessen.
You are also invited to ask questions in the weekly Zoom office hours held by TAs, which are detailed on this page and linked at the top of this Syllabus.
If you have a disability that affects your performance in this course and requires special arrangements, you must document it through UCI's Disabilities Services Center, ensure they send the Prof. Dessen your contract at the beginning of the quarter, and contact Prof. Dessen in the first week of the course to confirm any accommodations.
Campus support resources
As a UCI student, you have access to a wide range of resources on campus to help you with not only your academic work, but also many other kinds of challenges, including food and housing insecurity, mental health and much more. You can message or schedule a time to talk with me if you aren't sure of the best place to start, but I also encourage you to review this list of excellent campus resources:
- Your home school "Student Affairs" office: This is often the best starting point if you're not sure where to go, or if you prefer to talk to a staff advisor rather than a professor.
- UCI Basic Needs Hub: Help for UCI students struggling to meet basic food or housing needs.
- UCI Counseling Center: Counseling for UCI students, and an excellent resource to help you cope with stress.
- Disability Services Center: Support for UCI students with disabilities, including helping you to establish accommodations in your courses.
- UCI LGBT Resource Center: Provides support for LGBT students and "education and advocacy services supporting intersectional identity development."
- UCI Dream Center: MIssion is to "stand with and serve those impacted by immigration policy through advancing systemic change, deconstructing oppressive policies, and fostering community."
- Student Outreach and Retention Center (SOAR): Support for academic success, wellness and empowerment, especially for underrepresented students
- UCI CARE (Campus Assault Resources and Education): "Free and confidential support services to members of the UCI community who have been impacted by sexual assault, relationship abuse, family violence and/or stalking."
- Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity (OEOD): Promotes "equal opportunity, affirmative action, and nondiscrimination at UCI," and a place where students can report and get support for any perceived violations of university policy or the law, such as hostile work environments
- Office of Academic Integrity & Student Conduct (OAISC): Oversees academic integrity and student conduct, and also a place where students can submit reports or speak with staff about perceived violations of UCI policies and codes of conduct
Thank you for reading the entire Syllabus. We look forward to working with you and hope you enjoy the course!
Course Summary:
Date | Details | Due |
---|---|---|