Prerequisite: MUH 6916 (Music Bibliography & Research) with a grade of "C" or better, or permission of the instructor.
Required Materials:
Course Objectives: This course is a seminar in the life, career and music of Richard Strauss, one of the leading composers of the late 19th century and first half of the 20th century. In this course you will become conversant with:
In addition to acquiring the specific information about Strauss and his music, you will also
COMMUNICATION: It is your obligation to read, follow and complete all assignments and other instructions (verbal or written) given to you in the course of this semester. You are responsible for any information or instructions given out in any of the following ways:
ATTENDANCE: Regular class attendance is expected of all enrolled students. As graduate students you will not earn any formal credit for merely attending weekly seminar meetings, i.e., simply sitting in the room. Nevertheless, attendance will be taken at every class meeting and poor attendance will affect your grade negatively. In general, you will be allotted 3 hours (1 weekly meeting) of absences with no excuses required. Any missed time beyond those 3 hours will result in a "0" grade for those class meetings and assignments. You are responsible for all materials covered and all announcements made in every class, whether you are present or not.
With no additional face-to-face meetings after the spring break, attendance grades will be "frozen" and based on attendance through 6 March 2020. No additional attendance will be taken for the rest of the semester, but you will be expected to complete all graded work by the announced deadlines.
Attendance Policy for In-class Assignments: No unexcused absence from a scheduled class presentation or other in-class assignment will ever be allowed. Failure to appear for such an assignment will result in a grade of "0" (zero) for that assignment and a required graded compensatory assignment.
Make-up Policy for Excused Absences: Should you be unable to attend a seminar meeting due to participation in an officially sanctioned UCF event or personal observance of a religious holiday, you must notify me at least one week in advance to schedule an alternate time. For serious personal or family emergencies (e.g., funerals, your own hospitalization or confinement), you must notify me as early as possible. At a minimum, send an email message as soon as possible to inform me of your situation. In some cases, I will require documented proof of the reason for your absence. You may then be allowed to make up any missed work or presentations at my discretion, with no penalties. Please note that no other ordinary excuses (work, transportation, personal travel, etc.) will be accepted.
Grading: Your grade in this course will be determined by your performance in the following:
| Assignment / Test | Weighting |
|---|---|
| Class Presentations & Participation | 35% |
| Biography Project | 20% |
| Plagiarism and Research Modules (5 @ 1% each) | 5% |
| Major Paper | |
| Cancelled |
[REVISED] Class Presentations & Participation will consist of various tasks related to weekly class discussions, e.g., preparation of small reports, analyses, etc. Your ability and willingness to contribute meaningfully to class discussions will be expected and noted here. Please note that "passive participation," i.e., short verbal utterances that add nothing to the discussion will receive only minimal credit. Silence (or near so) for an entire evening will be graded as an absence ("0" grade for the meeting). With no seminar meetings after the mid-semester break, your weekly attendance grade during the final weeks of the semester will be earned through bried written reports and summaries (c. 1,000-1,500 words) of your assigned readings, listening, and score analyses.
Students who are absent from a seminar meeting me be assigned a modest written assignment (1000-1500 words) that covers the materials discussed in the missed meeting. Satisfactory completion of the substitute assignment will earn up to 50% of the attendance credit for the missed class.
The Biography Project will be a combination of oral presentations and a written paper, based on your study and review of a number of the most important books (primarily in English) about Strauss and his music.
The Plagiarism and Research Modules will be self-directed instructional modules intended to ensure that you are familiar with good scholarly practices in order to avoid plagiarism in your work.
The Major Paper will be the culmination of your primary work in this course, and it will consist of a project definition, the accumulation of bibliography and a formal paper of significant length.
Cancelled: The Final Presentation will be a formal presentation (based on your major paper) during one of the two final seminar meetings.
The following numeric equivalents apply to all grades (individual assignments & final course grade):
| 100.00 - 92.00 | = A | Clearly Superior Work at the Graduate Level, Assignments meet all stated requirements, Strong writing that contains either no or very few minor errors, Work submitted on or ahead of time. |
| 91.99 - 90.00 | = A- | |
| 89.99 - 88.00 | = B+ | Completely Satisfactory Work at the Graduate Level, Assignments meet most stated requirements, Writing that contains minor errors that do not impede understanding, Work generally submitted on time. |
| 87.99 - 82.00 | = B | |
| 81.99 - 80.00 | = B- | |
| 79.99 - 78.00 | = C+ | Marginally Satisfactory Work at the Graduate Level, Assignments usually meet most stated requirements, Writing that contains errors that begin to impede understanding, Work not always submitted on time. |
| 77.99 - 72.00 | = C | |
| 71.99 - 70.00 | = C- | |
| 69.99 - 68.00 | = D+ | Generally Unsatisfactory Work at the Graduate Level, Assignments do not meet many of the stated requirements, Writing that contains errors that significantly impede understanding, Work rarely submitted on time. |
| 67.99 - 62.00 | = D | |
| 61.99 - 60.00 | = D- | |
| 59.99 - 0.00 | = F | Unsatisfactory Work at the Graduate Level, Assignments do not meet stated requirements, Writing with excessive errors, lacks organization and approaches incoherence, Work not submitted or frequently late. |
Failure to complete any significant individual course assignments will be considered failure to complete the course and will result in a grade of "F" for the course, regardless of the grade(s) on any other assignments in the semester.
Questions about the grading or evaluation of any assignment must be raised at the time that item is returned to you. You may not argue for points based on your perception of the grading vis-à-vis another student's work. Only obvious clerical errors on my part will be corrected.
Items turned in late will be assessed a 10-point penalty for every 24 hours or fraction of a day that they are late. This penalty may be waived or lessened at my discretion, provided I am informed at least 24 hours in advance when you will not meet a deadline.
Final course averages are calculated to the nearest 1/100 of a point. In the case of a borderline final average, I reserve the right to award the next highest grade, based on class participation, preparation, attendance, and related factors.
No extra credit work or alternate assignments will be accepted in lieu of or in addition to the assignments and tests listed on this syllabus.
Due dates for all graded assignments will be announced at least one week in advance.
The Final Examination period for MUH 6935 is scheduled for : Tuesday, 21 April 2020, at 7:00 - 9:50 pm. [REVISED] All written assignments (except the major paper) must be submitted by the end of this period. We will use that period for a final seminar meeting, and all graded materials are due by the end of that period (unless otherwise announced). Failure to attend the final exam period will be considered failure to complete the course.
With the UCF directive to end face-to-face classes and move all instruction to online, you will become more responsible for accessing and using course materials via your own computer. These items will include articles to read, streaming audio and video to hear and watch, and scores to study, all made available to you via the internet. It is you obligation to download assigned materials, work with them as instructed, and submit a summary of your work. Please advise me immediately if you have any problems accessing course materials.
CLASS PROCEDURES AND YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES: Because this course is a seminar, it may differ significantly from your experiences in lecture and discussion classes at lower academic levels. The essence of a seminar is a collective effort to investigate and learn about a particular topic, which thus places the responsibility for identifying, processing and presenting materials and research results on all members of the seminar. In short, every member of the seminar is expected to contribute in some way or another to every weekly meeting. Passive, i.e., silent or non-constructive contributions will be viewed negatively and will result in deductions from your grade. Assigned readings, analyses, and listening must be completed before each meeting (or the indicated deadlines) and presenters must be ready at the assigned meetings. Seminar members should also be willing to take the intiative to investigate questions that might arise in a class without waiting for formal assignments, and seminar members should also be able and willing to assist one another with research problems. In short, the idea of a collaborative effort undertaken by a group of scholars should inform all of yor work in this course.
To facilitate discussions, you will be given a variety of readings and other assignments on a weekly based (always posted on the course web site). Again, it is your obligation to complete those tasks to the best of your ability on the announced schedule so that you may participate in class discussions and so that your fellow seminar members may benefit from your work.
Reserve Materials: As the semester progresses both optional and required supplementary items may be placed on reserve for reading or listening. You will be informed in class when such items go on reserve, and the course web page will include a list of all such items used in the term. Additionally, some assignments will require materials that are not on reserve. Students are advised to remember that other members of the class may need access to them and to act accordingly.
You are strongly encouraged to bring your laptop or other portable computer to class for both note-taking and active work during class time. To ensure full use of your computer while on campus, go to: https://publishing.ucf.edu/sites/itr/cst/Pages/WirelessNetworkOverview.aspx for instructions on how to register your personal computer so that it has full access to the UCF wireless resources (including the UCF Library).
As a matter of respect to others in the classroom, you are not to engage in conversations unrelated to the current activities of this course, use cell phones or other electronic devices (turn off such items before entering my classroom), or work on anything unrelated to MUH 6916 (assignments for other courses, newspapers, puzzles, etc.) during class time. Individuals engaged in such activities will be asked once to cease. The second time they will be told to leave the classroom, and they will be marked absent for that day.
You should remember that the Music Building is a relatively new structure, and to keep it in good condition, department policies state that you are not to bring food into any classroom. You may bring water only to class. For those who must bring meals or snacks, use the terrace or other outside areas for eating during breaks.
This course is labor intensive, and while many assignments can be completed via the web, you will need to come to campus on many occasions beyond your class meeting day to use the library. In preparing for each class meeting you should allot a minimum of 3-4 hours for every hour of a class meeting, which means at least 9-12 hours of outside preparation and other work per week. You may find it useful to form study groups so that you may help one another in your preparations for class and other assignments. You are not, however, allowed to collaborate on any graded assignments in this class unless you are specifically directed so. (see "Academic Integrity" below)
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: All graded work, i.e., tests, in this class must be your work alone. You are never to collaborate with anyone on tests in this class, and you are not allowed to use your text, notes, or other aides of any kind when you are testing. Violators will be referred to the appropriate UCF authorities for prosecution (see the latest edition of The Golden Rule for more details).
ACCOMMODATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS: The University of Central Florida is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all persons with special needs. This syllabus is available in alternate formats upon request. Students who need accommodations for their academic work must be registered with Student Accessibility Services, Ferrell Commons Room 185, phone (407) 823-2371, TTY/TDD only phone (407) 823-2116, before requesting accommodations from the professor (me).
STUDENTS ON ACTIVE-DUTY MILITARY SERVICE: Students who are deployed active duty military and/or National Guard personnel and require accommodation should contact their instructors as soon as possible after the semester begins and/or after they receive notification of deployment to make related arrangements.
CAMPUS SAFETY STATEMENT(S): Emergencies on campus are rare, but if one should arise during class, everyone needs to work together. Students should be aware of their surroundings and familiar with some basic safety and security concepts.
NB. This syllabus may be revised, if circumstances warrant. You will be notified formally if any changes are made.