SELF AND SOCIETY FESHMAN SEMINAR: Musical Perception
I designed and first taught this course in 2019. The following is taken from the syllabus:
"While this course has a strong focus on the philosophy, art and science of music, it is designed for students of all majors, including those who have no previous music study. The goal is not only to formally introduce the discipline of music, but, more importantly, to reveal music’s interdisciplinary nature.
Toward that end, we will hear and discuss many different types of music, old and new, from all parts of the world. To support our opening discussions of self, class assignments will allow students to express their individual reactions to chosen pieces of musical art, as well as select a unique topic for their seminar paper on symbolic music.
As we talk about society, we will look at the prominent role of music in ancient Greece, examining that subject through readings, short writings, and discussion. We will also study the modern implications of the Greek concept of music as numbers, which led to the inclusion of music – alongside arithmetic, geometry and astronomy – in the quadrivium of the seven liberal arts of the medieval university. Building upon this, our scientific study of music will extend to recent, wide-ranging research in music cognition, an emerging field in neuroscience.
Finally, as part of our group projects, we will discuss readings from Group Genius by Keith Sawyer, who relates jazz improvisation to successful approaches in collaborative creativity, innovation, and civic contribution. Underpinning all of this will be our regular attention to the development of writing and oral presentation skills, proficiency with digital tools, and purposeful reflection on the “Big Questions” introduced in the Truman Symposium."