Instructor Insights

Instructor Insights pages are part of the OCW Educator initiative, which seeks to enhance the value of OCW for educators.

Course Overview

This page focuses on the course 21M.S53 Chinese Popular Musics in Dialogue as it was taught by Dr. Meredith Schweig in Spring 2014.

This course introduced students to the major popular music cultures of the Chinese-speaking world. Emphasis was placed on listening beyond the notion of a monolithic “Chinese popular music” to something more dynamic, multivocal, and translocal. Interactive experiences, including contributing to a class blog, creating multimedia compositions through the use of Scalar, and conducting participant observation at a concert, were at the core of this course.

Course Outcomes

Course Goals for Students

  • Gain familiarity with the repertoire of Chinese popular musics
  • Become conversant in the recent scholarship about Chinese popular musics, and consider how the field might be pushed in new and interesting directions
  • Develop popular music analysis and research skills, including the critical use and evaluation of online sources
  • Learn how to integrate writing and rich media content in publications about popular musics
 

Curriculum Information

Prerequisites

Permission of Instructor

Requirements Satisfied

None

Offered

21M.S53 Chinese Popular Musics in Dialogue was offered for the first time in Spring 2014 as an experimental special subject, not part of the regular department curriculum.

The Classroom

  • A typical classroom with rows of seats, as well as chalkboards, a projector screen, and a piano at the front of the class.

    Room 1 of 1

    Lecture

    21M.S53 was taught in a medium-sized classroom equipped with sliding chalkboards, projectors and screen, CD/DVD player and sound system, and a piano.

 

Assessment

The students' grades were based on the following activities:

The color used on the preceding chart which represents the percentage of the total grade contributed by attendance and class participation. 30% Attendance and class participation
The color used on the preceding chart which represents the percentage of the total grade contributed by contributions to the class Tumblr website. 5% Contributions to the class Tumblr
The color used on the preceding chart which represents the percentage of the total grade contributed by short written assignments. 25% Short written assignments
The color used on the preceding chart which represents the percentage of the total grade contributed by a multimedia research project and accompanying oral presentation. 40% Multimedia research project & accompanying oral presentation
 

Student Information

Fewer than 10 students took this course when it was offered in Spring 2014.

Breakdown by Year

All undergraduates

Typical Student Background

The class was open to students with a variety of background experiences. No musical background was assumed. Likewise, it was not expected that students would have familiarity with the localities under discussion or knowledge of Mandarin. Source readings were in English, with translations provided whenever possible for non-English content. 

 

How Student Time Was Spent

During an average week, students were expected to spend 12 hours on the course, roughly divided as follows:

In Class

3 hours per week
  • Met 2 times per week for 1.5 hour every week; 26 sessions total; mandatory attendance.
  • Sessions involved active class discussions and occasional in-class diagnostic quizzes.
 

Out of Class

9 hours per week
  • Class blog contributions
  • Essay writing
  • Curated mix tape creation
  • Multimedia research project preparation
 

Semester Breakdown

WEEK M T W Th F
1 No classes throughout MIT. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled.
2 No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled.
3 No classes throughout MIT. No session scheduled. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled; assignment due date. No session scheduled.
4 No session scheduled. Class session scheduled; assignment due date. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled.
5 No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled.
6 Field trip scheduled. Class session scheduled; assignment due date. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled; assignment due date. No session scheduled.
7 No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled; assignment due date. No session scheduled.
8 No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT.
9 No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled.
10 No session scheduled. Class session scheduled; assignment due date. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled; assignment due date. No session scheduled.
11 No session scheduled. Class session scheduled; assignment due date. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled; assignment due date. No session scheduled.
12 No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled; assignment due date. No session scheduled.
13 No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled.
14 No session scheduled. Class session scheduled; assignment due date. No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled.
15 No session scheduled. Class session scheduled. No session scheduled. Final presentations scheduled. No classes throughout MIT.
16 No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT.
Displays the color and pattern used on the preceding table to indicate dates when classes are not held at MIT. No classes throughout MIT
Displays the color used on the preceding table to indicate dates when class sessions are held. Class session
Displays the color used on the preceding table to indicate dates when final presentations are held. Final presentation
Displays the color used on the preceding table to indicate dates when no class session is scheduled. No class session scheduled
Displays the color used on the preceding table to indicate dates when field trips are held. Field trip
Displays the symbol used on the preceding table to indicate dates when assignments are due. Assignment due date