Yesterday was the first day of the 2008-2009 school year. It hardly counts for me because I only had to show up to the class that I’m a TA for, but today made up for that with three one and a half hour classes back to back. Which actually wasn’t as bad as that description makes it seem. On to the lowdown for the classes this year.
Baroque and Early Classical Eras (hereafter known as TA class): This is actually going to be easy for several reasons. 1) I’ve TA’d for this prof and class before, therefore I know the material he is going to cover and what he expects from me. 2) I’ve TA’d for this group of students before so I know what they expect from me. 3) Because I’ve TA’d this class before the prof doesn’t find it necessary for me to show up all the time. Every now and then is often enough for him. 4) Instead of having me run a study session that I have to prep for and that none of the students will show up for the prof is having we run two one-hour chat sessions a week where the students can pop in and ask me questions if they want to and yet if no one “shows up” I can still be at home getting things done.
American music class: I am so excited about this class. We’re going through American music from Colonial Times through to just after WWI. Mostly art music, although popular music will be addressed too. We’re focusing more on cultural interaction with the music and stuff than analyzing the music. And it’s going to be presentation focused rather than paper or writing focused. Which really just translates into no term paper. But I’m still excited. And this class is where I’m hoping to draw inspiration for my thesis.
Brahms: This class is focusing on the early to middle compositions of Brahms. Everything from piano sonatas to quartets to the four symphonies. This class will primarily focus on analyzing the music. It should be fun to trace Brahms’ compositional development. Of course we’ll be touching on cultural issues because that’s what Dr. Citron likes to do. There will be a paper in this class that can focus on anything Brahms related.
Renaissance: Admittedly this is a required survey class that I wouldn’t be in if I didn’t have to be. This is only because I just don’t have a ton of interest in the Renaissance. However, it should be a good class. Unfortunately there will be tests in this class along with a paper. I’ve gotten used to not having tests over the last year, so I’m not thrilled about this, but I’ll get over it. The paper is at least allowed to have a cultural focus. I’m thinking of writing a paper on the portrayal of music in Renaissance literature.
All in all I think this will be a fun and interesting semester. Let’s just hope that I don’t burn out. Because there is a lot of work to be done in all of this. So, my plan for not burning out is to stay on top of stuff so that I can still have a social life. I need to be able to have fun.
