Provisional University Bulletin (2023-2024)

• Minor
• Major (BA)
• Master of Arts in Musicology
• Master of Arts in Music and Composition and Theory
• Master of Fine Arts in Music and Composition and Theory
• Doctor of Philosophy in Musicology
• Doctor of Philosophy in Music Composition and Theory

Undergraduate Major

The Department of Music offers a broad-based undergraduate major that combines the study of theory, performance, history, and composition. The program consists of two semesters of music theory, three semesters of history and critical listening courses, four semesters of departmental ensembles, and four electives. Students choose between our three major tracks: (1) Composition and Theory, (2) History and Culture, and (3) Performance, and work with faculty advisers to take electives that align with their interests and goals.

Graduate Program in Music

The department offers graduate programs in two areas: composition and theory, and musicology.

Composition and Theory

The department offers three degree programs in composition and theory: MA (normally one year), MFA (normally two years), and PhD (normally two or more years following the three years of residency). The programs are designed to help students develop a command of the craft of composition. That objective is supported by studies in theory and analysis and in electro-acoustic music. The doctoral dissertation consists of two parts: an extended analysis thesis and a composition.

Musicology

The department offers two degree programs in musicology: MA (normally two years) and PhD (normally two or more years following the three years of residency). The musicology program offers an integrated approach to the study of music and its many contexts. We combine close critical attention to musical works with investigation into the historical, cultural, intellectual, and institutional factors that have shaped the creation and reception of those works. Our graduate curriculum is expansive, encompassing both intensive seminars on specific topics and proseminars that expose students to a variety of methodologies and new developments in the field.

The department also offers a Joint MA in passing with Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality studies for both the Music Composition and Theory and Musicology programs.

Undergraduate Major

The learning goals for the Music Department are based on an integrated approach to the study of music, incorporating the following perspectives:

1. Music as a technical discipline, with techniques of performance practice and compositional process, notation, materials and forms.
2. Music as an artifact of different historical periods, cultures and societies across the globe, in written as well as oral traditions.
3. The practice of music in the context of both performance and composition.
4. Music as expression and communication, fostering understanding of peoples, a sense of community, and a humane and tolerant outlook on the world.

Coursework is based on three essential ways of knowing about and experiencing music, which can be summarized as follows:

Theory: Knowledge of the basic materials of music and the rules and practices employed in their arrangement and organization.
Music History & Culture: The study of the practice, performance, and composition of music in different times and places.
Performance: Direct collaborative experience of music through participation in departmental ensembles including chorus, chamber singers, orchestra, wind ensemble, early music ensemble, jazz ensemble, improvisation collective, Ghanaian drumming and dance, and chamber music.

Each area has its own set of Core Skills and Knowledge, summarized below. In addition, students develop skills and knowledge about music in relation to social justice.

Theory

Essential for work in theory is the development of self-criticism in the control of the basic materials of music and the rules governing their arrangement and organization in different musical styles. Courses in theory are aligned with work in ear training and musicianship, which develop aural skills necessary for identifying, writing and singing the basic elements of music.

Core Skills

1. Train and develop skills for accurately hearing and matching sounds.
2. Discriminate differences of pitch and duration in single voice and in combination, both in reading music (sight-singing) and notating it (musical dictation).
3. Master the control of consonance and dissonance in written exercises.
4. Shape and develop melodic lines both in terms of single voice continuity and in the simultaneous combination of voices.
5. Understand the grammar of chords, cadence structures, and the place and function of chords in harmonic progressions.
6. Synthesize concepts of form, melody, rhythm, and harmonic motion in the writing of music.
7. Refine the understanding of compositional structure in discussion and performance by professional musicians.

Knowledge

1. Capability to write in the style of traditional classical forms (minuet and trio; sonata movement).
2. Ability to recognize and describe the structure of standard small musical forms.
3. Strong foundation in functional harmony and counterpoint.

History

The study of the history of Western and non-Western music from antiquity to the present day gives us a cultural and sequential context for the understanding of changing musical aesthetics and modes of expression. Evidence for examination includes historical depictions of music in society (written and pictured), theoretical and philosophical writings, notational systems, musical instruments, written and printed music, recordings, and performances.

Core Skills

1. Ability to describe the use, value, and function of music in various cultures and societies.
2. Ability to identify significant features of musical activities (performance, composition, and listening activities) through listening to musical compositions and performances, and through the examination of music scores.
3. Ability to apply the appropriate technical terminology and analytical techniques within oral and written narrative descriptions and analyses of music.
4. Write scholarly research papers that integrate previous scholarship with your own analytical observations and understanding of music cultures and repertoires.
5. Learn to use the resources of a university research library.

Knowledge

1. In-depth knowledge of the content, techniques, and style of specific music cultures and repertoires.
2. Knowledge of the intersections between cultural, social, and political landscapes and artistic artifacts and activity, and the value of these artifacts and activities to particular societies.
3. Awareness of the nature, causes, directions, and influences of change processes in music cultures.

Performance

Performance of music synthesizes knowledge and skills, bringing together text, context and technique by interaction with well-known, lesser-known, and newly written repertoire. Technical and expressive skills are practiced, and competency in solo and ensemble performance is expected. There are opportunities for study and performance of early music, jazz, popular and non-Western traditions, and the classical western repertoire.

Core Skills

1. Demonstrate proficiency in chosen instrument/voice as well as a mastery of basic keyboard skills.
2. Incorporate improvisation and aural learning skills in appropriate musical traditions (jazz, early music).
3. Employ effective self-critique and problem-solving in private practice sessions and rehearsals.
4. Work effectively within an ensemble in both a leading and responding role.
5. Hear and act on subtle differences in pitch, timbre, balance, and articulation.
6. Express musically the affective aspect of the compositions.
7. Communicate verbally the musical ideas involved in creating a convincing performance, with the ability to compare alternatives and justify choices.
8. Write clear and effective program notes.

Knowledge

1. Ability to read musical notation fluently on chosen instrument or voice.
2. Understanding of the information in a musical text: pitch, rhythm, articulations, tempo, dynamics, etc.
3. Differentiation between various forms and genres of music, including different periods, traditions, and cultures.
4. Application of theoretical and stylistic knowledge to musical interpretation.
5. Employment of effective listening and communicating techniques to solve ensemble issues (rhythm, intonation, etc.)
6. Direct experience with performing in a variety of ensembles and venues.
7. Identification of the basic musical instrument families, their sounds and functions.

Music and Social Justice

The study of these three areas presents a unique opportunity to link musical expression with human events of the past and present, fostering an inclusive and critical world view.

Core Skills

1. Collaborate with colleagues in working toward a common goal.
2. Recognize, respond to, and communicate the shared human expression embodied in all music.

Knowledge

1. Value the benefit of self-reflection and inquiry in continually striving to become a better musician.

Track Options

COMPOSITION AND THEORY TRACK

In addition to the core requirements of the Music Major, students work closely with the Composition and Theory Track advisor to choose electives that focus on the skills necessary to create new works of music. Students in this track apply their knowledge of musical form and function, their awareness of genres and historical trends, and their familiarity with performance issues to develop their compositional voice. Upon graduation, students in this track will be prepared to pursue graduate degrees in composition.

HISTORY AND CULTURE TRACK

As in the Composition Track, students in the History and Culture Track will enhance the core requirements with electives chosen in consultation with the History and Culture Track advisor. Through in-depth focus on music cultures and repertoires, and engagement in research and analysis, students will gain a deep understanding of the various ways in which music has served as a means of expression arising from the surrounding culture and ethos. This focus will enhance their own musical experience in addition to preparing them for graduate work in musicology.

PERFORMANCE TRACK

Students in the Performance Track are accepted by audition. In addition to the core requirements, students in this track work with the Performance Track advisor and their private instructor to select performance-related electives and prepare two recitals: a half-length program in the Junior year and a full-length program in the Senior year. Graduates of this track will be prepared for more advanced study towards a professional career in performance or music education.

Graduate Programs in Music

Master of Arts in Composition and Theory

Knowledge

1. Studies in theory and in the comprehensive analysis of music.
2. Knowledge of the techniques in writing for instruments.
3. Knowledge of the techniques in writing for voice.
4. Knowledge of the techniques of writing for electroacoustic media — both fixed media and interactive media.
5. Knowledge in how to interact with performers and presenters in a professional manner.
6. Knowledge of specific musical notational conventions such that compositional intent is communicated as clearly and efficiently as possible.
7. Knowledge of specific musical notational conventions such that the student’s compositional intent is communicated as clearly and efficiently as possible.

Core Skills

1. Develop a command of the craft of composition through faculty mentorship.
2. Take steps toward establishing a personal creative voice.
3. Comprehensive analysis of pre-tonal, tonal, and post-tonal music.
4. Beginning and completing at least one substantial work while in residence, and seeing it through to performance.

Graduate Outcomes

1. The program is designed for students who have composed music while undergraduates who wish to pursue an intense program in music composition, but are not yet sure if they want to commit to a full 2-year program. They may apply to extend the program to the 2- year M.F.A.
2. Beginning the development of the craft of music composition at the highest professional level.
3. Facility in music analysis and music theory.
4. Knowledge of the use of electroacoustic media.

 

Master of Fine Arts in Composition and Theory

Knowledge

1. Studies in theory and in the comprehensive analysis of music.
2. Knowledge of the techniques in writing for instruments.
3. Knowledge of the techniques in writing for voice.
4. Knowledge of the techniques of writing for electroacoustic media — both fixed media and interactive media.
5. Knowledge in how to interact with performers and presenters in a professional manner.
6. Knowledge of specific musical notational conventions such that compositional intent is communicated as clearly and efficiently as possible.
7. Knowledge of various ways to embark on a career in music composition.

Core Skills

1. Develop a command of the craft of composition.
2. Take steps toward establishing an individual creative voice.
3. Comprehensive analysis of pre-tonal, tonal, and post-tonal music.
4. Writing of substantial analytical and theoretical papers.
5. Beginning and completing at least one substantial work per year in residence, and seeing them through to performance.
6. Establish a portfolio of work with which to apply to doctoral programs.

Graduate Outcomes

The MFA program is designed for students who are relatively certain that they wish to:

1. Pursue a career in music composition.
2. Command of the craft of music composition at the highest professional level.
3. Development of a substantial portfolio of compelling creative work.
4. High level facility in music analysis and music theory.
5. Experience interacting with professional musicians.
6. Establishing and enlarging the composition portfolio for application to doctoral programs.

Master of Arts in Musicology

Knowledge

1. Studies in music history, music theory and the comprehensive analysis of music.
2. Knowledge of selected foreign languages with representative writings on music.
3. Study of representative musical works and musicological literature.
4. Study of the methodologies involved in musical research, analysis and writing.
5. Practice in the writing, criticism and presentation of scholarly papers.
6. Preparation for further study in musicology (at the PhD level).
7. Learning about alternate careers in music.

Core Skills

1. The ability to analyze and write about musical styles.
2. Knowledge of current and older music theory and musicological writings.
3. Knowledge of historical musical forms, such as sonata, fugue.
4. The ability to read musical notation from various periods.
5. Skill in the techniques and styles of music from the middle ages to the present.
6. The ability to read musicological literature in two foreign languages.
7. Writing a thesis under faculty supervision.

Graduate Outcomes

1. The MA program is designed for students who are relatively certain that they wish to pursue a career in musicology.
2. Through four semesters of coursework students take a total of twelve seminars and pro-seminars in music history.
3. Through guest lectures and colloquia students encounter representative musicologists from other universities.
4. Through the writing of the MFA thesis students learn the necessary techniques. and methodologies demanded for a PhD dissertation.

Doctor of Philosophy in Composition and Theory

Knowledge

1. 1. Studies in theory and in the comprehensive analysis of music.
   2. Knowledge of the techniques in writing for instruments.
   3. Knowledge of the techniques in writing for voice.
   4. Knowledge of the techniques of writing for electroacoustic media — both fixed media and interactive media.
   5. Knowledge in how to interact with performers and presenters in a professional manner.
   6. Knowledge of specific musical notational conventions such that compositional intent is communicated as clearly and efficiently as possible.
   7. Knowledge of various ways to embark on a career in music composition.
   8. Experience of running a concert series.
   9. Techniques and strategies for teaching music at the college level, including ear training, music theory, fundamentals of music, music history, and music appreciation.
   10. Knowledge of writing grant applications.
   11. For additional Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies learning goals for the joint MA in passing, visit the WGS program Bulletin.

Core Skills

1. Develop a command of the craft of composition at the highest level.
2. Development of an individual creative voice.
3. Comprehensive analysis of pre-tonal, tonal, and post-tonal music.
4. Writing of substantial analytical and theoretical papers.
5. Ability to research and to present theoretical and compositional topics in a professional setting.
6. The establishment of a substantial and substantive portfolio of individual creative works.
7. Ability to teach music at the college level both to musicians and non-musicians.
8. Experience in presenting and producing concerts.
9. Development of strategies for creating and maintaining a career in music composition.

Graduate Outcomes

1. Command of the craft of music composition at the highest professional level.
2. Development of a substantial portfolio of compelling creative work.
3. High level facility in music analysis and music theory.
4. Substantial experience in teaching music at all levels.
5. Comprehensive knowledge of the use of electroacoustic media.
6. Experience fulfilling commissions and interacting with professional musicians.
7. Administrative experience in running a concert series.
8. Credentials for academic teaching jobs.

Doctor of Philosophy in Musicology

Knowledge

1. Mastery of an integrated approach to the study of music and its many contexts, and knowledge of the developments that have shaped musicology since its institutionalization as an academic discipline.
2. Advanced knowledge in specific topics of musicology, ethnomusicology, music history, theory, and analysis, and ethnography from topical, geographical, and chronological perspectives.
3. Mastery of subject matter and theoretical approaches relating to a primary research area and a secondary area of specialization.
4. Gains proficiency in all pertinent languages relating to the student’s research area.
5. Gains knowledge of the job market opportunities for musicology graduates, and the best preparation for the job market, and of the job application and grant proposal process.
6. For additional Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies learning goals for the joint MA in passing, visit the WGS program Bulletin.

Core Skills

1. The ability to access and deal with primary, secondary, and archival sources.
2. The ability to make use of digital tools and methods. 
3. The ability to formulate interesting and productive research questions.
4. The ability to evaluate tools, methods, arguments, and evidence, and to to critically discuss musicological scholarship in light of past and present theoretical approaches to the field.
5. The ability to write academically about music, including the writing of several research papers, and the completion of a dissertation demonstrating their competence as an independent investigator, their critical ability, and their effectiveness of expression.
6. The ability to present research effectively to a wide range of audiences.
7. The ability to teach in an academic context (course preparation, lecturing, administering and grading exams and meeting individually with undergraduates).

Graduate Outcomes

1. Develop their skills as researchers, writers, and teachers in higher education, and in other fields where high-level critical thinking, research, writing, and oral communication are required (university administration, libraries, cultural institutions, including museums, and music performance institutions and non-profit organizations, etc.).

Students wishing to major in music should arrange to meet with the Undergraduate Advising Head, who will discuss the various options for majoring in music and assign them to a faculty adviser. Students focus their study by choosing a specific track. They will be given information on how to apply. For certain tracks, a writing sample, an original musical composition, or an audition is required. Students may declare the major after successful completion of two music classes required for the major.

Once declared, majors wishing to take private instrumental or vocal lessons (MUS 111/112 a and b) are eligible to receive a private lesson subsidy in the amount of $450. To receive the lesson subsidy, the music major must be declared by the end of the second week of the semester in which they enroll in private lessons. Students accepted into the Performance Track are required to enroll in private lessons during their junior and senior years (MUS 117 Jr. Recital/MUS 118 Sr. Recital), at no charge. NOTE: Registration in MUS 111/112 is always required by the registration deadline date, for both credit and non-credit (XC) sections.

Please see the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Admissions section of the Bulletin for information on Admission to the program. For information on our program’s specific application requirements, please see the Music programs’ page on the GSAS admissions site.

Erin Gee, Interim Chair (fall 2022 - spring 2023)
Composition. Theory and analysis.

Karen Desmond, Chair, Undergraduate Advisor, History and Cultural Studies Track (on leave fall 2022 - spring 2023)
Medieval Music. Medieval Theory and Analysis. Notation. Digital Musicology.

Mark Berger
Viola, Lydian String Quartet. Performance. Theory and analysis.

Yu-Hui Chang, Director of Graduate Studies in Composition and Theory
Composition. Theory and analysis.

Eric Chasalow
Composition. Analysis. Electronic music.

Robert Duff, Undergradate Advising Head, Undergraduate Advisor, Performance Track (for vocalists)
Director, University Chorus and Chamber Choir. Choral and vocal performance. Conducting.

Emily Frey, Director of Graduate Studies in Musicology, Undergraduate Advisor, History and Cultural Studies Track (on leave fall 2022)
Russian and Soviet music. History of opera, especially of the nineteenth century. Music and literature. Russian cultural history of the "long" nineteenth century. Music, politics, and law. Psychological realism.

Bradford Garvey, Director of Graduate Studies in Musicology, Undergraduate Advisor, History and Cultural Studies Track (fall 2022)
Ethnomusicology

Julia Glenn
Violin, Lydian String Quartet, Performance and Analysis.

Joshua Gordon, Undergraduate Advisor, Performance Track (for instrumentalists)
Cello, Lydian String Quartet. Performance and analysis.

Neal Hampton
Director, Brandeis Orchestra. Musical theater composition.

Sarah Mead
Director, Brandeis Early Music Ensemble. The Authenticity Question.

Bob Nieske
Director, Jazz Ensemble. Jazz bass. Jazz improvisation and composition.

David Rakowski, Undergraduate Advisor, Composition Track
Composition. Theory and analysis.

Andrea Segar
Violin, Lydian String Quartet, Performance and Analysis.

Vocal Instructors

Matthew Anderson, tenor
Krista River, mezzo-soprano
Kristen Watson, soprano
Pamela Wolfe, soprano

Instrumental Instructors

Violin
Julia Glenn
Andrea Segar
Paula Zeitlin, jazz violin
Viola
Mark Berger
Cello
Joshua Gordon
Viol
Sarah Mead
Double Bass
Elizabeth Foulser
Robert Nieske
Guitar
Phil Sargent
Flute
Jill Dreeben
Clarinet
Margo McGowan
Oboe
Staff
Bassoon
Devon Nelson
Saxophone
Tom Hall, French Horn
Frederick Aldrich Trumpet
Alex Lee-Clark
Phil Grenadier
Bruce Hall
Trombone
Joel Yennoir
Tuba/euphonium
Franziska Huhn
Piano
Ben Cook, jazz piano
Evan Hirsch
Jean Meltaus
Harpsichord
Frances Fitch
Organ
Frances Fitch
Christa Rakich
Percussion
Amit Kavthekar, tabla
Robert Schulz
Ben Paulding

The minor in music consists of the equivalent of six semester courses. Required are:

A. One history and culture course (either Global Soundscapes or Critical Listening).

B. One semester of music theory sequence (MUS 101a, 101b, 103a, or 103b) and the co-requisite lab (102a, 102b, 104a, 104b)

C. One semester (2 credits) of ensemble.

D. Three electives, two of which must be MUS courses. The third may be a course cross-listed with music.

E. Students must receive a grade of C- or higher in any course taken to fulfill the requirements for completing the minor.

F. No course taken pass/fail may count toward the minor requirements.

The major in music consists of the equivalent of eleven semester courses taken for major credit, plus four separate semesters of ensemble participation. Music majors must choose to specialize in one of three tracks: composition, history and culture, or performance. Students are encouraged to develop areas of interest within the track, in consultation with the respective adviser, and to choose appropriate electives for these areas. Required are:

A. The equivalent of six four-credit courses, as follows:

• Global Soundscapes (MUS 3b)
• Critical Listening
• Two consecutive semesters from the music theory sequence MUS 101a, 101b, 103a, 103b and the co-requisite labs each semester (102a, 102b, 104a, 104b) (for twelve credits in total). A student may start the two-semester sequence at 101b or 103a, but must take a placement test to do so.
• Advanced Seminar

B. Capstone (equivalent to one four-credit course) in one of the three areas: Composition and Theory, History and Culture, or Performance. The following are examples of capstone projects: a 100-level or above composition course that involves writing an original composition; a graduate musicology proseminar or seminar course (MUS courses at the 180-level or above) that produces a 25-page paper involving independent research; Senior Project (MUS 99d); or Senior Performance (MUS 118a,b). If a student’s capstone project originates in a 100-level or above composition class or a 180-level or above musicology class, that class may be taken for elective credit but the project must be polished and submitted to the track adviser separately as well as for the elective course credit. Students must obtain approval from their track advisor on their specific capstone project plan.

C. Four Electives: The equivalent of four semesters of courses (16 credits) from the music department. Eligible music courses include MUS 106a and any other course with a MUS designation that can be taken for major credit, with the exception for MUS 1a and MUS 5a. A maximum of two cross-listed courses without a MUS designation may be taken for major credit. A full year of private instruction, MUS 111a,b (Private Instruction: Instrumentalists) or MUS 112a,b (Private Instruction: Voice) may be counted only once for major credit. No elective course may be taken twice for major credit.

D. In addition to the above-listed requirements (the equivalent of eleven four-credit courses taken for major credit), all majors in music are required to participate in a music department ensemble MUS 80a,b – MUS 89a,b or MUS 116a,b with or without credit, for four separate semesters. Registration is required in either section, for-credit or non-credit (XC), to count toward the major requirements. For students in the Composition and History and Culture tracks, ensemble courses taken prior to declaring the major count towards this requirement; for students in the Performance track, three of the four required semesters of ensemble should take place in the last two years of study. Students may petition, with the approval of their track advisor, to fulfill one semester of their ensemble requirement with participation in a professional non-Brandeis ensemble (to be considered on a case by case basis, in consultation with the performance faculty, private instructor, and department chair). Students cannot receive course credit for outside ensemble performance. Only eight credits of ensembles can count toward the university's 128 credits (the equivalent of four two-credit courses).

E. Foundational Literacies: As part of completing the Music major, students must:

• Fulfill the writing intensive requirement by successfully completing: Advanced Seminar.
• Fulfill the oral communication requirement by successfully completing one of the following: Critical Listening.
• Fulfill the digital literacy requirement by successfully completing one of the following: MUS 101a or b, MUS 103a or b, MUS 107a, MUS 160b, MUS 161a, or MUS 180b.

F. Additional requirements for candidates for degrees with distinction: To be eligible for honors in music, candidates must demonstrate superior ability through their overall record and a capacity for independent thought beyond the limits of their course program, by completing additional work such as a written thesis, an approved project in original composition, or a senior recital.

G. Students must receive a grade of C- or higher in any course taken to fulfill the requirements for completing the major.

H. No course taken pass/fail or credit/no credit may count toward the major requirements, with the exception of MUS 106a.

Composition and Theory Track

Admission to the composition track is contingent upon submission of three musical compositions to the Composition track adviser. Required courses for this track are MUS 103a,b, MUS 104a,b and MUS 106a. Students in this track are eligible to take a semester of MUS 292a,b. The capstone for this track consists of a composition project approved by the track advisor, completed in the context of a course such as MUS 106a, or MUS 292a,b. Please consult with the composition track advisor early about your capstone (i.e., by at least the spring of your junior year).

 

History and Culture Track

Students in the History and Culture Track may choose Senior Project (99d) as their capstone course, which usually will consist of a thesis. Other possibilities include taking a graduate musicology proseminar or seminar course for credit (MUS courses at the 180-level or above), which involves writing a 25-page research paper. Please consult with the history and culture track advisor early about your capstone (i.e., by at least the Spring of your junior year).

 

Performance Track

Admission to the performance track is contingent upon a successful audition, normally at the end of the sophomore year. All students in the performance track will take Senior Performance (MUS 118a,b) for their required capstone. This performance can take the form of a traditional recital, or be done as part of a larger ensemble: for instance, a jazz bassist might program and perform a concert with a band, doing the arrangements, and writing the program notes, or a conducting student could program and prepare an ensemble concert. Please consult with the track advisor upon acceptance into the program about your capstone in order to have adequate time to prepare for this final performance. Solo performers must take Junior Recital (MUS117a or b) as one of their electives in preparation for their Senior Performance. Other students in the Performance Track must take at least one performance-focused elective related to their Senior Performance in their Junior year.

 

Private Instruction and Ensembles in Fulfillment of the Creative Arts Distribution Requirement

Please note that ensembles and private instruction (MUS 80a,b – MUS 88a,b, MUS 111a,b, MUS 112 a,b, and MUS 116a,b) yield half-course credit each; therefore, two semesters of ensemble or one semester of private instruction plus the corequisite ensemble are required to fulfill the creative arts distribution requirement. Students must notify the Registrar’s Office directly to have fulfillment of this distribution requirement added to their transcript.

Composition and Theory

A. Seven and one-half courses at the graduate level: proseminars and seminars in composition, proseminars and seminars in tonal and nontonal analysis. Private instrumental or vocal instruction and ensemble performance may be counted for credit with permission of the Director of Graduate Studies in Composition and Theory.

B. A composition that is begun during the first semester, completed in time to be performed in the spring graduate composers' concert.

C. One year of in-person residency. The program may take an additional one or two semesters to complete as an Extended Master's student.

D. Attendance at departmental composition colloquia and concerts.

Musicology

A. The equivalent of twelve four-credit courses at the graduate level: proseminars and seminars in musicology (including an array of courses in different historical periods, in music analysis, and in history of theory). 

• The seminar “Introduction to Musicology” is required.
• The 2-credit course “Musicology Lab” must be taken twice for credit.

B. Research Project: Either a thesis that is an analytical or historical study of a topic acceptable to the music faculty (40-50 pages minimum), or revised copies of two seminar papers that have been certified by the seminar instructor and at least one other faculty member as demonstrating a high degree of competence in research writing. Two copies of the thesis must be submitted to the program chair in final form no later than six weeks before the conferral of degrees. The master’s thesis must be deposited electronically to ProQuest ETD. For instructions on how to do this, visit the Thesis and Dissertation Guide.. For doctoral candidates, successful completion of the general examinations may be substituted for this thesis requirement.

C. Two years of in-person residency. The program may take an additional one or two semesters to complete as an Extended Master's student.

D. Attendance at writers’ workshops in Year 2.

E. Attendance at departmental musicology colloquia.

The Music department offers the opportunity for Ph.D. students only to earn a joint M.A. with Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Topics include feminist theory, gender studies, cultural history and the investigation of work by and about women.

Program of Study

1. WGS 205a, the foundational course in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
2. One course in feminist research methodologies (WGS 208b, or the Feminist Inquiry course offered through the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies).
3. Two courses at the graduate level from another department listed as electives in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Normally, only one of these courses may be a Directed Reading course (WGS 310a,b).
4. Four courses at the graduate level in the Music Department. One graduate course from the consortium that is related to music & women’s, gender and sexuality studies may be substituted. One of the four courses must include a seminar paper that focuses on a topic related to women's and gender studies. In cases where this is not possible, an independent study leading to a paper addressing an issue specifically related to music & women’s, gender, and sexuality studies may be substituted. MUS 171a (Form and Analysis) and MUS 205A (Musicology lab) are also required. Note: the 2-credit course “Musicology Lab” must be taken twice for credit.
5. Attendance at all departmental musicology colloquia.
6. Completion of a Master's research paper of professional quality and length (normally twenty-five to forty pages) on a topic related to the joint degree. The paper will be read by two faculty members, one of whom is a member of the Music Department and one of whom is a member of the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies core or affiliate faculty. In consultation with the primary advisor, a student may register for WGS 299a,b, "Master's Project." However, this course may not count toward the eight required courses.
7. Additional requirements as listed in the accompanying Ph.D. program.

Language Requirement

There is no additional foreign language requirement for the joint Master's degree.

Residence Requirement

All students are required to complete one year (two semesters) of residency in-person.

A. Twelve courses at the graduate level: proseminars and seminars in composition, seminars in tonal and nontonal analysis, a course in electro-acoustic music (or demonstrated proficiency).

• MUS 172a is required.

B. Examinations: Demonstration of competence by means of a portfolio review and written general examination at the end of the second year of study.

C. Thesis: An original composition, the scope to be approved by the faculty in composition. The master’s thesis must be deposited electronically to ProQuest  ETD. For instructions on how to do this, visit the Thesis and Dissertation Guide.

D. Two years of in-person residency. The program may take an additional one or two semesters to complete as an Extended Master's student.

E. Attendance at departmental composition colloquia and concerts.

F. For doctoral students who are applying for the M.F.A. degree as part of their progress toward the Ph.D. successful completion of the written general exams fulfills the thesis requirement.

Composition and Theory

A. Sixteen courses at the graduate level: proseminars and seminars in composition, seminars in tonal and nontonal analysis, a course in electro-acoustic music (or demonstrated proficiency). 

• MUS 172a is required.

B. Teaching: Preparation of graduate students for teaching careers is an integral part of the PhD programs in music. All PhD students are required to participate in undergraduate teaching during the course of their studies. Every graduate teaching assistant (TA) is supervised by a member of the faculty, who serves as a mentor to improve the quality of the TA's teaching. Please see the GSAS section on Teaching Requirements and the program handbook for more details.

C. Satisfactory completion of the language requirement in one language (French, German, Italian, or another language by petition). The language requirement should be met within the first two years. If the student is a native speaker of the pertinent non-English language(s), then the language requirement is waived.

D. Examinations: General examinations during the second year. Oral qualifying examination in the third year. Oral qualifying exam may only be taken after passing the General exam.

E. Dissertation proposal: Five to seven pages prospectus of the dissertation developed in consultation with the dissertation advisers. After passing the Oral Qualifying exam, the prospectus should be presented to the composition faculty for their approval.

F. Dissertation: An original musical composition and a thesis on a theoretical or analytical subject. The thesis, as well as an abstract not to exceed 350 words in length, should be approved by the advisor and the second reader, and submitted to the program Director of Graduate Studies in Composition one month prior to the defense date. The thesis and the composition are then sent to the outside reader. . Upon completion of the thesis and the composition, the candidate is expected to defend it in a final oral examination. The faculty in composition attempts to arrange for the performance of dissertation compositions whenever possible.

G. Three years of in-person residency.

H. Attendance at departmental composition colloquia and concerts.

Musicology

A. Twelve courses at the graduate level: proseminars and seminars in musicology (including an array of courses in different historical periods, in music analysis, and in history of theory). 

• The seminar “Introduction to Musicology” is required.
• The 2-credit course “Musicology Lab” must be taken twice for credit.

B. Satisfactory completion of the language exam requirement. Students are required to master one language relevant to their research area, and to fulfill this requirement by the end of their third year.

C. Assistantships: Preparation of graduate students for teaching careers is an integral part of the PhD programs in music. Beginning with the second year of residence, PhD candidates in musicology participate as teaching assistants in the relevant undergraduate courses, for six teaching assistant assignments. All teaching comes under the guidance of the primary course instructors and the department chair. The department also wants to support students considering careers outside academia, and encourages alternative professional development activity in lieu of two teaching assistantships: these might include internships at museums/arts organizations (e.g. BSO, Museum of Fine Arts, WCRB) or research assistantships, and they may be completed over the summer.

In addition, if a student secures an outside fellowship with funding for dissertation research or dissertation writing, up to two semesters of the teaching requirement may be waived. The student still must have completed all other requirements except the dissertation in order to attain 'ABD' ('All But Dissertation') statuss.

D. Examinations: At the beginning of the second year, candidates must demonstrate a broad, general knowledge of music history by means of a written general examination. During the third year, students must demonstrate in-depth knowledge of their area of specialization by means of a written and oral specialized qualifying examination.

E. Four additional courses at the graduate level, normally MUS 401d (Dissertation Research), or other courses as recommended by the faculty.

F. Dissertation proposal: fifteen- to twenty-page page prospectus of the dissertation developed in consultation with the dissertation adviser and presented to the musicology faculty for their approval, no later than the end of the third year of residency.

G. Dissertation on a historical, theoretical, or analytical subject. Dissertations should demonstrate the competence of the candidate as an independent investigator, their critical ability, and effectiveness of expression. The thesis, as well as an abstract not to exceed 350 words in length, should be approved by the advisor and the second reader, and submitted to the program Director of Graduate Studies in Musicology one month prior to the defense date. The thesis is then sent to the outside reader. Upon completion of the dissertation, the candidate is expected to defend it in a final oral examination.

H. Three years of in-person residency.

I. Attendance at departmental musicology colloquia.

Master's Degree

Students may normally hold only one master's degree in the department.

Language Requirements

Language examinations to test reading proficiency are administered by the music department. Students will be asked to translate several passages with the aid of a dictionary. Foreign language course credits do not in themselves constitute fulfillment of the language requirements. Examinations will be offered once per semester. In case of failure, an examination may be retaken.

If a student's second language is English, given that they will be writing their dissertation in English, they need take only one reading language exam to satisfy the language requirement (English will qualify as their second reading language by default).

 

Electronic Music Studio

The Brandeis Electro-Acoustic Music Studio (BEAMS) with facilities for the composition of electronic music is available to qualified student composers. Director: Mr. Chasalow.

Every student, whether or not currently in residence, must register at the beginning of each term. All graduate students will be evaluated by the program each spring. At this evaluation the records of all graduate students will be carefully reviewed with reference to the timely completion of coursework and non-course degree requirements, the quality of the work and research in progress and the student’s overall academic performance in the program.

AMST/MUS 38a American Music: From Psalms to Hip Hop
[ ca oc ss ]

Open to music majors and non-majors. Formerly offered as MUS 38a.

Explores the many varieties of folk, popular, and art music in American culture. We will focus on the stylistic development of select repertoires beginning with 18thcentury New England Psalm singing and African American traditions and continuing on through folk, jazz, art, pop, rock, and hip hop music. Throughout the course, music serves as a lens to examine diverse aspects of American culture and history with an emphasis on America's shifting definition of identity. No musical background is required. Usually offered every third year.
Staff

AMST/MUS 39b Protest Through Song: Music that Shaped America
[ ca oc ss ]

Open to music majors and non-majors. Does not fulfill the Main Currents in American Studies requirement for the major.

Examines 20th and 21st century protest music to better understand the complex relationships between music and social movements. Through class discussions, reading, writing, and listening assignments, and a final performance students will discover how social, cultural, and economic protest songs helped shape American culture. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

AMST/MUS 41a Leonard Bernstein: Composer, Conductor, Educator, and Humanitarian
[ ca oc ss ]

Explores the life and career of Leonard Bernstein. As a composer, conductor, educator, and humanitarian, Bernstein played an important role in shaping American music and culture. Through class discussions, group projects, and reading, writing, and listening assignments, this course will help students better understand the musical, cultural, political, and educational influence of Leonard Bernstein both then and now. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

AMST/MUS 55a Music in Film: Hearing American Cinema
[ ca oc ]

Formerly offered as MUS 55a.

Examines the aesthetics and the history of music in film. Through lecture, class discussions, screenings, and readings, the course teaches students how to critically read image, script, and music as an integrated cultural text, ultimately helping one understand and appreciate the progression of film and sound technology from the 1890s to the present. Usually offered every third year.
Staff

MUS 1a Exploring Music
[ ca ]

Does not meet requirements for the major or minor in music.

A general introduction to the materials and forms of music and their role in human social life with examples drawn from around the world. Training in analytical listening, based on selected listening assignments. Open to non-majors who are assumed to have little or no previous knowledge of music. Usually offered every second year.
Bradford Garvey

MUS 3b Global Soundscapes: Performing Musical Tradition Across Time and Place
[ ca nw ]

Open to all students. Required of all Cultural Studies track majors.

What are we listening to? Applies engaged listening skills and critical analysis for a deeper appreciation of (non-Western) music as a cultural expression. Focuses on particular traditions as well as social context, impact of globalization, cultural production, cultural rights, etc. Usually offered every year.
Staff

MUS 5a The Beginner's Toolbox: Fundamentals of Music Notation and Performance
[ ca ]

Does not meet requirements for the major or minor in music.

Explores the basic elements of music including pitch, rhythm, timbre and feel. Students will learn to understand music through listening and reading musical notation and chord-charts and will develop vocabulary for discussing music from a variety of traditions and styles. No previous experience with music or knowledge of how to read music is required. Usually offered every year. 
Staff

MUS 6b Survey of West African Music: Dance-Drumming from Senegal to Nigeria
[ ca djw nw ]

Explores the dance-drumming of West Africa--a global music style with profound impact on contemporary world cultures. Through engaged listening, critical analysis of ethnomusicological readings, and experiential learning on African percussion instruments, we examine the cultural context and musical systems of West African dance-drumming music. Special one-time offering, spring 2020.
Benjamin Paulding

MUS 31a Broadway Bound: The Craft of Composing Music and Lyrics for the Theater
[ ca ]

Open to music majors and non-majors.

Do you like to write poetry or plays? Have you written music and/or lyrics and want to try your hand at writing musical theatre? In this class, you will learn how music functions in a dramatic context by writing songs (alone or in collaboration with others) and regularly presenting your material for peer and instructor feedback. Contemporary and traditional musical theater masterpieces will be analyzed. Usually offered every second year.
Neal Hampton

MUS 32b Elements of Jazz
[ ca ]

Open to music majors and non-majors.

Examines the development of Jazz styles from the origins of Jazz in the late 1800's through today's Jazz masters. Early Jazz, Swing, Bebop, Cool, the year 1959, and Avant Garde are some of the styles we will be examining through recordings, videos, and in-class performances by local jazz musicians. The emphasis will be on learning how to listen to the various layers of the music and recognize specific stylistic techniques. Usually offered every third year.
Bob Nieske

MUS 37b Back to the Future: Digging for the Roots of Western Music
[ ca ]

Prerequisite: MUS 5a or basic knowledge of music notation.

Dig for the roots of polyphony in the Western tradition. Unearth new concepts (from half a millennium ago) for understanding, hearing, and making music of any period. Compose melodies, improvise counterpoint, and learn to hear intervals with fresh ears. Usually offered every second year.
Sarah Mead

MUS 45a Beethoven
[ ca ]

Open to music majors and non-majors.

A study of the most influential musician in the history of Western civilization. Although attention is given to his place in society, emphasis falls on an examination of representative works drawn from the symphonies, concertos, chamber music, and solo piano works. Usually offered every third year.
Staff

MUS 52b Russian Music and Russian Power from Glinka to Putin
[ ca ]

Surveys the long and strong relationship between music and state power in Russian, beginning in the tsarist period and continuing through the present day. We will consider operas and symphonies, popular songs and state anthems, aiming to understand how political factors (including censorship, official artistic policies, and propaganda) have influenced the composition and reception of music in Russia, as well as how music has been used to serve-- and disturb-- the Russian state. Offered every second year.
Emily Frey

MUS 54b Music and Poetry in the German Art Song During the Nineteenth Century
[ ca ]

Surveys the interaction of poetry and music in major masterpieces of the German art song (Lied) for voice and piano from the time of Beethoven and Schubert (c. 1815) to that of Strauss, Wolf and Mahler (c. 1900). All the major composers of Lieder will be covered. Usually offered every third year.
Staff

MUS 56b Romanticism in European Music and Literature: Breakups, Breakdowns, and Beauty
[ ca oc ]

Open to Music majors and non-majors.

Romantic art abounds in depictions of hallucinators, madwomen, obsessives, and other individuals whose thoughts and behaviors deviate sharply from societal norms. This semester, we'll seek to understand the cultural and historical significance of the ways in which late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century music and literature portray exceptional emotional, mental, and physiological states. We'll investigate the connections among madness, genius, physical illness, and the supernatural in the Romantic imagination, and also think about the artistic techniques contemporary writers and composers used to represent 'extreme' psychology. Our approach to this material will be comparative rather than strictly historical: we'll look at works written in different countries and different time periods within the period, grouped together by theme. Usually offered every third year.
Emily Frey

MUS 80a Early Music Ensemble

Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Yields half-course credit. Open to singers and instrumentalists interested in learning about the historical ancestors of their modern instruments. Instrumental and/or vocal experience and competency in sight-reading required. A maximum of four course credits will be allowed for all enrollments in Ensemble (80a,b ' 88a,b) alone or Private Instruction and Ensemble together. May be undertaken as an extracurricular, noncredit activity by registering in the XC section.

Examines the performance of music written before 1700. A large number of historical instruments are available for student use and instruction. Solo, ensemble, and one-on-a-part opportunities. Usually offered every year.
Sarah Mead

MUS 80b Early Music Ensemble

Continuation of MUS 80a. See MUS 80a for special notes and course description.

Usually offered every year.
Sarah Mead

MUS 81a Brandeis University Chamber Singers

Corequisite: MUS 80a,b or MUS 82a,b. Offered exclusively on a credit/no-credit basis. Yields half-course credit. Full academic year participation expected. Significant vocal experience, aural skills and music literacy required. A maximum of four course credits will be allowed for all enrollments in Ensemble (80a,b ' 88a,b) alone or Private Instruction and Ensemble together. May be undertaken as an extracurricular, noncredit activity by registering in the XC section.

The Chamber Singers is the premiere ensemble at Brandeis University. The ensemble explores repertoire for chamber choir including all major genres from the Renaissance through present day. Singers prepare independently outside of scheduled rehearsals. Opportunities for one-on-a-part ensemble singing and solos. Usually offered every year.
Robert Duff

MUS 81b Brandeis University Chamber Singers

Continuation of MUS 81a. See MUS 81a for special notes and course description.

Usually offered every year.
Robert Duff

MUS 82a University Chorus

Offered exclusively on a credit/no-credit basis. Yields half-course credit. Vocal placement auditions will be held at the start of the semester. A maximum of four course credits will be allowed for all enrollments in Ensemble (80a,b ' 88a,b) alone or Private Instruction and Ensemble together. May be undertaken as an extracurricular, noncredit activity by registering in the XC section.

Performs in concert great literature from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. Aspects of singing, musicianship skills, and ensemble building are emphasized. Usually offered every year.
Robert Duff

MUS 82b University Chorus

Continuation of MUS 82a. See MUS 82a for special notes and course description.

Usually offered every year.
Robert Duff

MUS 83a Jazz Ensemble

Offered exclusively on a credit/no-credit basis. Yields half-course credit. Admission by the consent of the instructor based on an audition. A maximum of four course credits will be allowed for all enrollments in Ensemble (80a,b ' 88a,b) alone or Private Instruction and Ensemble together. May be undertaken as an extracurricular, noncredit activity by registering in the XC section.

The Brandeis Jazz Ensemble has about 15 musicians from the Brandeis community. Instrumentation will vary according to annual fall auditions. Repertoire consists of pieces by jazz greats including Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Gil Evans, Sun Ra...as well as arrangements of tunes and original compositions by the director, Bob Nieske and students. Students are also encouraged to compose or arrange for the group with the assistance of the director. Each semester the ensemble performs 5 or 6 pieces as a full group and 4 or 5 as small groups for a different musical experience. Although saxophone, brass, piano, guitar, bass and drums are the traditional jazz instruments, the ensemble is also open to more 'classical' instruments (strings and woodwinds). Lower brass such as French horn, trombone, euphonium and tuba are especially encouraged to audition. Students do not have to have any experience improvising but must be able to read well and have a good command of their instrument. At least one concert per semester. Usually offered every year.
Bob Nieske

MUS 83b Jazz Ensemble

Continuation of MUS 83a. See MUS 83a for special notes and course description.

Usually offered every year.
Bob Nieske

MUS 84a Orchestra

Offered exclusively on a credit/no-credit basis. Yields half-course credit. Acceptance into ensemble contingent on instructor's approval based on auditions held at the start of the semester. A maximum of four course credits will be allowed for all enrollments in Ensemble (80a,b ' 88a,b) alone or Private Instruction and Ensemble together. May be undertaken as an extracurricular, noncredit activity by registering in the XC section.

The orchestra gives several concerts each year performing major works from the symphonic repertory. Students prepare independently, outside of scheduled rehearsals. Usually offered every year.
Neal Hampton

MUS 84b Orchestra

Continuation of MUS 84a. See MUS 84a for special notes and course description.

Usually offered every year.
Neal Hampton

MUS 85a Wind Ensemble

Offered exclusively on a credit/no-credit basis. Yields half-course credit. Placement auditions will be held at the start of the semester. A maximum of four course credits will be allowed for all enrollments in Ensemble (80a,b ' 88a,b) alone or Private Instruction and Ensemble together. May be undertaken as an extracurricular, noncredit activity by registering in the XC section.

The Wind Ensemble gives one to two concerts a semester. Members of the Wind Ensemble may be asked to play with the orchestra as needed for large-scale works. Usually offered every year.
Thomas Souza

MUS 85b Wind Ensemble

Continuation of MUS 85a. See MUS 85a for special notes and course description.

Usually offered every year.
Thomas Souza

MUS 86a Improv Collective

Join the Brandeis Improv Collective and learn how to become more fluidly and joyfully creative, both individually and in a group, through an exploration of musical improvisation. This ensemble is suitable for any student with an interest in having fun playing with other people, regardless of previous experience in improvising or instrumental skill level. Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Yields half-course credit. Placement auditions will be held at the start of the semester. A maximum of four course credits will be allowed for all enrollments in Ensemble (MUS 80a,b; MUS 88a,b) alone or Private Instruction and Ensemble together. May be undertaken as an extracurricular, noncredit activity by registering in the XC section.

The semester culminates with a performance in Slosberg Recital hall. Usually offered every semester.
Thomas Hall

MUS 86b Improv Collective

Continuation of MUS 86a. See MUS 86a for special notes and course description.

Usually offered every semester.
Thomas Hall

MUS 87a Music and Dance from Ghana

Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Yields half-course credit. A maximum of four course credits will be allowed for all enrollments in Ensemble (80a,b ' 88a,b) alone or Private Instruction and Ensemble together. Instruments will be supplied by instructor.

Students in this course will study and perform a repertory of traditional music and dance of a variety of ethnic traditions from Ghana, West Africa. The drum ensemble includes bells, rattles and drums. The vocal music features call-and-response singing in local languages. The dances have choreographic formations as well as opportunity for individual expression. Drumming and dancing are closely intertwined; work will culminate in a final performance. Usually offered every year.
Benjamin Paulding

MUS 87b Music and Dance from Ghana

Continuation of MUS 87a. See MUS 87a for special notes and course description.

Usually offered every year.
Benjamin Paulding

MUS 88a Small Ensemble for Leonard Bernstein Fellows

Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Yields half-course credit. Only open to Leonard Bernstein scholars. A maximum of four course credits will be allowed for all enrollments in Ensemble (80a,b – 88a,b) alone or Private Instruction and Ensemble together. May be undertaken as an extracurricular, noncredit activity by registering in the XC section.

Organizes Leonard Bernstein Fellows into small ensembles (i.e. instrumental chamber music, vocal, jazz) and assigned specific works/projects to prepare for the semester. They will be coached by a member of the music department faculty and are expected to rehearse weekly in addition to the coaching sessions. Usually offered every semester.
Mark Berger, Joshua Gordon, Andrea Segar, and other faculty

MUS 88b Small Ensemble for Leonard Bernstein Fellows

Continuation of MUS 88a. See MUS 88a for special notes and course description.

Usually offered every semester.
Mark Berger, Joshua Gordon, Andrea Segar, and other faculty

MUS 89b Roots Music Ensemble

Prerequisite: Instructor permission required.

Study and perform repertoire from Roots music traditions including blues, country, swing, bluegrass and Appalachian folk. Students will learn to play these styles by ear while developing skills in arranging, harmonizing and improvising. Participation is open to instrumentalists and vocalists from any musical background (including those who play instruments not usually associated with these styles). Special one-time offering, spring 2022.

Taylor Ackley

MUS 92a Internship and Analysis

Staff

MUS 92b Internship and Analysis

Staff

MUS 97a Independent Projects

Yields half-course credit. Normally open only to music majors in their junior and senior years. May be taken twice for credit if no undue duplication of content is involved.

Reserved for projects such as directed readings, preparation of a work for performance, or internships that do not require written work (papers or compositions). Usually offered every year.
Staff

MUS 97b Independent Projects

Yields half-course credit. Normally open only to music majors in their junior and senior years. May be taken twice for credit if no undue duplication of content is involved.

Reserved for projects such as directed readings, preparation of a work for performance, or internships that do not require written work (papers or compositions). Usually offered every year.
Staff

MUS 98a Directed Independent Study

Open to qualified undergraduates.

Requires written work such as a historical or analytical essay, preparation of a critical edition, or the creation of an original musical composition. Usually offered every year.
Staff

MUS 98b Directed Independent Study

Yields four semester-hours credit (one course credit). Open to qualified undergraduates.

One-semester course with one semester credit. Requires written work such as a historical or analytical essay, preparation of a critical edition, or the creation of an original musical composition. Usually offered every year.
Staff

MUS 99d Senior Project

Open to seniors with a GPA in music of 3.00 or above. Admission by petition. May involve a thesis, musical performance, or composition. In all cases, it must produce written work. Usually offered every year.
Staff

AAAS 151b Africa: A Reggae Anthology
[ djw nw oc ss ]

Draws on the genre of reggae music as a course of understanding how Africa, its people, its history, and its contemporary circumstances are imagined, understood, represented, and engaged by African descended people in Jamaica and in the broader African diaspora. Usually offered every second year.
Carina Ray

MUS 101a Western Classical and Popular Music I: How It's Made, Part 1
[ ca dl ]

Admission by placement exam to be given in class on the first day of instruction. Corequisite: MUS 102a must be taken at the same time as MUS 101a.

A first course for students who already read music, but wish to develop a deeper involvement. Students investigate how music "works" by composing exercises based on examples of tonal music and literature that students are practicing for performance. Focuses on elementary harmony and voice-leading, counterpoint, analysis, and model composition. In the required one-hour lab (MUS 102a), students practice sight-singing and dictation, skills essential to music literacy. Usually offered every year.

Justin Casinghino

MUS 101b Western Classical and Popular Music I: How It's Made, Part 2
[ ca dl ]

Prerequisite: MUS 101a. Corequisite: MUS 102b must be taken at the same time as MUS 101b.

The second semester introduces broad concepts of theory and begins the process of learning to write and analyze music. By the end of the year, students will gain experience in counterpoint, harmony, and formal analysis, and will compose in a simple form. Throughout the year, the relationship of repertoire and theory is stressed. The required ear-training and keyboard lab meets separately. Usually offered every year.

Yu-Hui Chang

MUS 102a Western Classical and Popular Music I: How It's Made, Part 1 (Lab)

Corequisite: MUS 101a. Yields half-course credit.

Designed to help students develop essential music literary skills. Beginning sight-singing, simple melodic and harmonic dictation, and rhythmic studies. Materials drawn from the corequisite lecture course. Keyboard harmony. Usually offered every year.

Staff

MUS 102b Western Classical and Popular Music I: How It's Made, Part 2 (Lab)

Corequisite: MUS 101b. Yields half-course credit.

See MUS 102a for course description. Usually offered every year.
Staff

MUS 103a Western Classical and Popular Music II: How It's Made, Part 1
[ ca dl ]

Prerequisites: MUS 101a,b and 102a,b. Corequisite: MUS 104a must be taken at the same time as MUS 103a.

This course builds on MUS 101. Chromatic tonal harmony is covered, and short pieces of nineteenth century music are analyzed in depth. Students will analyze pieces on their own and write analytical papers. Students will also harmonize various chorale melodies. The required ear training and keyboard lab meets separately. Usually offered every year.
Staff

MUS 103b Western Classical and Popular Music II: How It's Made, Part 2
[ ca dl ]

Prerequisite: MUS 103a. Corequisite: MUS 104B must be taken at the same time as MUS 103b.

A continuation of MUS 103a. Twentieth century styles and techniques are covered, including extended tonality and atonality. Several compositional projects are assigned and performed in class. Usually offered every year.
Staff

MUS 104a Western Classical and Popular Music II: How It's Made, Part 1 (Lab)

Corequisite: MUS 103a. Yields half-course credit.

A continuation of MUS 102. More advanced exercises in sight-singing and dictation. Keyboard harmony. Usually offered every year.
Staff

MUS 104b Western Classical and Popular Music II: How It's Made, Part 2 (Lab)

Corequisite: MUS 103b. Yields half-course credit.

A continuation of MUS 104a. Usually offered every year.
Staff

MUS 106a Undergraduate Composition
[ ca ]

Prerequisite: MUS 5a or equivalent experience. Offered exclusively on a credit/no-credit basis. May be repeated once for credit.

Students are introduced to a variety of compositional issues by writing five or six short pieces and one longer project. Concurrently, pertinent examples from the twentieth-century classical repertoire will be discussed. Usually offered every second year.

Taylor Ackley

MUS 106b Advanced Undergraduate Composition
[ ca ]

Prerequisite: MUS 106a. Offered exclusively on a credit/no-credit basis.

A continuation of MUS 106a, intended for more advanced undergraduate composers. Studies more advanced compositional concepts discussed in greater depth and more substantial pieces are assigned, for solo instruments, for voice, and for ensembles. Individualized projects are also given. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

MUS 107a Introduction to Electro-Acoustic Music
[ ca dl ]

Prerequisite: Any music course or permission of the instructor.

A course designed to give students basic studio skills and a context for listening to and working in electronic music. Topics include basic acoustics, sound design, digital and analog recording techniques, and assignments on the pioneers and current practitioners of electro-acoustic music. Involves hands-on experience in the use of MIDI-controlled synthesizers, samplers, production equipment, and includes individual studio projects based on individual studio time. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

MUS 111a Private Instruction: Instrumentalists

Offered on a credit/no-credit grading basis. Yields half-course credit. Placement auditions will be held at the start of the semester. Students registering for MUS 111a must also register for a departmental Ensemble (MUS 80a,b ' 87a,b or 116a,b); 111a may NOT be taken alone. Students may petition to substitute one semester of a professionally directed non-university ensemble for their university Ensemble co-requisite. A maximum of four course credits will be allowed for all enrollments in Ensemble (MUS 80a,b ' 87a,b) alone or Private Instructions and Ensemble together. Successful completion of two semesters of MUS 111a,b may be applied only once toward the requirements for the major or minor in music. Course may be taken as a noncredit activity by registering in the XC section. Course fee: $700 for non-Music program students; $250 for Music graduate and non-performance track Music undergraduates; no fee for Bernstein Fellows and Music undergraduate performance track students.

Instrumentalists will take ten 50-minute, private lessons per semester in the field of early music, jazz, or classical music while participating in a departmental ensemble. A ten-minute jury is required in the second semester. Usually offered every year.
Bob Nieske

MUS 111b Private Instruction: Instrumentalists

Continuation of MUS 111a. See MUS 111a for special notes and course description. Offered on a credit/no-credit grading basis. Course fee: $700 for non-Music program students; $250 for Music graduate and non-performance track Music undergraduates; no fee for Bernstein Fellows and Music undergraduate performance track students.

A ten-minute jury is required for all students in the second semester. Usually offered every year.
Bob Nieske

MUS 112a Private Instruction: Voice

Offered on a credit/no-credit grading basis. Yields half-course credit. Placement auditions will be held at the start of the semester. Students registering for MUS 112a must also register for a departmental Ensemble (MUS 80a,b ' 87a,b or 116a,b); 112a may NOT be taken alone. Students may petition to substitute one semester of a professionally directed non-university ensemble for their university Ensemble co-requisite. A maximum of four course credits will be allowed for all enrollments in Ensemble (MUS 80a,b ' 87a,b) alone or Private Instructions and Ensemble together. Successful completion of two semesters of MUS 112a,b may be applied only once toward the requirements for the major or minor in music. Course may be taken as a noncredit activity by registering in the XC section. Course fee: $700 for non-Music program students; $250 for Music graduate and non-performance track Music undergraduates; no fee for Bernstein Fellows and Music undergraduate performance track students.

Voice students will take ten 50-minute, private lessons per semester. Fundamental skills of breathing, resonating, and relaxing will be taught along with repertory appropriate to the individual student. A ten-minute jury is required in second semester. Usually offered every year.
Robert Duff

MUS 112b Private Instruction: Voice

Continuation of MUS 112a. See MUS 112a for special notes and course description. Course fee: $700 for non-Music program students; $250 for Music graduate and non-performance track Music undergraduates; no fee for Bernstein Fellows and Music undergraduate performance track students.

A ten-minute jury is required for all students in the second semester. Usually offered every year.
Robert Duff

MUS 113a Introduction to Conducting
[ ca ]

Prerequisite: MUS 103a,b or permission of instructor.

Covers the fundamentals of choral and instrumental conducting techniques and is designed for all students interested in conducting musical ensembles. Fundamentals include basic metrical patterns, dynamic shading, cues, entrances, cutoffs, and uses of the left hand. All students have the opportunity to conduct several times throughout the semester. Usually offered every third year.
Robert Duff

MUS 116a Chamber Music: from Page to Stage

Offered exclusively on a credit/no-credit basis. Yields two semester-hours credit (one half-course credit). May be repeated for credit. May be undertaken as an extracurricular, noncredit activity by registering in the XC section. Vocalists will be admitted on an individual basis and must take MUS 82 a,b: University Chorus or MUS 80 a,b: Early Music Ensemble as a corequisite. Informal auditions at the beginning of the semester.

Musicians bring their own experience, instinct, and theoretical knowledge to music-making through study and performance of chamber music in a supportive master class setting. Through coaching by a professional performer, readings, and listening to recordings, this course examines how performance practice, basic structural analysis, and historical context affect interpretation. Individual and ensemble preparation required. Class meetings include coaching, discussion/listening salon, masterclass and rehearsals, to be scheduled. Final public performance. Usually offered every year.

Joshua Gordon and Staff

MUS 116b Chamber Music from Page to Stage

Continuation of MUS 116a. See MUS 116a for special notes and course description.

Usually offered every year.
Mark Berger and Andrea Seger

MUS 117a Junior Recital I

Yields two half-course credit. For music majors accepted into the performance or musical theater performance tracks only. Admission by the consent of the instructor based on an audition. Students may not enroll in MUS 111a,b or MUS 112a,b for credit while enrolled in MUS 117a,b.

Students will take ten one-hour private lessons in preparation for performance of a recital, to be given in the spring semester, of significant representative repertory appropriate to the instrument or voice of the student, including the selecting of repertory for a coherent program. Students are expected to demonstrate command of stylistic, technical, and expressive aspects of the chosen music. Requires passing a jury at the end of the fall semester. No studio fee. Usually offered every year.
Robert Duff and Joshua Gordon

MUS 117b Junior Recital II

Continuation of MUS 117a. See MUS 117a for special notes and course description. Includes final preparation for spring full recital. No studio fee.

Usually offered every year.
Robert Duff and Joshua Gordon

MUS 118a Senior Recital I

Yields half-course credit. For music majors accepted into the performance or musical theater performance tracks only. Admission by the consent of the instructor based on an audition. Students may not enroll in MUS 111a,b or MUS 112a,b for credit while enrolled in MUS 118a,b.

Students will take ten one-hour private lessons in preparation for performance of a full recital, to be given in the spring semester, of significant representative repertory appropriate to the instrument or voice of the student, including the selecting of repertory for a coherent program. Students are expected to demonstrate command of stylistic, technical, and expressive aspects of the chosen music. Requires passing a jury at the end of the fall semester. No studio fee. Usually offered every year.
Robert Duff and Joshua Gordon

MUS 118b Senior Recital II

Continuation of MUS 118a. See MUS 118a for special notes and course description. Includes final preparation for spring full recital. No studio fee.

Usually offered every year.
Robert Duff and Joshua Gordon

MUS 131a Music in Western Culture: Early Medieval to the Sixteenth Century
[ ca wi ]

This course may not be repeated for credit by students who have taken MUS 131b in prior years.

A survey of music history from the early medieval period through the sixteenth century, considering major styles, composers, genres, and techniques of musical composition from a historical and analytical perspective. Topics include plainchant and the beginnings of western music notation--the songs of the crusades, the emergence of written polyphony in the west, the motet and madrigal, and Monteverdi and early opera.
Staff

MUS 133b Music in Western Culture: Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
[ ca ]

This course may not be repeated for credit by students who have taken MUS 133a in prior years.

A survey of music from Vivaldi, Bach, and Handel through Beethoven and Schubert. Major styles, genres, and techniques of musical composition are discussed from historical and analytic perspective, based on a study of representative works.
Staff

MUS 135a Music in Western Culture: 19th Century to Today
[ ca ]

May not be taken for credit by students who took MUS 134b or 135a in prior years.

In this class, we will survey Western music history ca. 1830 to the present, considering major styles, genres, and techniques of musical composition from historical and analytical perspectives. We will consider works by Schumann, Wagner, Debussy, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Bartók, Eastman, Saariaho, and others, exploring styles ranging from impressionism and expressionism to atonality, serialism, and aleatoric music, as well as minimalism, post-minimalism, and spectralism. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

MUS 136b Divas
[ ca ]

Though her name means 'goddess,' the diva is frequently imagined as a creature with all-too-human failings; she is both talented and tempestuous, both revered and reviled. This course will explore the complex image of the diva in Western culture from the middle ages to the present day. We'll treat the category of 'diva' expansively ' encompassing opera singers and pop stars, composers and castrati ' and engage with thorny questions of gender, sexuality, race, class, and power, in hopes of understanding the enduring cultural potency of this compelling and problematic figure. Usually offered every second year.
Emily Frey

MUS 150b Choral Methods
[ ca ]

Prerequisites: MUS 101a and b.

Introduces the prime elements of choral singing, regardless of criteria for idiom or genre. Students will be introduced to the examination of representative music suitable for groups at various levels of development, principles of programming methodology involving sight-reading and strengthening musicianship, building a choral program, rehearsal techniques, and issues pertaining to the development of a choral ensemble. Usually offered every second year.
Robert Duff

MUS 160b Electronic Music Composition and Production
[ ca dl ]

Preference given to students who have taken MUS 107a or have permission of the instructor. Intended for graduate students and advanced undergraduates.

Builds upon topics from MUS 107a and develops these into the professional skills of recording, production, and electronic composition. Students will refine these skills in both individual and collaborative projects. Work is carried out in BEAMS (Brandeis Electro-Acoustic Music Studio), but every effort will be made to equip students to compose on their own computers and to work collaboratively using contemporary tools, especially the Internet. Foundational concepts and approaches for this course will be drawn from both 20th century Avant Garde electronic composition and the commercial/popular music industry. Usually offered every other year.

Staff

MUS 161a Electro-Acoustic Music Composition
[ ca dl ]

Prerequisite: MUS 107a or MUS 160b, or permission of the instructor. Intended for graduate students and advanced undergraduates.

Composing for electronic media. Advanced topics in software synthesis, sound design, studio production. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

MUS 162b Seminar in MAX/MSP
[ ca ]

Advanced undergraduate students may enroll with permission of the instructor.

Topics related to the use of the MAX/MSP graphical programming language for composition, sound design, installation, and live performance. Participants engage in individual projects and study MAX patches by established practitioners. Individual and group research and presentations are required. Usually offered every third year.
Staff

MUS 172b Proseminar in Theory and Composition
[ ca ]

Required of all composition MFA and PhD students. May be repeated for credit.

Advanced study of chromatic and non-tonal harmony, as well as various analytical approaches to the 20th and 21st century music. Work includes writing exercises, keyboard harmony, and score study. Usually offered every second year.

Yu-Hui Chang

MUS 175a Instrumentation and Orchestration
[ ca dl ]

Prerequisites: MUS 101a and b.

Technical projects in the art of writing for instruments and for groups of instruments, from chamber groups of various sizes to full orchestra. Score study of examples from 1770 to the present. Additional focus on notation and on rules for instrumental parts. Usually offered every second year.
David Rakowski

MUS 180b Proseminar in Digital Musicology
[ ca dl ]

Digital musicology, a relatively new subfield of the discipline of musicology, deploys music information retrieval and analysis methods to answer questions of significance to musicologists. This hands-on proseminar, suitable for graduate students and advanced undergraduates, will teach the standards for encoding music data, and will introduce the various analytical methodologies used to answer a variety of music research questions (searching, pattern recognition, and analysis using toolkits and software such as music21, Humdrum, and jSymbolic). In addition, we will survey some general digital humanities tools and techniques (distant reading, text analysis, network analysis, and visualization), and read about some important debates in the field (rebalancing the canon, access and accessibility, and sustainability). Students who complete the course will understand how to discover digital musicology projects and how to evaluate them, and develop music research questions and answer them using the tools and approaches covered in this course. No prior programming knowledge required, although students are expected to have a basic understanding of music notation. This course satisfies the Digital Literacy component of the Brandeis core curriculum. Usually offered every third year.
Karen Desmond

MUS 182a Introduction to Musicology
[ ca ]

Required for all graduate students in musicology.
 

Provides a comprehensive introduction to music scholarship. We will survey the developments that have shaped musicology since its institutionalization as an academic discipline, paying special attention to the major issues and movements that have occupied our field over the past ten years. We'll also explore the various "hows" of musicology, discussing how and where research is disseminated, how to access and deal with primary, secondary, and archival sources, how to make use of digital tools and methods, how to formulate interesting and productive research questions, and how to write academically about music. Usually offered every year.
Karen Desmond and Emily Frey

MUS 184b Proseminar in Medieval Music
[ ca ]

Focuses on three topics: 1) music as/and language; 2) the first ‘writing down’ of polyphonic music in the medieval West; 3) the medieval motet. Through listening and studying lots of music (and thinking about how it was made, disseminated, and recorded), and reading writings by medieval theorists and modern scholarly articles, we consider concepts central to the study of music in general, such as: the role of the composer and performer; institutional and cultural contexts for the performance and composition of music; the relationship of theory to practice; intertextuality; technological developments in the transmission of music; the art of memory; music and meaning. Usually offered every third year.
Karen Desmond

MUS 188b Proseminar in Music of the Eighteenth Century
[ ca ]

In addition to tracing the evolution of the principal genres (e.g., sonata, symphony, string quartet, opera buffa, opera seria), the course assesses the historical position of the major figures from Bach and Handel to Mozart and Haydn. Particular emphasis is placed on understanding the phenomenon of the "style shift" from baroque to classical style. Usually offered every fourth year.

Emily Frey

MUS 189a Proseminar in Music of the Nineteenth Century
[ ca ]

A broad study of the principal stylistic developments and musical genres of the nineteenth century. Topics include significance of Beethoven on the musical thinking of the nineteenth century, the rise of national schools of composition, especially opera, and program music and its aesthetic and compositional bases. Usually offered every third year.
Emily Frey

MUS 190a Proseminar in Music since 1900
[ ca ]

Examines music developing in Europe and the United States after 1900. The course divides into four periods - 1900-WWI, the Interwar years, WWII and the early cold war, and 1960s to the present - and explores select developments in compositional style, as well as interactions of music with cultural and political history within each of these periods. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

MUS 191b Analysis of Extended Tonal Music
[ ca ]

Works in this course are selected from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Composers such as Wagner, Wolf, Debussy, early Schoenberg, Bartok, and Stravinsky. Music from the Renaissance and early baroque may also be examined. Usually offered every second year.
Mark Berger

MUS 192a Topics in Analysis of Early Twentieth-Century Music
[ ca ]

Detailed examination of selected works composed between 1908 and 1951. Usually offered every second year.
Erin Gee

MUS 193b Topics in Analysis of Contemporary Music
[ ca ]

Open to graduate students in Music and undergraduates who have completed MUS 104b.

Detailed examination of selected works since 1951. Usually offered every second year.
Yu-Hui Chang

MUS 196b Sound and Space: Sound Installation and Movement Staging in the Field of Music Composition
[ ca ]
Students will design their own sound installation and learn how to build meaning through space and sound In relation to a cross-disciplinary research topic. This research will be modeled on methods cross-disciplinary project-building In various disciplines. Students will be informed by historical precedent In this field, design (and fulfill) a research goal around the production of the installation, and understand how to create (and to actually create by the end of the class) an intellectually rigorous and engaging interaction between the aural and visual. Usually offered every third year.
Erin Gee

MUS 200b Teaching Music

Approaches to teaching music subjects at the college level. Subjects include strategies for teaching music appreciation, history and theory; evaluating and choosing textbooks; crafting a syllabus; grading; and teaching philosophies. Usually offered every third year.
David Rakowski

MUS 202b Seminar in Seeing Sound: The History and Practice of Notation to c. 1500

The late ninth century witnessed a major technological breakthrough in the transmission of Western music that was to have far-reaching consequences. Chants that had been taught orally for several centuries began to be encoded on parchment using signs placed above text syllables that recorded the shape and contour of the chant melodies. Systems of music notation spread rapidly across Europe, and took root as the way to record, archive, share, and (eventually) compose music. This graduate seminar course examines the form and function of music notation in western Europe, and how the writing down of music transformed music practice. Students will transcribe music from a variety of medieval and Renaissance notation systems, and will work directly with high quality facsimiles and online reproductions of the original manuscripts. Usually offered every third year.
Karen Desmond

MUS 203a Music and Patronage

While music is often imagined to be innately egalitarian, uniting people across lines of class and rank, it has also served as a site for this same intense social differentiation. Music, like other arts, has long been sustained by patrons within class-stratified societies to build and maintain social relationships, accrue prestige, and produce hierarchies of economic and cultural value. In this course, we examine the relationship between patrons and clients as it manifests in musical life, drawing on examples from around the globe and across time. Special one-time offering, fall 2021.
Bradford Garvey

MUS 205a Musicology Lab

Required for all graduate students in musicology.

This two-credit lab meeting seminar is centered on professional development. We meet once a week to run through any upcoming conference papers, edit and proofread job, internship, and grant application materials, work on abstracts for conferences, discuss best strategies for success in the job market, research and writing strategies, and any other topics that the students would like to work on with the group. Second-year musicology students (PhD and Master’s) must take this course for credit in both the Fall and Spring semesters. PhD musicology students are expected to attend lab for at least six semesters in total. Usually offered every semester.

Taylor Ackley

MUS 212a Seminar: Analyzing Early Music (1300-1600)

An investigation of analytic approaches to pretonal music, including such issues as text-music relations, tonal structures, compositional planning, use of preexisting material. Usually offered every fourth year.
Karen Desmond

MUS 214b Seminar: Baroque Topics

An in-depth investigation of one selected topic in baroque music. Topics may include the Monteverdi madrigals, seventeenth-century instrumental music, and the Bach Passions. The methodology employed varies according to the subject; emphasis is given to more recent research in most cases. Usually offered every fourth year.
Staff

MUS 216a Seminar: Topics in Bach Interpretation

The interpretation of the music of J. S. Bach. Selected topics may include the Bach Passions, Bach's early cantatas, the Leipzig cantata cycles, Bach's instrumental cycles. Usually offered every third year.
Staff

MUS 217b Topics in Music of the Eighteenth Century

An in-depth examination of selected topics in eighteenth century music. Usually offered every fourth year.
Staff

MUS 218b Seminar in the Music of the Nineteenth Century

A detailed exploration of one historical, analytical, or stylistic issue of current significance to nineteenth-century musicology. Topics include the two versions of Verdi's Simon Boccanegra and cyclic organization in the song cycles of Robert Schumann. Usually offered every fourth year.
Emily Frey

MUS 219a Seminar: Wagner

This seminar will study one of Wagner's major works in depth and from a variety of approaches: analytical questions; the sketches and drafts; Wagner's writings. Special emphasis will be given to Wagner's Schopenhauerian aesthetics. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

MUS 220a Seminar: The German Postromantic Period

This course will study topics drawn from the period between 1860 and 1914. Topics may include Mahler's songs and symphonies, the aesthetics of late nineteenth-century music, the postromantic lied with particular emphasis on Hugo Wolf. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

MUS 221a Topics in Music after 1900

Investigates selected topics in music since 1900 in depth. Topics will be determined by the instructor. Sample topics from previous years include "American Roots Music: Technologies of the Folk," "Music in Film," "Music of Alban Berg." Usually offered every second year.
Staff

MUS 222a The Institutions of Opera: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives

Focuses on opera in twentieth-century Germany and on American opera festivals. Students will be immersed in the historical literature on the institutions that shaped what opera became in different places at different times. We will also work to understand the institutional landscape contributing to the practice of opera in the twenty-first century. Special one-time offering, fall 2022.

Emily Richmond Pollock

MUS 224b Seminar in Medieval Music

An in-depth study of a selected topic in medieval music. Usually offered every third year.
Karen Desmond

MUS 226b History and Literature of Western Music Theory: 1850 to the Present

Usually offered every third year.
Staff

MUS 232a Political Economies of Music

Examines the musical constitution of political economies as well as the role of music within political economies with examples drawn from around the world and throughout history. Focuses on musical networks and markets, the music/culture industry, pageantry, music and exchange, and labor. Usually offered every third year.

Bradford Garvey

MUS 292a Seminar in Composition

Group meetings and individual conferences. Opportunities for the performance of student works is provided. Usually offered every year. Specific sections for individual faculty members as requested.

Eric Chasalow and David Rakowski

MUS 292b Seminar in Composition

Group meetings and individual conferences. Opportunities for the performance of student works are provided. Usually offered every year. Specific sections for individual faculty members as requested.

Eric Chasalow and David Rakowski

MUS 298a Independent Study

Staff

MUS 299a Individual Research and Advanced Work

Usually offered every year.
Staff

MUS 299b Individual Research and Advanced Work

Usually offered every year.
Staff

MUS 401d Dissertation Research

Specific sections for individual faculty members as requested. Required of all doctoral candidates.
Staff

MUS 101a Western Classical and Popular Music I: How It's Made, Part 1
[ ca dl ]

Admission by placement exam to be given in class on the first day of instruction. Corequisite: MUS 102a must be taken at the same time as MUS 101a.

A first course for students who already read music, but wish to develop a deeper involvement. Students investigate how music "works" by composing exercises based on examples of tonal music and literature that students are practicing for performance. Focuses on elementary harmony and voice-leading, counterpoint, analysis, and model composition. In the required one-hour lab (MUS 102a), students practice sight-singing and dictation, skills essential to music literacy. Usually offered every year.

Justin Casinghino

MUS 101b Western Classical and Popular Music I: How It's Made, Part 2
[ ca dl ]

Prerequisite: MUS 101a. Corequisite: MUS 102b must be taken at the same time as MUS 101b.

The second semester introduces broad concepts of theory and begins the process of learning to write and analyze music. By the end of the year, students will gain experience in counterpoint, harmony, and formal analysis, and will compose in a simple form. Throughout the year, the relationship of repertoire and theory is stressed. The required ear-training and keyboard lab meets separately. Usually offered every year.

Yu-Hui Chang

MUS 103a Western Classical and Popular Music II: How It's Made, Part 1
[ ca dl ]

Prerequisites: MUS 101a,b and 102a,b. Corequisite: MUS 104a must be taken at the same time as MUS 103a.

This course builds on MUS 101. Chromatic tonal harmony is covered, and short pieces of nineteenth century music are analyzed in depth. Students will analyze pieces on their own and write analytical papers. Students will also harmonize various chorale melodies. The required ear training and keyboard lab meets separately. Usually offered every year.
Staff

MUS 103b Western Classical and Popular Music II: How It's Made, Part 2
[ ca dl ]

Prerequisite: MUS 103a. Corequisite: MUS 104B must be taken at the same time as MUS 103b.

A continuation of MUS 103a. Twentieth century styles and techniques are covered, including extended tonality and atonality. Several compositional projects are assigned and performed in class. Usually offered every year.
Staff

MUS 107a Introduction to Electro-Acoustic Music
[ ca dl ]

Prerequisite: Any music course or permission of the instructor.

A course designed to give students basic studio skills and a context for listening to and working in electronic music. Topics include basic acoustics, sound design, digital and analog recording techniques, and assignments on the pioneers and current practitioners of electro-acoustic music. Involves hands-on experience in the use of MIDI-controlled synthesizers, samplers, production equipment, and includes individual studio projects based on individual studio time. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

MUS 160b Electronic Music Composition and Production
[ ca dl ]

Preference given to students who have taken MUS 107a or have permission of the instructor. Intended for graduate students and advanced undergraduates.

Builds upon topics from MUS 107a and develops these into the professional skills of recording, production, and electronic composition. Students will refine these skills in both individual and collaborative projects. Work is carried out in BEAMS (Brandeis Electro-Acoustic Music Studio), but every effort will be made to equip students to compose on their own computers and to work collaboratively using contemporary tools, especially the Internet. Foundational concepts and approaches for this course will be drawn from both 20th century Avant Garde electronic composition and the commercial/popular music industry. Usually offered every other year.

Staff

MUS 161a Electro-Acoustic Music Composition
[ ca dl ]

Prerequisite: MUS 107a or MUS 160b, or permission of the instructor. Intended for graduate students and advanced undergraduates.

Composing for electronic media. Advanced topics in software synthesis, sound design, studio production. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

MUS 175a Instrumentation and Orchestration
[ ca dl ]

Prerequisites: MUS 101a and b.

Technical projects in the art of writing for instruments and for groups of instruments, from chamber groups of various sizes to full orchestra. Score study of examples from 1770 to the present. Additional focus on notation and on rules for instrumental parts. Usually offered every second year.
David Rakowski

MUS 180b Proseminar in Digital Musicology
[ ca dl ]

Digital musicology, a relatively new subfield of the discipline of musicology, deploys music information retrieval and analysis methods to answer questions of significance to musicologists. This hands-on proseminar, suitable for graduate students and advanced undergraduates, will teach the standards for encoding music data, and will introduce the various analytical methodologies used to answer a variety of music research questions (searching, pattern recognition, and analysis using toolkits and software such as music21, Humdrum, and jSymbolic). In addition, we will survey some general digital humanities tools and techniques (distant reading, text analysis, network analysis, and visualization), and read about some important debates in the field (rebalancing the canon, access and accessibility, and sustainability). Students who complete the course will understand how to discover digital musicology projects and how to evaluate them, and develop music research questions and answer them using the tools and approaches covered in this course. No prior programming knowledge required, although students are expected to have a basic understanding of music notation. This course satisfies the Digital Literacy component of the Brandeis core curriculum. Usually offered every third year.
Karen Desmond

AMST/MUS 35a History of Rock: Rock and Roll in American Culture
[ ca oc ]

Formerly offered as MUS 35a.

Examines the historical context, stylistic development, and cultural significance of rock and roll and other closely related genres, spanning the 1950s through the present. Close attention is paid to how political and social changes have interacted with technological innovations through commercial music to challenge, affirm and shape ideas of race, gender, class and sexuality in the United States. Usually offered every third year.
Staff

AMST/MUS 38a American Music: From Psalms to Hip Hop
[ ca oc ss ]

Open to music majors and non-majors. Formerly offered as MUS 38a.

Explores the many varieties of folk, popular, and art music in American culture. We will focus on the stylistic development of select repertoires beginning with 18thcentury New England Psalm singing and African American traditions and continuing on through folk, jazz, art, pop, rock, and hip hop music. Throughout the course, music serves as a lens to examine diverse aspects of American culture and history with an emphasis on America's shifting definition of identity. No musical background is required. Usually offered every third year.
Staff

AMST/MUS 39b Protest Through Song: Music that Shaped America
[ ca oc ss ]

Open to music majors and non-majors. Does not fulfill the Main Currents in American Studies requirement for the major.

Examines 20th and 21st century protest music to better understand the complex relationships between music and social movements. Through class discussions, reading, writing, and listening assignments, and a final performance students will discover how social, cultural, and economic protest songs helped shape American culture. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

AMST/MUS 41a Leonard Bernstein: Composer, Conductor, Educator, and Humanitarian
[ ca oc ss ]

Explores the life and career of Leonard Bernstein. As a composer, conductor, educator, and humanitarian, Bernstein played an important role in shaping American music and culture. Through class discussions, group projects, and reading, writing, and listening assignments, this course will help students better understand the musical, cultural, political, and educational influence of Leonard Bernstein both then and now. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

AMST/MUS 55a Music in Film: Hearing American Cinema
[ ca oc ]

Formerly offered as MUS 55a.

Examines the aesthetics and the history of music in film. Through lecture, class discussions, screenings, and readings, the course teaches students how to critically read image, script, and music as an integrated cultural text, ultimately helping one understand and appreciate the progression of film and sound technology from the 1890s to the present. Usually offered every third year.
Staff

MUS 131a Music in Western Culture: Early Medieval to the Sixteenth Century
[ ca wi ]

This course may not be repeated for credit by students who have taken MUS 131b in prior years.

A survey of music history from the early medieval period through the sixteenth century, considering major styles, composers, genres, and techniques of musical composition from a historical and analytical perspective. Topics include plainchant and the beginnings of western music notation--the songs of the crusades, the emergence of written polyphony in the west, the motet and madrigal, and Monteverdi and early opera.
Staff

AMST/MUS 41a Leonard Bernstein: Composer, Conductor, Educator, and Humanitarian
[ ca oc ss ]

Explores the life and career of Leonard Bernstein. As a composer, conductor, educator, and humanitarian, Bernstein played an important role in shaping American music and culture. Through class discussions, group projects, and reading, writing, and listening assignments, this course will help students better understand the musical, cultural, political, and educational influence of Leonard Bernstein both then and now. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

AMST/MUS 55a Music in Film: Hearing American Cinema
[ ca oc ]

Formerly offered as MUS 55a.

Examines the aesthetics and the history of music in film. Through lecture, class discussions, screenings, and readings, the course teaches students how to critically read image, script, and music as an integrated cultural text, ultimately helping one understand and appreciate the progression of film and sound technology from the 1890s to the present. Usually offered every third year.
Staff

MUS 3b Global Soundscapes: Performing Musical Tradition Across Time and Place
[ ca nw ]

Open to all students. Required of all Cultural Studies track majors.

What are we listening to? Applies engaged listening skills and critical analysis for a deeper appreciation of (non-Western) music as a cultural expression. Focuses on particular traditions as well as social context, impact of globalization, cultural production, cultural rights, etc. Usually offered every year.
Staff

MUS 6b Survey of West African Music: Dance-Drumming from Senegal to Nigeria
[ ca djw nw ]

Explores the dance-drumming of West Africa--a global music style with profound impact on contemporary world cultures. Through engaged listening, critical analysis of ethnomusicological readings, and experiential learning on African percussion instruments, we examine the cultural context and musical systems of West African dance-drumming music. Special one-time offering, spring 2020.
Benjamin Paulding

MUS 31a Broadway Bound: The Craft of Composing Music and Lyrics for the Theater
[ ca ]

Open to music majors and non-majors.

Do you like to write poetry or plays? Have you written music and/or lyrics and want to try your hand at writing musical theatre? In this class, you will learn how music functions in a dramatic context by writing songs (alone or in collaboration with others) and regularly presenting your material for peer and instructor feedback. Contemporary and traditional musical theater masterpieces will be analyzed. Usually offered every second year.
Neal Hampton

MUS 32b Elements of Jazz
[ ca ]

Open to music majors and non-majors.

Examines the development of Jazz styles from the origins of Jazz in the late 1800's through today's Jazz masters. Early Jazz, Swing, Bebop, Cool, the year 1959, and Avant Garde are some of the styles we will be examining through recordings, videos, and in-class performances by local jazz musicians. The emphasis will be on learning how to listen to the various layers of the music and recognize specific stylistic techniques. Usually offered every third year.
Bob Nieske

MUS 37b Back to the Future: Digging for the Roots of Western Music
[ ca ]

Prerequisite: MUS 5a or basic knowledge of music notation.

Dig for the roots of polyphony in the Western tradition. Unearth new concepts (from half a millennium ago) for understanding, hearing, and making music of any period. Compose melodies, improvise counterpoint, and learn to hear intervals with fresh ears. Usually offered every second year.
Sarah Mead

MUS 45a Beethoven
[ ca ]

Open to music majors and non-majors.

A study of the most influential musician in the history of Western civilization. Although attention is given to his place in society, emphasis falls on an examination of representative works drawn from the symphonies, concertos, chamber music, and solo piano works. Usually offered every third year.
Staff

MUS 52b Russian Music and Russian Power from Glinka to Putin
[ ca ]

Surveys the long and strong relationship between music and state power in Russian, beginning in the tsarist period and continuing through the present day. We will consider operas and symphonies, popular songs and state anthems, aiming to understand how political factors (including censorship, official artistic policies, and propaganda) have influenced the composition and reception of music in Russia, as well as how music has been used to serve-- and disturb-- the Russian state. Offered every second year.
Emily Frey

MUS 54b Music and Poetry in the German Art Song During the Nineteenth Century
[ ca ]

Surveys the interaction of poetry and music in major masterpieces of the German art song (Lied) for voice and piano from the time of Beethoven and Schubert (c. 1815) to that of Strauss, Wolf and Mahler (c. 1900). All the major composers of Lieder will be covered. Usually offered every third year.
Staff

MUS 106a Undergraduate Composition
[ ca ]

Prerequisite: MUS 5a or equivalent experience. Offered exclusively on a credit/no-credit basis. May be repeated once for credit.

Students are introduced to a variety of compositional issues by writing five or six short pieces and one longer project. Concurrently, pertinent examples from the twentieth-century classical repertoire will be discussed. Usually offered every second year.

Taylor Ackley

MUS 106b Advanced Undergraduate Composition
[ ca ]

Prerequisite: MUS 106a. Offered exclusively on a credit/no-credit basis.

A continuation of MUS 106a, intended for more advanced undergraduate composers. Studies more advanced compositional concepts discussed in greater depth and more substantial pieces are assigned, for solo instruments, for voice, and for ensembles. Individualized projects are also given. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

MUS 136b Divas
[ ca ]

Though her name means 'goddess,' the diva is frequently imagined as a creature with all-too-human failings; she is both talented and tempestuous, both revered and reviled. This course will explore the complex image of the diva in Western culture from the middle ages to the present day. We'll treat the category of 'diva' expansively ' encompassing opera singers and pop stars, composers and castrati ' and engage with thorny questions of gender, sexuality, race, class, and power, in hopes of understanding the enduring cultural potency of this compelling and problematic figure. Usually offered every second year.
Emily Frey

MUS 175a Instrumentation and Orchestration
[ ca dl ]

Prerequisites: MUS 101a and b.

Technical projects in the art of writing for instruments and for groups of instruments, from chamber groups of various sizes to full orchestra. Score study of examples from 1770 to the present. Additional focus on notation and on rules for instrumental parts. Usually offered every second year.
David Rakowski

MUS 180b Proseminar in Digital Musicology
[ ca dl ]

Digital musicology, a relatively new subfield of the discipline of musicology, deploys music information retrieval and analysis methods to answer questions of significance to musicologists. This hands-on proseminar, suitable for graduate students and advanced undergraduates, will teach the standards for encoding music data, and will introduce the various analytical methodologies used to answer a variety of music research questions (searching, pattern recognition, and analysis using toolkits and software such as music21, Humdrum, and jSymbolic). In addition, we will survey some general digital humanities tools and techniques (distant reading, text analysis, network analysis, and visualization), and read about some important debates in the field (rebalancing the canon, access and accessibility, and sustainability). Students who complete the course will understand how to discover digital musicology projects and how to evaluate them, and develop music research questions and answer them using the tools and approaches covered in this course. No prior programming knowledge required, although students are expected to have a basic understanding of music notation. This course satisfies the Digital Literacy component of the Brandeis core curriculum. Usually offered every third year.
Karen Desmond

AMST/MUS 41a Leonard Bernstein: Composer, Conductor, Educator, and Humanitarian
[ ca oc ss ]

Explores the life and career of Leonard Bernstein. As a composer, conductor, educator, and humanitarian, Bernstein played an important role in shaping American music and culture. Through class discussions, group projects, and reading, writing, and listening assignments, this course will help students better understand the musical, cultural, political, and educational influence of Leonard Bernstein both then and now. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

FILM 100a Introduction to the Moving Image
[ hum ]

An interdisciplinary course surveying the history of moving image media from 1895 to the present, from the earliest silent cinema to the age of streaming media. Open to all undergraduates as an elective, it is the introductory course for the major and minor in film, television and interactive media. Usually offered every year.
Staff

JOUR 13a Multimedia Storytelling Lab

Yields half-course credit. Formerly offered as EL 13a.

Students at both beginning and intermediate levels of experience pursue projects in photography, podcasting, and video to develop their skills as multimedia journalists. This lab course provides instruction on best practices with equipment and software as well as a forum for workshop and critique. Usually offered every year.
Mark Dellelo

MUS 6b Survey of West African Music: Dance-Drumming from Senegal to Nigeria
[ ca djw nw ]

Explores the dance-drumming of West Africa--a global music style with profound impact on contemporary world cultures. Through engaged listening, critical analysis of ethnomusicological readings, and experiential learning on African percussion instruments, we examine the cultural context and musical systems of West African dance-drumming music. Special one-time offering, spring 2020.
Benjamin Paulding

MUS 31a Broadway Bound: The Craft of Composing Music and Lyrics for the Theater
[ ca ]

Open to music majors and non-majors.

Do you like to write poetry or plays? Have you written music and/or lyrics and want to try your hand at writing musical theatre? In this class, you will learn how music functions in a dramatic context by writing songs (alone or in collaboration with others) and regularly presenting your material for peer and instructor feedback. Contemporary and traditional musical theater masterpieces will be analyzed. Usually offered every second year.
Neal Hampton

MUS 107a Introduction to Electro-Acoustic Music
[ ca dl ]

Prerequisite: Any music course or permission of the instructor.

A course designed to give students basic studio skills and a context for listening to and working in electronic music. Topics include basic acoustics, sound design, digital and analog recording techniques, and assignments on the pioneers and current practitioners of electro-acoustic music. Involves hands-on experience in the use of MIDI-controlled synthesizers, samplers, production equipment, and includes individual studio projects based on individual studio time. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

MUS 136b Divas
[ ca ]

Though her name means 'goddess,' the diva is frequently imagined as a creature with all-too-human failings; she is both talented and tempestuous, both revered and reviled. This course will explore the complex image of the diva in Western culture from the middle ages to the present day. We'll treat the category of 'diva' expansively ' encompassing opera singers and pop stars, composers and castrati ' and engage with thorny questions of gender, sexuality, race, class, and power, in hopes of understanding the enduring cultural potency of this compelling and problematic figure. Usually offered every second year.
Emily Frey

MUS 160b Electronic Music Composition and Production
[ ca dl ]

Preference given to students who have taken MUS 107a or have permission of the instructor. Intended for graduate students and advanced undergraduates.

Builds upon topics from MUS 107a and develops these into the professional skills of recording, production, and electronic composition. Students will refine these skills in both individual and collaborative projects. Work is carried out in BEAMS (Brandeis Electro-Acoustic Music Studio), but every effort will be made to equip students to compose on their own computers and to work collaboratively using contemporary tools, especially the Internet. Foundational concepts and approaches for this course will be drawn from both 20th century Avant Garde electronic composition and the commercial/popular music industry. Usually offered every other year.

Staff

MUS 161a Electro-Acoustic Music Composition
[ ca dl ]

Prerequisite: MUS 107a or MUS 160b, or permission of the instructor. Intended for graduate students and advanced undergraduates.

Composing for electronic media. Advanced topics in software synthesis, sound design, studio production. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

MUS 162b Seminar in MAX/MSP
[ ca ]

Advanced undergraduate students may enroll with permission of the instructor.

Topics related to the use of the MAX/MSP graphical programming language for composition, sound design, installation, and live performance. Participants engage in individual projects and study MAX patches by established practitioners. Individual and group research and presentations are required. Usually offered every third year.
Staff

MUS 172b Proseminar in Theory and Composition
[ ca ]

Required of all composition MFA and PhD students. May be repeated for credit.

Advanced study of chromatic and non-tonal harmony, as well as various analytical approaches to the 20th and 21st century music. Work includes writing exercises, keyboard harmony, and score study. Usually offered every second year.

Yu-Hui Chang

MUS 175a Instrumentation and Orchestration
[ ca dl ]

Prerequisites: MUS 101a and b.

Technical projects in the art of writing for instruments and for groups of instruments, from chamber groups of various sizes to full orchestra. Score study of examples from 1770 to the present. Additional focus on notation and on rules for instrumental parts. Usually offered every second year.
David Rakowski

MUS 292a Seminar in Composition

Group meetings and individual conferences. Opportunities for the performance of student works is provided. Usually offered every year. Specific sections for individual faculty members as requested.

Eric Chasalow and David Rakowski

MUS 292b Seminar in Composition

Group meetings and individual conferences. Opportunities for the performance of student works are provided. Usually offered every year. Specific sections for individual faculty members as requested.

Eric Chasalow and David Rakowski

AAAS 125b Caribbean Women and Globalization: Sexuality, Citizenship, Work
[ ss wi ]

Utilizing perspectives from sociology, anthropology, fiction, and music to examine the relationship between women's sexuality and conceptions of labor, citizenship, and sovereignty. The course considers these alongside conceptions of masculinity, contending feminisms, and the global perspective. Usually offered every second year.
Faith Smith

AAAS 133b The Literature of the Caribbean
[ hum nw ss wi ]

An exploration of the narrative strategies and themes of writers of the region who grapple with issues of colonialism, class, race, ethnicity, and gender in a context of often-conflicting allegiances to North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Usually offered every second year.
Faith Smith

AAAS 151b Africa: A Reggae Anthology
[ djw nw oc ss ]

Draws on the genre of reggae music as a course of understanding how Africa, its people, its history, and its contemporary circumstances are imagined, understood, represented, and engaged by African descended people in Jamaica and in the broader African diaspora. Usually offered every second year.
Carina Ray

AAAS 155b Hip Hop History and Culture
[ ss ]

Examines the history of hip hop culture, in the broader context of U.S., African American and African diaspora history, from the 1960s to the present. Explores key developments, debates and themes shaping hip hop's evolution and contemporary global significance. Usually offered every second year.
Chad Williams

AMST 35a Hollywood and American Culture
[ ss ]

This is an interdisciplinary course in Hollywood cinema and American culture that aims to do justice to both arenas. Students will learn the terms of filmic grammar, the meanings of visual style, and the contexts of Hollywood cinema from The Birth of a Nation (1915) to last weekend's top box office grosser. They will also master the major economic, social, and political realities that make up the American experience of the dominant medium of our time, the moving image, as purveyed by Hollywood. Usually offered every second year.
Thomas Doherty

AMST 55a Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration in American Culture
[ ss ]

Provides an introductory overview of the study of race, ethnicity, and culture in the United States. Focuses on the historical, sociological, and political movements that affected the arrival and settlement of African, Asian, European, American Indian, and Latino populations in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Utilizing theoretical and discursive perspectives, compares and explores the experiences of these groups in the United States in relation to issues of immigration, population relocations, government and civil legislation, ethnic identity, gender and family relations, class, and community. Usually offered every year.
Staff

AMST 100b Twentieth-Century American Culture
[ dl ss ]

Prerequisite: AMST 100a.

The democratization of taste and the extension of mass media are among the distinguishing features of American culture in the twentieth century. Through a variety of genres and forms of expression, in high culture and the popular arts, this course traces the historical development of a national style that came to exercise formidable influence abroad as well. Usually offered every spring.
Staff

AMST 129a From American Movie Musicals to Music Videos
[ ss ]

Examines the spectacle of song and dance in movie musicals and music videos, beginning with the earliest talking pictures in the late 1920's and continuing to the present. Particular emphasis will be on technological change, race, gender and the commodification of culture, among other topics. Usually offered every second year.
James Mandrell

ANTH 1a Introduction to the Comparative Study of Human Societies
[ djw nw ss ]

Examines the ways human beings construct their lives in a variety of societies. Includes the study of the concept of culture, kinship, and social organization, political economy, gender and sexuality, religion and ritual, symbols and language, social inequalities and social change, and globalization. Consideration of anthropological research methods and approaches to cross-cultural analysis. Usually offered every semester.
Jonathan Anjaria, Elizabeth Ferry, Sarah Lamb, or Janet McIntosh

ANTH 26a Communication and Media
[ dl ss ]

An exploration of human communication and mass media from a cross-cultural perspective. Examines communication codes based on language and visual signs. The global impact of revolutions in media technology, including theories of cultural imperialism and indigenous uses of media is discussed. Usually offered every second year.
Janet McIntosh

ANTH 105a Myth and Ritual
[ nw ss ]

Studies myth and ritual as two interlocking modes of cultural symbolism. Evaluates theoretical approaches to myth by looking at creation and political myths. Examines performative, processual, and spatial models of ritual analysis through study of initiation, sacrifice, and funerals. Usually offered every second year.
Ellen Schattschneider

ANTH 144a The Anthropology of Gender
[ djw nw ss wi ]

Anthropology majors have priority for enrollment.

Explores gender, sexuality, and cultural systems from a comparative perspective. Topics may include rituals of masculinity and femininity, the vexing question of the universality of women's subordination, culturally-specific classifications of sexual orientation and gender identity, transnational feminisms, sex work, migrant labor, reproductive rights, and much more. Usually offered every year.
Anita Hannig, Sarah Lamb, or Keridwen Luis

ANTH 184b Cross-Cultural Art and Aesthetics
[ nw ss ]

A cross-cultural and diachronic exploration of art, focusing on the communicative aspects of visual aesthetics. The survey takes a broad view of how human societies deploy images and objects to foster identities, lure into consumption, generate political propaganda, engage in ritual, render sacred propositions tangible, and chart the character of the cosmos. Usually offered every second year.
Javier Urcid

ANTH 202b Advanced Ethnographic Research Methods

An intensive study of anthropological research and ethnographic practice, with particular attention to topic formation, field notes and evocative writing. Combines discussions ethnography with writing workshops. Readings include essays on research methodology and critiques of ethnographic practice, as well as ethnographic monographs that demonstrate sophisticated fieldwork practices. Writing workshops cover issues such as taking notes in the field and describing scenes, speech in action, characters, language and affect. Usually offered every second year.
Jonathan Anjaria or Sarah Lamb

CA 125a Provocative Art: Outside the Comfort Zone
[ ca ]

Presents, analyzes and discusses art that provokes controversies, discomfort, and other strong responses. This class will focus on a broad range of artistic expressions, including visual art, theater, film, music, and literature with Brandeis faculty as well as visiting artists. Usually offered every year.
Will Chalmus

CAST 150b Introduction to Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation
[ ss ]

How can music, theater, dance and visual and other arts contribute to community building, coexistence, and nonviolent social change? In the aftermath of violence, how can artists help communities reconcile? Students explore these questions through interviews, case studies, and projects. Usually offered every year.
Toni Shapiro-Phim

CHIN 136b Chinese Modernism in International Context
[ hum nw ]

Taught in English.

Examines the origins, recurrences, and metamorphosis of modernistic styles and movements in twentieth-century Chinese literature, film, fine art, and intellectual discourses. Usually offered every second year.
Pu Wang

ECS 100a European Cultural Studies Proseminar: Modernism
[ dl hum oc ]

Explores the interrelationship of literature, music, painting, philosophy, and other arts in the era of high modernism. Works by Artaud, Baudelaire, Benjamin, Mann, Mahler, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Kandinsky, Schiele, Beckett, Brecht, Adorno, Sartre, Heidegger, and others. Usually offered every fall semester.
Stephen Dowden

ECS 100b European Cultural Studies Proseminar: Making of European Modernity, 1250 to 1650
[ hum ]

Investigates how the paradigm of what we know as modernity came into being. We will look at the works of writers and philosophers such as Descartes, Aquinas, Dante, Ockham, Petrarch, Ficino, Rabelais, and Montaigne. Artwork from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance will be used to understand better what "the modern" means. Usually offered every spring semester.
Michael Randall

ENG 101a Studies in Popular Culture
[ hum ]

A critical analysis of contemporary culture, including television, film, video, advertising, and popular literature. Combines applied criticism and theoretical readings. Usually offered every second year.
Paul Morrison

ENG 107a Women Writing Desire: Caribbean Fiction and Film
[ hum ]

About eight novels of the last two decades (by Cliff, Cruz, Danticat, Garcia, Kempadoo, Kincaid, Mittoo, Nunez, Pineau, Powell, or Rosario), drawn from across the region, and read in dialogue with popular culture, theory, and earlier generations of male and female writers of the region. Usually offered every third year.
Faith Smith

ENG 127b Migrating Bodies, Migrating Texts
[ djw hum nw ]

Beginning with the region's representation as a tabula rasa, examines the textual and visual constructions of the Caribbean as colony, homeland, backyard, paradise, and Babylon, and how the region's migrations have prompted ideas about evolution, hedonism, imperialism, nationalism, and diaspora. Usually offered every second year.
Faith Smith

ENG 151b Performance Studies
[ dl hum ]

Explores paradigms for making performance inside and outside of institutionalized theater spaces, with an emphasis on the performance of everyday life. Students read theories of theater and performance against paradigmatic dramatic texts and documents of social performance. Combining theory with practice, students explore and make site-specific and online performances. Usually offered every third year.
Thomas King

FA 174a Art and Trauma: Israeli, Palestinian, Latin American and United States Art
[ ca ]

A comparative and critical examination of the various ways in which personal traumas (illness, death, loss) and collective traumas (war, the Holocaust, exile) find meaningful expression in the work of modern and contemporary artists from diverse regions. Usually offered every second year.
Gannit Ankori

FILM 100a Introduction to the Moving Image
[ hum ]

An interdisciplinary course surveying the history of moving image media from 1895 to the present, from the earliest silent cinema to the age of streaming media. Open to all undergraduates as an elective, it is the introductory course for the major and minor in film, television and interactive media. Usually offered every year.
Staff

GS 202b Critical Global Issues

This foundational seminar examines key issues from the primary area of concentration in the global studies program. The specific focus of the seminar will vary from year to year, reflecting the changing relevance of particular issues as well as the specific interests of the instructor. Usually offered every year.
Kristen Lucken

HISP 111b Introduction to Latin American Literature and Culture
[ djw fl hum nw ]

Prerequisite: HISP 106b, or HISP 108a, or permission of the instructor.

Examines key Latin American texts of different genres (poems, short stories and excerpts from novels, chronicles, comics, screenplays, cyberfiction) and from different time periods from the conquest to modernity. This class places emphasis on problems of cultural definition and identity construction as they are elaborated in literary discourse. Identifying major themes (coloniality and emancipation, modernismo and modernity, indigenismo, hybridity and mestizaje, nationalisms, Pan-Americanism, etc.) we will trace continuities and ruptures throughout Latin American intellectual history. Usually offered every semester.
Lucía Reyes de Deu or Fernando Rosenberg

HIST 61a Cultures in Conflict since 1300
[ ss wi ]

Explores the ways in which cultures and civilizations have collided since 1300, and the ways in which cultural differences account for major wars and conflicts in world history since then. Usually offered every year.
Staff

IGS 10a Introduction to International and Global Studies
[ djw dl ss ]

"Globalization" touches us more every day. Introduces the challenges of globalization to national and international governance, economic success, individual and group identities, cultural diversity, the environment, and inequalities within and between nations, regions of the globe, gender, and race. Usually offered every year.
Kerry Chase or Chandler Rosenberger

JAPN 135a Screening National Images: Japanese Film and Anime in Global Context
[ hum nw ]

All films and readings are in English.

An introduction to some major directors and works of postwar Japanese film and anime with special attention to such issues as genre, medium, adaptation, narrative, and the circulation of national images in the global setting. Usually offered every third year.
Matthew Fraleigh

NEJS 136a Israeli Popular Culture: Language, Gender, and Politics
[ hum ]

Ever wondered why Israeli television is all over Netflix, or why Sabra hummus came to dominate your supermarket shelves? In this course, we will examine multiple forms of popular culture, including television, music, cookbooks, social media, fashion, and more, to understand contemporary Israeli society, with a focus on debates over language, gender, and politics in a global context. Special attention will be paid to cultural production from Israel's minorities, including Israeli Palestinians, Orthodox Jews, and Mizrahim (Jews from Arab and Islamic lands.) Course readings will combine theory, primary sources, and popular criticism. No previous knowledge of Israel, Judaism, or the Middle East is required, and all materials will be provided in English translation. Usually offered every second year.
Shayna Weiss

PHIL 113b Aesthetics
[ ca hum wi ]

Explores representation in painting, photography, and film by studying painters Rembrandt, Velázquez, and Vermeer, as well as later works by Manet, Degas, Cézanne, and Picasso; photographers Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Edward Weston, Walker Evans, Alfred Stieglitz, and Diane Arbus; and filmmakers Renoir and Hitchcock. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

SOC 1a Order and Change in Society
[ ss ]

An introduction to the sociological perspective, with an emphasis on an analysis of problems of social order and change. Topics include gender, work and family, poverty and inequality, race and ethnicity, democracy, social movements, community, and education. Usually offered every year.
Wendy Cadge, Sarah Mayorga, or Michael Strand

SOC 120b Globalization and the Media
[ ss ]

Investigates the phenomenon of globalization as it relates to mass media. Topics addressed include the growth of transnational media organizations, the creation of audiences that transcend territorial groupings, the hybridization of cultural styles, and the consequences for local identities. Usually offered every third year.
Laura Miller

SOC 154a Community Structure and Youth Subcultures
[ ss ]

Examines how the patterning of relations within communities generates predictable outcomes at the individual and small-group level. Deals with cities, suburbs, and small rural communities. Special focus is given to youth subcultures typically found in each community type. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

WGS 105b Feminisms: History, Theory, and Practice
[ deis-us oc ss ]

Prerequisite: Students are encouraged, though not required, to take WGS 5a prior to enrolling in this course.

Examines diverse theories of sex and gender within a multicultural framework, considering historical changes in feminist thought, the theoretical underpinnings of various feminist practices, and the implications of diverse and often conflicting theories for both academic inquiry and social change. Usually offered every year.
ChaeRan Freeze, Keridwen Luis, or Faith Smith

AAAS 79b African American Literature of the Twentieth Century
[ hum ss wi ]

An introduction to the essential themes, aesthetic concerns, and textual strategies that characterize African American writing of this century. Examines those influences that have shaped the poetry, fiction, and prose nonfiction of representative writers. Usually offered every second year.
Brandon Callender or Faith Smith

AAAS 125b Caribbean Women and Globalization: Sexuality, Citizenship, Work
[ ss wi ]

Utilizing perspectives from sociology, anthropology, fiction, and music to examine the relationship between women's sexuality and conceptions of labor, citizenship, and sovereignty. The course considers these alongside conceptions of masculinity, contending feminisms, and the global perspective. Usually offered every second year.
Faith Smith

AMST 35a Hollywood and American Culture
[ ss ]

This is an interdisciplinary course in Hollywood cinema and American culture that aims to do justice to both arenas. Students will learn the terms of filmic grammar, the meanings of visual style, and the contexts of Hollywood cinema from The Birth of a Nation (1915) to last weekend's top box office grosser. They will also master the major economic, social, and political realities that make up the American experience of the dominant medium of our time, the moving image, as purveyed by Hollywood. Usually offered every second year.
Thomas Doherty

AMST 55a Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration in American Culture
[ ss ]

Provides an introductory overview of the study of race, ethnicity, and culture in the United States. Focuses on the historical, sociological, and political movements that affected the arrival and settlement of African, Asian, European, American Indian, and Latino populations in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Utilizing theoretical and discursive perspectives, compares and explores the experiences of these groups in the United States in relation to issues of immigration, population relocations, government and civil legislation, ethnic identity, gender and family relations, class, and community. Usually offered every year.
Staff

ECS 100b European Cultural Studies Proseminar: Making of European Modernity, 1250 to 1650
[ hum ]

Investigates how the paradigm of what we know as modernity came into being. We will look at the works of writers and philosophers such as Descartes, Aquinas, Dante, Ockham, Petrarch, Ficino, Rabelais, and Montaigne. Artwork from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance will be used to understand better what "the modern" means. Usually offered every spring semester.
Michael Randall

FA 45b Art of the Early Renaissance in Italy
[ ca ]

May not be taken for credit by students who took FA 45a in prior years.

Examines major painters, sculptors, and architects in Florence, Rome, and Venice from Giotto to Bellini (1290-1500). Important themes include the revival of Antiquity, the visual arts and the culture of Humanism, the rise of the Medici, art and the ideal of the Republic, the development of art theory and criticism, naturalism and the sacred image, and the relation of artists and patrons during times of crisis (Black Death, Pazzi Conspiracy, and Savonarola). Usually offered every second year.
Jonathan Unglaub or Staff

HIST 147a Russian Empire: Gender, Minorities, and Globalization
[ djw dl oc ss ]

Examines the processes and problems of modernization--state development, economic growth, social change, cultural achievements, and emergence of revolutionary and terrorist movements. Usually offered every year.
Gregory Freeze

NEJS 136a Israeli Popular Culture: Language, Gender, and Politics
[ hum ]

Ever wondered why Israeli television is all over Netflix, or why Sabra hummus came to dominate your supermarket shelves? In this course, we will examine multiple forms of popular culture, including television, music, cookbooks, social media, fashion, and more, to understand contemporary Israeli society, with a focus on debates over language, gender, and politics in a global context. Special attention will be paid to cultural production from Israel's minorities, including Israeli Palestinians, Orthodox Jews, and Mizrahim (Jews from Arab and Islamic lands.) Course readings will combine theory, primary sources, and popular criticism. No previous knowledge of Israel, Judaism, or the Middle East is required, and all materials will be provided in English translation. Usually offered every second year.
Shayna Weiss

RECS/THA 148a Russian Drama: Text and Performance
[ hum oc ]

Open to all students. Conducted in English. Students may choose to do readings either in English translation or in Russian. Formerly offered as RECS 148a.

Examines the rich tradition of Russian drama and theater. Readings include masterpieces of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including those by Chekhov, Pushkin, Gogol, Ostrovsky, Mayakovsky, Erdman, and others. Usually offered every second year.
David Powelstock

ENG 151b Performance Studies
[ dl hum ]

Explores paradigms for making performance inside and outside of institutionalized theater spaces, with an emphasis on the performance of everyday life. Students read theories of theater and performance against paradigmatic dramatic texts and documents of social performance. Combining theory with practice, students explore and make site-specific and online performances. Usually offered every third year.
Thomas King

THA 10a Theater as Performance
[ ca oc ]

Develops the student's ability to read a theatrical text through the lens of the directorial mind and the voice/body/imagination of the performer. Reading, discussions, papers and exercises about acting, directing, dance, performance art, devised work, etc. will constitute the bulk of this course. Intended for Theater majors as well as students with no theater experience. Usually offered every year.
Adrianne Krstansky and Ryan McKittrick

THA 22b Undergraduate Singing
[ ca ]

May be repeated for credit.

Explores the fundamentals of singing in detail, concentrating on breath and relaxation, placement and resonance, tonal quality, and flexibility. Specific exercises for each facet of vocal production are explored. Work includes solo and ensemble singing. Usually offered every year.
Nancy Armstrong

THA 23a Movement for the Stage I
[ ca hwl2 pe-1 ]

The actor's job is to create action out of meaning and meaning out of action. Stories can be told with a simple physical gesture, a position or shape of the body in space. The dynamic physical action or quality in which a body moves can convey a rich and fascinating narrative. Developing a keen awareness of one's movement and physical expressiveness is essential for presenting and performing on the stage or in a public forum. The course will involve exercises designed to unleash the individual's imagination in order to bring courage and responsiveness into the body. The course will offer an in-depth approach designed to develop physical skills and tools for theater performance. Usually offered every year.
Staff

THA 25a Voice for the Stage
[ ca ]

The focus of the class is to develop the human voice in preparation for performance. Foundational exercises are designed to deepen the student's connection to breath, expand vocal color, range and resonance, and to develop clarity, stamina and power, while connecting body, voice and imagination to the expressive use of language. Usually offered every year.
Staff

THA 35a The Audition
[ ca ]

Actors obtain work through an audition process; therefore, actors need to audition well. This course aims to prepare mid- and upper-level acting students for that process. Topics include resumes, material selection, preparation, and practice in various kinds of auditions using both classical and contemporary literature. Usually offered every second year.
Robert Walsh

THA 115a The Human Voice for Life and Art
[ ca ]

Explore the un-boundaried voice ' deeply breathed and dynamically embodied. Traditional Anglo-American methodologies are combined with archetypal imagery and ethnic vocal styles organized to harness untapped resources of energy, deepen full-bodied breath connection, and strengthen imaginative muscles in order to invigorate a more personal connection to your voice. In this workshop-style course we will explore and celebrate the wide range of colors, timbres, heights and depths available to the human voice. The course is appropriate for actors, singers, and anyone interested in exploring their vocal potential in a creative environment. Usually offered every year.
Staff

THA 130a Suzuki
[ ca hwl2 pe-1 ]

Counts as one activity course toward the physical education requirement. Undergraduates may repeat this course twice for credit.

Developed by the Japanese theater artist Tadashi Suzuki, the Suzuki method of acting training develops physical strength, stamina, and agility while engaging the imagination and will of the actor. Through a series of walks, statues, and marches, students are taught to breathe and move from the core of their bodies. This training allows students to act from physical impulse, resulting in a deep and personal experience of language and the world of play. Usually offered every semester.
Staff

THA 132a The Collaborative Process
[ ca ]

May be repeated once for credit.

An exploration of the process of collaborative creation from the idea to performance. Students work as performers, directors, writers, and designers to create original theater pieces based on current events, literature, theater, genres, and personal obsessions. Usually offered every year.
Adrianne Krstansky