DON’T play a recording over external speakers, which the microphone will then pick up and put back into your video—this will distort the audio significantly.
Gender and hiring in music theory
There’s a connection between the growing acceptance of non-mainstream methodologies/repertoires and the growing number of marginalized people that have found success within our discipline.
My SMT 2018 Activities
A study in timbre narratives and instrumentation in 1980s pop / The Dynamics of the Job Interview / Pop Music Interest Group meeting: small-group breakout sessions / Webmasterly duties
Using scheduling software for better boundaries in office hours
I started using scheduling software to avoid a lot of the back-and-forth of scheduling.
Sonic the Hedgehog analysis: article preview
I just uploaded two transcriptions I did of music from Sonic the Hedgehog 3: “Ice Cap Zone” and “Marble Garden Zone.”
Academic mixtapes
S. Alexander Reed puts a little playlist together at the end of each of his chapters in his book Assimilate.
Modular music theory
We are dedicating an entire course to pop and jazz music, thoroughly integrating theory and performance, and de-sequencing the curriculum.
I just won a grant for grant from my university to re-develop the music theory curriculum. In our grant proposal, we emphasized two major developments: a more thorough integration between theory and performance, and a modular design that gives students flexibility and choice.
Planning for 2018–2019
My ’18-’19 goals: Making course journals, optimizing student meetings, and starting a singing club!
Goals for Summer 2018
I’m going to write and work on my courses, but I’m going to prioritize relaxing also.
First year on the job
Three life lessons I’ve learned in my first year in a tenure-track job.
My last post was Jan 5, 2018, which was during the winter break between the Fall and Spring semesters. Now almost five months later, I’ve finished the Spring semester and thus my first year in my tenure-track job at George Mason. As my decreased posting frequency should tell you, I’ve been extremely busy this year getting oriented to my 3/3 teaching load (3 courses in each semester, Fall and Spring) and my new environs.
These next three days, I’m participating in a lovely Faculty Writing Retreat that Mason has put on. After each day concludes at 5pm, I’ll write up a short blog post with my observations reflecting on the 2017–2018 school year (today’s topic), my goals for Summer 2018, and my goals for the next year. Which brings us to my current topic: how I’ve grown in my first year on the job. They’re all interrelated, and I think they all come from the kind of inevitable boost in maturity and confidence that your first big-time job can sometimes slap into you.