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IASPM-US Popular Music Pedgogy Committee

Call for Syllabi on Topics in Popular Music
Popular Music Pedagogy Committee
International Association for the Study of Popular Music – U. S. Branch
July 23, 2007

As part of a new initiative to build resources for educators on the IASPM –US website, the Popular Music Pedagogy Committee of the United States Branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music invites college and university instructors with teaching experience in any disciplinary area of study to submit innovative course syllabi on topics in popular music.

The Pedagogy Committee aims to make a wide variety of syllabi accessible to those seeking guidance and resources about teaching and learning in popular music studies. Courses may use a variety of pedagogical formats, such as broad historical or cultural surveys, performance ensembles, or issue-based discussion seminars.  Topics may include history, culture, theory, performance, genre, meaning, craft, reception, business, and social structure, among other subjects.

A syllabus provides both a coherent summary of a particular topic and an engaging means for learning about it. While the Committee expects that most syllabi will have been generated from courses that have been taught, and therefore tested in the classroom, it will also accept proposed syllabi. The Committee asks that each syllabus contains the following basic elements:

1. A brief descriptive statement of the course topic and its significance to the academic development of students and popular music studies;
2. A set of 2-3 learning goals:  what students will be able to know and do as a result of the course;
3. Appropriate means of assessing and evaluating student work (journals, papers, exams, performance rubrics, projects, etc.);
4. A bibliography of appropriate readings following the standard format of your department;
5. A class meeting/reading schedule for the course, outlining how the course topics, central instructional activities, and assignments will unfold over a semester;
6. The course author’s name and preferred contact information;
7. A statement of permission: I, [name, title, and affiliation], give permission to IASPM-US to publish the content of the syllabus on the IASPM-US website.

Most syllabi, with normal fonts and 1-inch margins, are approximately 3-5 pages. Those interested in submitting a syllabus should please e-mail the text, preferably in Microsoft Word or Rich Text, to: 

Review process begins November 15, 2007

Popular Music Pedagogy Committee
Chair: Susan Oehler
Members:
Dan Cavicchi
Jason Hanley
Emmett G. Price, III

We look forward to hearing from you!