[AMS-announce] Call for Participation: AMS Pedagogy Study Group Session, "Reaching Out to Performance Majors in Music History Classes, " Nashville, Nov 2008

[Announcements for the AMS]

Reaching Out to Performance Majors in Music History Classes

Pedagogy Study Group Session

Annual Meeting of the American Musicological Society

November 2008
 
 
Deadline
July 25, 2008
 
Program Committee
Colin Roust, chair, Oberlin College
Matthew Baumer, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Patrick Fairfield, University of Toledo
Elinor Olin, National-Louis University
 
Proposal Instructions
Many performance and music education majors view music history as the most challenging portion of their curriculum. Rather than inspiring interest and a deeper understanding of music, these courses are too often seen as a burden and a distraction from ensemble rehearsals or the practice room. Moreover, capable performers often find that their abilities do not translate into ready success in music history, which calls on a very different skill set.  
 
Given that performance majors represent such a significant constituency in music history classes, the Pedagogy Study Group is focusing this year’s session on how best to reach out to these students. What should be the objectives for a music history course directed to performance majors?  How can we, as teachers, help these students develop an interest in music history? How can we help them recognize the ways in which music history courses complement and enrich their performance studies? How can we help these students use our courses to become better musicians?  
 
For this session, the Pedagogy Study Group welcomes proposals for demonstrations and discussions of the objectives, methods, techniques, or strategies that make music history more approachable, relevant, and useful to those whose main goal in life is to perform. Presentations may range from 20 to 40 minutes depending on the content.  Please send a 250-word proposal describing the presentation, including time and audio-visual requirements, to Colin Roust (colin.roust at oberlin.edu) by July 25.