Music of the Pacific Rim Syllabus
Fall 2012
MUNM 3413 Section 001
MUNM 3413 Section 002
MW 1:30 – 2:45
MW 3:00 – 4:15
CMC 109
CMC 109
Instructor: Dr. Christine Souza
E-mail: chrissie@ou.edu
Office: 020C Catlett Music Center (inside the Fine Arts Library)
Office hours: By appointment
Course home page: https://learn.ou.edu
Required Text and CDs
The books should be available in the University bookstore and online. If you buy used
copies, check to make sure the CD is included with each book and is not damaged. The
course packet is available at King Kopy (119 W Boyd St # 112; on Campus Corner at the
corner of Boyd and DeBarr)
• Music in China by Frederick Lau
ISBN13: 9780195301243
• Music in Pacific Island Cultures by Brian Diettrich
ISBN13: 9780199733408
• Course packet for MUNM 3413 compiled by Christine Souza
Course Description:
This course fulfills OU’s general education, upper-level, non-Western requirement and
requires junior standing. The study of music and human culture focusing on
representative societies from countries bordering the Pacific Ocean will be undertaken,
developing critical skills and an appreciation for the musical diversity of the world.
Grading:
Exams (4 at 18.75% each)
Topic Proposals
Research Paper
75%
5%
20%
Note: I reserve the right to also consider class participation, attendance, overall quality of work, and
improvement over the term as justification for assigning a final letter grade that may not follow the grading
scale above.
Notes:
* Any student in this course who has a disability that may prevent him or her from fully demonstrating his
or her abilities should contact me personally as soon as possible so we can discuss accommodations
necessary to ensure full participation and facilitate your educational opportunities.
* It is the policy of the University of Oklahoma to excuse absences of students that result from religious
observances and to provide without penalty for the rescheduling of examinations and additional required
work that may fall on religious holidays. Advance notice must be given in order to make up an exam
missed due to a religious holiday.
* The OU Academic Misconduct Code defines academic misconduct as “any act that improperly affects the
evaluation of a student’s academic performance or achievement.” This includes plagiarism, submission of a
work done for more than one class, fabrication, forgery, and fraud, as well as attempting to commit such
acts or assisting another in doing so. Ignorance of this policy is not an excuse – all acts of academic
misconduct will be prosecuted and may result in failure of the course.
Important Dates – subject to change
Friday, September 14
Monday, September 24
Friday, October 5
Monday, October 15
Friday, November 2
Monday, November 12
Finals Week
Wednesday, December 12
Thursday, December 13
Informal Topic Proposal Due by midnight
Exam One: China
Formal Topic Proposal Due by midnight
Exam Two: Music in the Pacific Islands
Research Paper due by midnight
Exam Three: Music in Japan and Bali
Exam Four: Music in Australia, Mexico, and Peru
4:30 – 6:30
Section 002
8:00 – 10:00 AM
Section 001
Exams:
A review sheet will be posted on D2L for all exams. Make-up exams will be given only
under extreme circumstances, with proper documentation and with prior permission. In
case of a last-minute emergency, please contact me as soon as possible to request a makeup exam.
General Format of Written Work:
All written work is to be typed and double-spaced with standard margins. Font size must
be 12 point. Use a standard font such as Times or Helvetica. Include a header or footer
on all pages with your last name, and staple or bind all pages together. All outside
sources must be cited – plagiarism will not be tolerated. Please use Turabian, APA, or
MLA citation style. I will be happy to answer any questions about proper citation or
what constitutes plagiarism. Please use your best scholarly prose and proofread your
papers before turning them in; a paper with errors will not receive an A. A plagiarized
paper will result in failure of the paper and possibly the entire class (depending on the
severity of the plagiarism).
Attendance and Participation:
There is no direct penalty for missing a certain number of classes, but poor attendance
and participation will affect your grade. If you do miss class, it is your responsibility to
check D2L for announcements and to get notes from a classmate. You do not need to
provide me with an excuse if you miss class.
Research Paper Assignment
Please write a thesis paper on a culture from a country that borders the Pacific Ocean.
You may not choose a culture that we are discussing in class (see list below). Your paper
should have a thesis statement that serves as the organizing factor of your paper. See
requirements below.
Guide to choosing a topic:
1. Choose a culture. Start by thinking of areas of the world that interest you and are
influenced by Africa, and narrow it down from there to a specific country, group
of people, or style of music.
2. Choose a thesis or focus area. This paper should not be an elementary-schoolstyle report on one style of music or one country. The easiest way to turn this into
a thesis paper is to discuss one music-culture as it relates to some other nonmusical element of the culture (e.g. religion, politics, social structures, dance,
language, history).
Forbidden topics:
The following topics are forbidden, since we will be covering them in class.
China, Japan, Bali (Indonesia), Australia, Mexico, Peru, and Chile
The United States and Canada are also forbidden.
Guide to writing your paper:
Suggested steps for writing your paper: (none of these things are required, but I am happy
to look at any of your preliminary work at any time).
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
Devise a schedule specific to your project. Set deadlines for yourself. Give yourself
more time than you think you need.
Come up with an outline that supports your thesis.
Gather and read all sources; make sure that you keep track of where you get your notes
from so that you can cite your paper properly. Make sense of the material in your own
mind. Try to explain your topic to someone who knows nothing about it; this will help
you clarify the material for yourself.
Write a rough draft without use of sources, just getting your basic ideas on paper.
Add specific facts and ideas from sources, including citations or footnotes as you go.
Submit a draft of your mostly completed paper to the writing center or a trusted friend.
Make suggested revisions. It’s a good idea to set the paper aside for a few days at this
point to clear your brain before making final revisions.
Do final revisions; I recommend having the paper ready to submit at least a few days
before the due date; I will be happy to accept it early.
General Guidelines and Requirements:
• The final paper must be at least 1600 words long, not including headings and footnotes.
• At least 5 scholarly sources must be used. Try to use a variety of sources including books,
dictionary/encyclopedia entries, journal articles, etc. All sources must be cited within the paper and listed
at the end in a bibliography or works cited list.
• Internet sources should not be used. Online databases are not internet sources, and can be used.
• Please use a standard font such as Times or Helvetica, and please use 12 pt font. Use standard 1 inch
margins, and please double-space. You may use any citation style that you are familiar with (most people
use MLA or APA).
• Your paper should have a “point” (your thesis), and everything in the paper should support that point.
• You should maintain a scholarly tone throughout. Slang, personal anecdotes, and trivial statements (such
as “salsa literally means sauce”) should not be used. Write as though you were going to have this paper
published.
• Proofread carefully; there should be no spelling or grammatical errors.
• This is not an elementary school report. You shouldn’t be simply summarizing information, but drawing
logical conclusions based on the material you have read. However, don’t go too far with this. You will be
more knowledgeable on your topic by the time you turn in the paper, but you probably won’t be an expert.
Make sure that your conclusions are logical and supported by facts.
Grading Criteria:
Length. The paper must contain 1600 words worth of substantial content. This does not include any
bibliographical information or headers or other text that is not part of the body of your paper. There will be
a direct penalty applied to papers that do not meet this word count, regardless of quality.
Content. You must clearly state and clearly support your thesis. The paper needs to be substantial in
content, focused clearly on the thesis. The main focus of the paper should be music, although you can
include supporting content such as information about religion, history, etc., depending on your topic.
Quality of research and use of sources. You need to be thorough in your research; don’t just use the first 5
sources you find. Use a variety of sources, and integrate them all into your paper.
Quality of writing. The paper needs to be free of grammatical and spelling errors and should look
professional. Use a scholarly writing style (see description above), and be sure that all material in the paper
is relevant to your topic.
Due Date #1 – An informal topic proposal is due by Friday, September 14.
Please email me to let me know what you would like to write about and what
your thesis or focus area will be. If necessary, I will help you tweak your topic
so that it will work for this paper. Once you’ve heard back from me on your
informal topic proposal, make a final topic selection. This is worth 1% of your
final grade.
Due Date #2 – A formal topic proposal is due by Friday, October 5. Please
submit this to the dropbox by midnight that night or bring a typed hard copy
to me in class before this date. Write a short paragraph describing your project
and how you plan to research it. Include a list of at least 5 resources listed in
proper bibliographical format that you have already looked at and know that you
can use. This is worth 4% of your final grade.
Final Due Date – The final paper is due by midnight on Friday, November 2.
There is a 48-hour grace period after the due date. After that grace period, I will
deduct 10 points from your paper per day late. Papers will not be accepted for
any reason after Friday, November 9th. This is worth 20% of your final grade.
A note about plagiarism:
All sources must be cited within the paper every time they are used (including
paraphrasing or ideas) and listed at the end in a bibliography or works cited list. All
direct quotes must be put in quotation marks and cited.
All papers are submitted to a plagiarism detection system. An Academic Misconduct
Report will be filed for all plagiarized papers. Papers plagiarized to any extent will
receive a zero, and there is a good chance that the author of a plagiarized paper will be
suspended. If you are unsure of what constitutes plagiarism, please ask. Better safe than
sorry!