Hi all,

As I was grading the last blog post assignment, I noticed many of you are behind in the work for the course. This has been a trying semester, and it has likely gotten more challenging for you as the coronavirus numbers creep up and New York has faced and continues to face more cancelations and closures, most notably the closure of public schools.

You can finish the course despite these challenges, and as we enter the end of the semester, I want to make the workload lighter to help you do this.

In the final weeks of the semester, I would like you to focus on four areas:

1. Finish any incomplete work
2. Complete Paper 2 by 12/04
3. Short response to the DuBois reading. For this assignment, I would like you to revise and expand your response to question #1 on Blog Post 8.You should expand your response to this question to about 400-500 words. The new due date for this assignment is 12/07. Upload your response to Blackboard.
4. Optional: revise Paper 1  for a better grade. (Upload your new draft to Blackboard in Assignments “Optional Paper Revision.”)

Finally, I would like to schedule a meeting with each of you individually. Please go to this Google Doc and sign up for one 15-minute time slot. (If you cannot find a time to fit your schedule please email me and we can work something out.)

Let me know if you have any questions.

All best,

PF

Hi all,

Many of you have likely heard that cases of the virus are growing rapidly and people are discussing various kinds of closures including the possibility that the school system will close again. I know that many of you are greatly impacted by these measures because they affect your jobs and your family members.

I want you to know that I am here to work with you. We are very close to the end of the semester, and I would really hate to see you not complete the course because of new coronavirus measures. Please let me know if there is any way I can help if you are struggling. We should be heartened that there has been progress made with vaccines, and I would love it if you emerged from this crisis well on your way to completing your degree despite the challenges we’ve been presented with this year.

Please contact me if you need to catch up on assignments or if you are confused about the upcoming work. I’ve also scaled back the reading a bit to help with the work load.

Don’t forget to review the second paper assignment.

Completed Work

• Part 1:
  • Read: They Say/I Say, “Chapter 6: Planting a Naysayer in Your Text”
  • Watch: Screencast
• Part 2:
  • Listen: Ways of Hearing, “Episode 5: Power”
  • Respond: Blog post #7

Upcoming Work

• Read: The Souls of Black Folk, “The Sorrow Songs,” by W.E.B. DuBois
• Listen: Du Bois “Sorrow Songs” playlist
• Respond: Blog Post #8

Paper 2

At the beginning of the “Power” episode, Damon Krukowski asserts, “the marginal-the rejected-the repressed-is whatever the powerful have decided is of no use at the moment.” He goes on to ask, “But might it [the marginal-the rejected-the repressed] not be a key to alternate approaches-to art, to society-to power itself?” (“Marginalized” is an adjective that describes a person, group, or concept that is treated as insignificant or peripheral.)  What is he trying to get at with this question? How does music indicate the differences between the powerful and the marginalized?

Hi all,

I have started grading your papers, and you should be seeing your grades in Blackboard soon. You can find a video that shows you how to check your feedback in Blackboard in the tutorial videos section of the site. You do have the opportunity to revise your paper, but this is not required. Keep in mind that the course syllabus​ contains a revision policy. Please follow these steps if you would like to revise your paper.

General Announcements and Events

• Registration for Fall II and Spring I is open!
• You will find information about an upcoming film event on the Events & Opportunities section of the site. Writing about this event could be a possible opportunity to earn bonus points. Contact me if you’re interested.

Completed Work

• • Part 1:
    • Read: They Say/I Say, “Chapter 3: ‘As He Himself Puts It’: The Art of Quoting”
    • Watch: Screencast
  • Part 2:
    • Listen: Ways of Hearing, “Episode 2: Space” (This link will take you to the homepage for the entire show. For this week, you only need to listen to “Episode 2: Space.” You can also find this podcast on other platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.)
    • Read: “The Soundscape” by R. Murray Schafer
    • Watch: Screencast
    • Respond: Blog post #5
  • Optional Listening: 
    • Below you will find a list of some clips and one essay that deal with the ways the coronavirus pandemic has changed the soundscape of NYC. These are optional.
    • The sounds of pandemic New York:
      • “We clap because we care: New Yorkers applaud coronavirus frontline workers”
      • “Jimi Hendrix tribute during NYC’s 7 o’clock cheer”
      • “Alone in the City of Sirens,” The New Republic, April 10, 2020
      • “Blue Angels and Thunderbirds flyover New York City to Honor Frontline Workers”
      • “Missing Sounds of New York: An Auditory Love Letter to New Yorkers,” New York Public Library

Upcoming work

• Listen:
  • Ways of Hearing, “Episode 3: Love”
• Read:
  • “How A.S.M.R. Became a Sensation” New York Times April 4 2019 by Jamie Lauren Keiles
• Watch:
  • A.S.M.R. on YouTube
• Respond:
  • Blog post #6

Below you will find a tutorial that will show you how to find feedback in Blackboard. This is how I will be giving you feedback on all of the assignments you turn in there, including the 4 major papers.

(from the University of Houston, Faculty and Departmental instructional Support)

How Students Check Turnitin Feedback from Blackboard

Tutorial

1. Damon Krukowski argues in the “Love” episode of Ways of Seeing that digital sound impedes our perception of those sonic qualities that help us experience intimacy. A primary example he gives is the way analog microphones provide a rich, full presentation of the human voice; whereas, digital microphones–such as can be found in cellphones–take the character out of the voice in order to create a smaller data package that can travel more efficiently around the world. At the same time, the advent of digital sound DOES enable us to communicate with people around the world, which includes far-away friends and family members and is, in this distance learning environment, even necessary for us to participate in higher learning at LaGuardia. What do you think about the ideas Krukowski lays out in this episode? Does he adequately describe the intimacies afforded by sound and the tradeoff digital sound presents? In your answer, please incorporate at least one quotation from the episode.
2. The New York Times article “How A.S.M.R. Became a Sensation” presents something like the opposite situation by providing an example of how digital tools are being used to circulate the intimate experience certain everyday and passing sounds induce. What do you see as the most interesting or important point about sound in this short history of A.S.M.R.?

This week we moved into the “ways of hearing” unit of the course, and you were asked to think about how sound shapes our experience of space and place. You listened to the second episode of Damon Krukkowsi’s Ways of Hearing and read the introduction to R. Murray Schafer’s book The Soundscape (originally titled The Tuning of the World) in which he defines the concept of the soundscape.

For this blog post I would like you to write a brief entry (around 200 words), in which you compare one idea from either Krukowski’s podcast or Schafer’s introduction to your own experience. Some things to think about (Don’t feel like you need to answer all or any of these questions; I just want to get your thoughts going): Does what Krukowski and his guests say about the sounds of the city line up with your own experience? What about how he and his guests describe earbuds? Do they function in this way for you? Is the management of noise an environmental concern, as Schafer argues?

In your pose, incorporate one quotation from either Krukowsi’s podcast or Schafer’s introduction. Use the guidelines from They Say/I Say and the screencasts I posted.

Hi all,

This week we begin the “Ways of Hearing” unit of the course. This unit is primarily organized around Damon Krukowski’s podcast Ways of Hearing, but there is also other short essays to read and listen to.

General Announcements & Events

• Registration for Spring I and II is now open!!

• Two announcements came across my email that I think some of you might be interested in: a list of opportunities and events sponsored by the Center for Career and Professional Development and a paid internship opportunity I will continue to post events and opportunities as I receive them on the website so keep an eye on this space.

Completed (or nearly completed) Work

• Last week you focused on your first papers.

Upcoming Work

• Part 1:
  • Read: They Say/I Say, “Chapter 3: ‘As He Himself Puts It’: The Art of Quoting”
  • Watch: Screencast

• Part 2:
  • Listen: Ways of Hearing, “Episode 2: Space” (This link will take you to the homepage for the entire show. For this week, you only need to listen to “Episode 2: Space.” You can also find this podcast on other platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.)
  • Read: “The Soundscape” by R. Murray Schafer
  • Watch: Screencast
  • Respond: Blog post #5

• Optional Listening: 
  • Below you will find a list of some clips and one essay that deal with the ways the coronavirus pandemic has changed the soundscape of NYC. These are optional.
  • The sounds of pandemic New York:
    • “We clap because we care: New Yorkers applaud coronavirus frontline workers”
    • “Jimi Hendrix tribute during NYC’s 7 o’clock cheer”
    • “Alone in the City of Sirens,” The New Republic, April 10, 2020
    • “Blue Angels and Thunderbirds flyover New York City to Honor Frontline Workers”
    • “Missing Sounds of New York: An Auditory Love Letter to New Yorkers,” New York Public Library