RESULTS:College of Arts & Sciences, Advent Semester 2023

Mathematics

A course designed to provide some important mathematical tools useful in a variety of fields. Systems of linear equations, vectors and matrices, determinants, vector spaces, linear transformations, inner and cross products, and eigen values and canonical forms are considered.
This course is required for most courses in mathematics or computer science numbered 300 or above. Topics normally include the following: logic, sets, functions, relations, graphs and trees, mathematical induction, combinatorics, recursion, and algebraic structures. The subject matter is to be of current interest to both mathematics and computer science students.
A study of these important algebraic structures: integral domains, polynomials, groups, vector spaces, rings and ideals, fields, and elementary Galois theory.
An introduction to point-set topology with emphasis on Euclidean spaces and applications to analysis. Topics include connectedness, compactness, countability conditions, separation properties, metric spaces, continuity, homeomorphisms, and product spaces.
A treatment of probability and a logical development of the framework of mathematical statistics. Topics include random variables, distribution functions, sampling, and statistical inference.
This course addresses the techniques and theory of partial differential equations. Many physical and biological applications and models are explored, including the heat equation, the wave equation, and LaPlace's equation. Significant attention is given to both theory and applications.

Music

Today’s music—pop, EDM, hip-hop, K-Pop, movie music, etc.—shares many characteristics of older styles, including blues, jazz, rock, R&B, country, piano, and orchestral scores. In this class the student learns to listen perceptively to older idioms and to apply those skills to more recent music. The ear comes to recognize musical concepts such as meter, mode (major, minor), musical form ("what's a bridge?"), texture, and more recent recording techniques such as looping, sampling, and Auto-Tune.
Today’s music—pop, EDM, hip-hop, K-Pop, movie music, etc.—shares many characteristics of older styles, including blues, jazz, rock, R&B, country, piano, and orchestral scores. In this class the student learns to listen perceptively to older idioms and to apply those skills to more recent music. The ear comes to recognize musical concepts such as meter, mode (major, minor), musical form ("what's a bridge?"), texture, and more recent recording techniques such as looping, sampling, and Auto-Tune.
An introduction to the great music of Western civilization from the Middle Ages to the present. The course begins with a discussion of the elements of music and proceeds with a chronological overview of music history. Musical masterworks from all style periods are studied. May not be taken for credit by students who have taken MUSC 211.
An introduction to the great music of Western civilization from the Middle Ages to the present. The course begins with a discussion of the elements of music and proceeds with a chronological overview of music history. Musical masterworks from all style periods are studied. May not be taken for credit by students who have taken MUSC 211.
Students learn to play the piano, read music notation, and compose songs. No prior musical experience is necessary. Musicality is developed by integrating theory and analysis, aural skills, performance, and composition. Through this integration of skills and knowledge, the course fosters a comprehensive understanding of music relevant to our current musical and cultural landscape. The 4th hour addresses ear training and practical musicianship.
Students learn to play the piano, read music notation, and compose songs. No prior musical experience is necessary. Musicality is developed by integrating theory and analysis, aural skills, performance, and composition. Through this integration of skills and knowledge, the course fosters a comprehensive understanding of music relevant to our current musical and cultural landscape. The 4th hour addresses ear training and practical musicianship.
Students learn to play the piano, read music notation, and compose songs. No prior musical experience is necessary. Musicality is developed by integrating theory and analysis, aural skills, performance, and composition. Through this integration of skills and knowledge, the course fosters a comprehensive understanding of music relevant to our current musical and cultural landscape. The 4th hour addresses ear training and practical musicianship.
An accelerated version of MUSC 101 intended for performing musicians or other students with fair experience as listeners. After a quick review of the history of Western music, the course proceeds to consider topics such as the many manifestations of songs through the centuries, music and dance, music and politics, and musical exoticism/globalization. In addition to songs, other genres under consideration include symphonies, concertos, sonatas, operas, and musicals. Students take an active role in selecting music for discussion. May not be taken for credit by students who have taken MUSC 101.
This course covers the fundamentals of electronic music and studio recording. Using Reason software, students learn about MIDI, sound synthesis, sampling, drum machines, loop players and sound processing. The second half of the semester focuses on Pro Tools, a digital recording program. Students learn recording techniques, sound editing, use of plug-in MIDI instruments, and how to produce recordings of their own music.
Highlife music has emerged as one of the most popular world music genres from West Africa in the last century due to the influence of indigenous Ghanaian music heritage juxtaposed with ideas borrowed from the West. This course analyzes the musical varieties within the highlife genre and explores the numerous factors rooted in ethnicity, gender, identity, Pan-Africanism, and generational class relations that have contributed to contemporary understandings of Ghanaian popular music.
The "roots" music of the Southeastern United States has been one of the region's chief exports. Musicians wander back roads, crowd front porches and church pews, and sometimes make their way to music centers like Nashville, New Orleans, and Memphis. This course focuses on musicians in the Southern tradition and addresses diverse idioms, especially the blues (folk, country, electric) and Sacred Harp singing. Students become knowledgeable in interpreting lyrics and in deploying terminology for music analysis, including mode, meter, harmony, and form (e.g., 12-bar blues).
This is the final course in the theory and musicianship sequence. Students continue to hone the skills introduced in the previous semesters, while progressing onto more advanced concepts. The new topics covered in this course include modulation, chromatic harmony, tonal extensions, modality, jazz theory, hip-hop studies, and post-tonality. As in MUSC 160 and 260, musicality is developed by integrating theory and analysis, aural skills, historical contextualization, performance, and composition. Through this integration of skills and knowledge, the course fosters a comprehensive understanding of music relevant to our current musical and cultural landscape.
An introduction to musicology that features scholarly assessments and case studies drawn from the whole length of European and American music history, including the "phonograph effect." Students take responsibility for several kinds of in-class discussions, developing leadership skills. The course also helps students prepare the listening and other components of the music comprehensive exam. The course assumes substantial previous contact with music history on the part of the student.
Through the lens of media composition, students develop their musical imagination for the moving image. Applying material learned in MUSC 160, 260, and 214, students score music for advertisements, movie and game trailers, and short films. Basic knowledge of Logic Pro X and some music notation software (e.g., Finale or MuseScore) is useful for the course.