Music 666 Fall 2015 outline

FIELD METHODS IN ETHNOMUSICOLOGY

Short URL for this website: http://bit.ly/fme15

Instructor

Professor Michael Frishkopf
Meetings: Fall 2015, Mondays, 9 – 11:50 am, Old Arts 403
Office: 347 Old Arts Building
Office hours: Wednesday 1:30-3:30, by appointment
Tel: 780-492-0225, email: michaelf@ualberta.ca

Overview

Ethnomusicology is "the meaningful social practice of studying music as a meaningful social practice" (Frishkopf 2011) Within music studies, ethnomusicology's distinguishing practical feature is fieldwork, a principal component of the ethnographic enterprise upon which most ethnomusicological (and anthropological) research is based. This course aims to provide you with strategies for the aquisition of field methods (procedural, declarative, and critical knowledge) enabling you to perform critical ethnographic fieldwork, to gather ethnomusicological data, and develop ethnographies.

For the first few weeks, we take up theoretical and critical overviews of fieldwork and ethnography (along with a heavy reading load), including – most importantly – issues of truth, power, and ethics. Subsequently, that load will be reduced as we begin to focus on acquisition of perspectives, knowledge, and methods—technical and social—pertinent to critical ethnomusicological data collection via participant observation, interviewing, field notes, audio and video recording, and still photography. Here the course shifts gears, from reading about fieldwork to actually doing it. You will learn to transcribe and edit field materials, and to analyze and code fieldwork data in preparation for ethnographic writing. We will discuss techniques and strategies for molding multimedia materials into presentable formats, including documentary film, and development of multimedia websites, blogs, wikis, and podcasts.

You will also learn to develop effective ethnographic research proposals centered on fieldwork (including preparation of budgets and timelines), suitable for funding and guiding your research project. Most students should consider this course as an initial step towards their MA or PhD thesis.

Ethnomusicology is a diverse set of practices, and complete training in its field methods is not possible in the span of 13 sessions. In particular, we will not have time to study the technical subjects (audio recording/editing, photography, video recording/editing) in depth. Mastery of any one of these subjects requires an enormous investment in study and practice. Nor will there be time to transform fieldwork products into ethnography. Rather the focus here is on a broad spectrum of introductions—methods for acquiring methods, learning how to learn—in the hopes that you will thereby be enabled and motivated to explore further on your own.

Course objectives

• To develop a theoretical understanding of ethnographic fieldwork—its nature, uses, aims, methods, and (ethical or epistemological) limitations—as a social practice.
  
• To become familiar with various modalities of ethnographic fieldwork, their strengths and weaknesses.
  
• To develop some practical fieldwork skills, particularly participant observation, interviewing, and fieldnotes, and the development of rapport.
  
• To understand the principles of multimedia recording and editing (audio, video, and image), and develop basic competencies in their technologies.
• To learn how to organize and analyze fieldwork data, in preparation for ethnographic writing, including transcribing and coding.
  
• To develop an ethnographic research proposal centered on a fieldwork project, and to carry out a portion of the latter.
  

Course requirements

• Regular, punctual attendance.
  
• Reading (or skimming, as appropriate) each week's reading assignments prior to the class in which it will be discussed, and preparation of presentations. Note: it is very important to learn to locate and absorb the gist of a reading without actually reading every word! Otherwise you may find the quantity of reading to be overwhelming. (We'll talk about this skill in class.) For each reading, I suggest you prepare a brief report (a few sentences), comprising a synopsis and a critique, for your own use, and keep these for future reference. (They'll come in especially handy for the 3-page critical synthesis, due week 7.) Naturally this task is even more important when you will be leading the discussion.
  
• Submission of a three-page critical synthesis on fieldwork and ethnography (referencing assigned readings only)
  
• Submission of a preliminary research proposal defining an ethnographic project focusing on music (in the most general possible sense of this word), due week 4 (budget section due week 8). Note: your proposal should be related to your MA or PhD thesis plans, but must center upon fieldwork to be performed locally. See me if you're not sure how to do this.
  
• Submission of 6 fieldwork/analysis practica applying techniques presented and demonstrated in the previous week's class. As far as possible, these practica must all be directed towards execution of the research proposal, in a shared field setting.
  
• Presentation of final research proposal and project on the last day of class, when you will receive critical feedback.
  
• Submission of a final web-based research proposal and report (including an ethics board application), containing edited excerpts of collected field data (fieldnotes, audio-recordings, photographs, video-recordings), and synthesized in a short descriptive ethnography incorporating critical feedback from your presentation. Due: Dec 18th.
  

Please submit all text assignments by email to the instructor using the subject line "666 ASSIGNMENT X" where X is the name of the assignment. For media files that are too large to email you can share via google drive or dropbox...or bring in on memory stick.

Evaluation

Assignments and weights

• Preliminary research proposal (a) and budget (i): 5%
  
• Three-page critical synthesis on fieldwork and ethnography (b): 5%
  
• Six practica @ 6% each: 36% (fieldnotes (c); audiography (d); interviews (e); photography (f); videography (g); coding (h))
  
• Final project proposal, ethnographic report, and presentation (j): 34%
  
• Participation & assigned presentations: 20%
  

NB:

• There will be no exams.
  
• Unexcused late assignments will be downgraded one quarter point per day.
  
• When page counts are given they refer to 1" margins, single-spaced, Times New Roman font, or equivalent. "References cited" or "bibliography" does not count towards the page total.
  
• Be sure to cite all references using the (author year:pages) format, and list all references cited at the end of your paper.
  

Grading scale

Evaluations of each assignment are on a scale from 0-4.3 points. These scores are combined according to the percentages indicated below in order to produce a final numeric grade. This grade is rounded to the nearest numeric value in the table below, in order to determine the final letter grade.

• A+: 4.3
  
• A: 4.0
  
• A-: 3.7
  
• B+: 3.3
  
• B: 3.0
  
• B-: 2.7
  
• C+: 2.3
  
• C: 2.0
  
• C-: 1.7
  
• D+: 1.3
  

Resources

• Readings. Most readings are available on reserve. Many of the books containing these readings should be available for purchase at the University Bookstore. It is not necessary to purchase all the books. However you may wish to invest in your fieldwork future by purchasing some of them, particularly the practical manuals (Bartlett, Grimm, and Hampe), which are general works for reference and self-study. Some readings are available online as well. See bibliography below for links.
  
• Online films and videos.
• Class lectures, discussions, and presentations. Take notes on your colleagues' presentations!
  
• Multimedia equipment in the Canadian Centre for Ethnomusicology (347 Arts), including a minidisc recorder, a digital video camera, and (TBA because at present we have no space) Macintosh computers equipped with AV software. We will establish hours of use.
  
• Your own multimedia equipment (audio, video, photo, laptop) (optional)
  
• Other software for qualitative data analysis (HyperRESEARCH), scorewriting, audio/video editing, etc. (see below for a listing)
  
• The CCE wiki: http://bit.ly/ccewiki (see How to write these wiki pages). I will create a wiki account for everyone so that you can use the wiki.
• The Field.
  

Schedule

• Each week lists in-class activities (for the collective Monday session, including discussions), and assignments (to be carried out individually during the remainder of the week, and to be completed by the following class). Note: Anything to be discussed in a given week also constitutes an implicit assignment for the previous week!
• Full citations for all readings are listed in the bibliography below.
• Note that due to holidays our first official class day is Monday September 15 (week 1). However I will be at a conference that week, so our first actual meeting takes place in week 2: Monday September 22. Nevertheless please complete and submit assignments for week 1; we will try to make up for the missed session later in the term.

week 1 (Sep 14 - 20): introduction to fieldwork and the ethnographic project in ethnomusicology

NOTE: NO MEETING ON SEP 14! But please do the following this week...

Consider the ethnographic project, as carried out through fieldwork, and how its products (books, films) represent culture, by considering several instances:

• Read/skim sample ethnographic introductions.
• Critically watch/skim these ethnographic films.

Take notes, both descriptive and critical. Ask questions of value and try to classify the samples.

Assignment (due next time):

• Write 1-2 pages about these ethnographic examples. How is music and music culture represented in each? What approaches do ethnographers take? How can you evaluate and classify their research approaches and products? What are their assumptions? What sorts of representations do they produce, and what are the consequences for the work as a whole? Which of these approaches do you like, and why? Conversely, which ones do you dislike, and why? In sum, what is ethnographic fieldwork for ethnomusicology? How does it differ from other kinds of ethnographic fieldwork, or fieldwork generally?

• In 1-2 pages, outline an ethnographic research proposal by filling in a few sentences using my proposal template, Research Proposals in Ethnomusicology, parts I, II, III, IV, as a guide. Focus on I and II primarily for now. (We'll discuss this in class when we meet.) Note that you will not complete this research during the semester, but you will direct your assignments towards it whenever possible. Ideally the proposal should outline research you intend to carry out for your graduate thesis, though it is also possible to propose other (e.g. narrower, or even completely different) projects.

• Complete readings on theory of fieldwork and ethnography (as listed for discussion in week 2), for individual presentations and discussion next week.
  

Note that all references to readings are fully explicated in the list below.

week 2 (Sep 21 - 27): a critical examination of fieldwork and ethnography. Defining your own ethnographic project, planning your fieldwork

How does one frame an ethnographic fieldwork-based research project (book, article, or film) in ethnomusicology? We'll review Research Proposals in Ethnomusicology We'll discuss the research proposal format, and your incipient ethnographic fieldwork project ideas.

Note: it's very important for you to "do" all the readings. "Do" doesn't mean read every word; you may skim some more than others, concentrating primarily on the one you (or others) will present, and those marked "all"-- but it is not enough to focus on your own reading presentation!

If you'd like to share reading notes, or engage in on-line discussions centered on individual readings, please use this page.

In class:

• Welcome and overview of course. Basic questions, purposes, goals.
• Introductions: who are we? Share some fieldwork stories, motivations...
• Some operating concepts: source/reference, explanatory/interpretive/critical, descriptive/prescriptive, experience/inference, hermeneutics/positivism, meaning/structure, meaning/action, lifeworld/system, signifier/signified, structure/process, system/environment, semantic net/social net, constructivism/realism, reflexive/unreflexive, experiment/observation/participation, emic/etic, insider/outsider, ethnocentric/chronocentric, thought-feeling=meaning/discourse/practice, culture/society, ideational/material, idiographic/nomothetic, theoretical/applied, exploratory/hypothesis testing, qualitative/quantitative, inductive/deductive, synchronic/diachronic, cross-sectional/longitudinal, phenomenological/empirical, subjective/intersubjective/objective, micro/macro, researcher/informant(collaborator, participant...), arts/humanities/social science/science (and their "methods")
• What is fieldwork? What is ethnography?
• What is ethnomusicology and why is fieldwork central to the discipline?
• What kinds of fieldwork are there? Review Faubion 2001. How does this broad, critical and theoretical discussion compare to Fetterman's more concise and conservative treatment? Can you come up with some experimental methods of your own?
• Differentiating fieldwork and ethnography. Is there fieldwork without ethnography? Ethnography without fieldwork?
• Discussion of sample ethnographies (African).
  
• Presentation of fieldwork project ideas, for class feedback (continued in week 3).
• Reading presentations as assigned (be prepared to lead a critical discussion of your reading) and discussion of other readings.

Readings for class discussion:
(Everyone read whatever is marked 'all' and be prepared to discuss them; read/skim readings to be presented by others; read with care those you will present for discussion, highlighting the main ideas, critiquing the work, and noting issues for collective debate, discussion, and analysis.) See bibliographic list below for full references and links where available. Note that any reading marked for class discussion in a given week must be read in advance! Take notes or mark up a copy (or PDF).

All: Faubion 2001, p. 39 (ch. 3 - skim for mention of fieldwork); Fetterman ch. 1-2 ; Jackson: chapters 1-4 (skim); Charmaz and Mitchell 2001 (grounded theory).

Assigned for presentation: Sign up for a reading you'd like to present in class using this wiki page, but everyone read/skim everything: Clifford and Marcus – essay by Marcus p. 165-188; Marcus 1998: Intro, chapters 1, 2; Barz chapters 2 (Titon) and 3 (Rice); Robben & Sluka (part VIII – your choice; note which chapter you'd like to present.)

Assignment (due next time): readings on ethics, for presentation and discussion next week. Also try logging onto the Human Ethics Research Online (Hero) system, and play in the sandbox .

week 3 (Sep 28 - Oct 4): ethical issues in fieldwork

Readings and pages for today's class discussion:

All: Jackson: chapter 16; Murphy and Dingwall 2001, ch. 23 (p. 339 ff); Fetterman chapter 7; Kvale chapter 4; materials at pages about research ethics at the UofA. Sample ethnographies (review).

Week 3 assigned readings (click to indicate which reading you'd like to present; everyone read all that have been selected): Barz chapter 9 (Shelemay); Faubion & Marcus p. 73 (Hamilton); Faubion & Marcus p. 145 (Faubion); Robben & Sluka (part VI – your choice); DeWalt chapter 10.

Please also browse the following:

Philosophy resources:

• Deontological ethics
• Consequentialism/

Institutional and Organizational statements & codes of ethics (focus on ethnographic research disciplines):

• Society for Ethnomusicology and [1]
• American Anthropological Association
• American Sociological Association
• American Folklore Society

In class:

1) Fieldwork - review. Overview of last session.

NB: Please don't make your assignments too much longer than required, and please single space.

2) Ethics. Some introductory ideas from the instructor; case studies and field stories; institutional ethics. Next, your reading presentations (be prepared to lead a critical discussion of your reading). Discussion of ethics as philosophy (what are the various positions?), and organizational codes of ethics (how and why do they differ?).

We can also discuss the African ethnographies with an eye towards their ethical dimensions, and pages about research ethics at the UofA. What principles inform these documents? What are the underlying motivations here? How do institutions condition "ethics" - on what bases?

3) Continued presentation of fieldwork projects, for class feedback. Be ready to present a very succinct (topic/aim) project summary, but also to discuss possible applications of ideas from last week (e.g. multisited research, phenomenology, etc.) How can you apply these ideas to your research? Also consider the ethical dimension of your projects - what aspects of your method might prove problematic? How will you address these issues? Review the required format for research proposals in ethnomusicology.

Assignment for next time: readings on positionings & modes of research (see next week for list and signup). Review, once again, the African ethnographies and think about what sorts of positionings and modes their authors have adopted. Also: work on your research proposals, thinking about (a) how to introduce comparative and multisited perspectives; (b) ethical dimensions of your methodologies (we'll discuss these aspects next time). Finally: think about whether or not ethnographic research (anthropological, sociological, ethnomusicological, ethnochoreological) is moving towards applied work? How can we know?

Note: You may like to enroll in one of the scheduled REMO training sessions.

week 4 (Oct 5 - 11): positioning yourself in the field; modes of research (participation, observation, interviewing, surveying, archival research)

Note:

• Preliminary research proposal and ethics application is due next week (there is no class due to Thanksgiving; submit via email)
• Synthetic critical essay is due in three weeks (just a heads-up)
• Make use of reference management software for all your assignments. I recommend Zotero or refworks. Some like Endnote.

In class:

Discussions of knowledge (pure and applied), field and field positioning, modes of field research, and implications of fieldwork choices. Review, once again, the African ethnographies and think about what sorts of positionings and modes their authors are adopting. Consider:

• entry into the field
• how and how much to participate
• the social network of connectivity
• rapport
• ethics of the field position: local and global
• exploratory vs hypothesis testing research, and the role of iteration
• collaboration
• Consider the various authors whom you've read this past week - how do their approaches differ? Are the differences disciplinary, idiosyncratic, or a little of each?

Reading presentations (be prepared to lead a critical discussion of your reading). Readings for class discussion:

All: Fetterman: ch. 3 (esp. 31-37, 57-62; we'll cover interviewing later); Jackson: chapters 5-8 (skim, esp. chapter 7 which we'll cover later); DeWalt chapters 1-4, Kvale chapter 1

Week 4 assigned readings: Marcus 1998: chapters 3, 4; Kvale chapter 1; Barz chapters 4 (Berger), 6 (Virtual fieldwork), 16 (Advocacy); Robben & Sluka (parts II or VII – your choice).

Assignment (for next time): preliminary research proposal (a) including ethics component, and readings for next week (see below), which you should read and critique (as usual!).
Also prepare to present your research proposals next week for group feedback (don't forget to include Comparative and multisited perspectives). Also critique our various applied projects as instances of applied/action/advocacy ethnomusicology.

week 5 (Oct 12 - 18): writing; participant observation and fieldnotes

NOTE: Oct 12 is a holiday; there will be no class this week but please do submit assignments and continue with your readings as outlined below.
Due: Preliminary ethnographic fieldwork research proposal (a), including a preliminary ethics application.
Note: budget section (i) is not due until week 8.
Please hand in electronically, but bring printouts to class for discussion.

• Follow the format presented in the document Research Proposals in Ethnomusicology.
• Remember, this is a draft!
• Don't spend a lot of time on background (III: area, scope; VI: literature review) at this point. In area/scope (III; maybe a page?) you should primarily strive to clarify your project, by defining terms (whether topical or theoretical) and introducing needed context and environmental factors. Most important is topic, aim, problems, and especially methods (Sections I, II, IV). Omit the resources/workflow section for now (budget, timeline, in section VII). References cited should be included, but this can be generated automatically if you're using bibliographic software (refworks, endnote, etc.).
• The ethics application is entirely separate from the proposal in form (i.e. they're two separate documents), but not in content. Generally you'd provide the ethics review board with a condensed version of the project proposal, getting more specific on issues that matter to them (e.g. the kinds of questions you intend to ask in interviews, also part of your methodology section), less so on others (e.g. background). So while they're two distinct documents, you can certainly do a considerable amount of cutting and pasting from one to the other. Create your ethics application on REMO by logging in and creating a new study (but don't press "submit" until we've had a chance to review everything together), then print it to PDF format.

In class: [2015: no class due to Thanksgiving; happy holidays! But please do all the readings and note assignments for the following week, when we'll try to catch up with class activities for both weeks.]

We'll summarize some material from last week, and discuss participant observation and fieldnotes (in preparation for your assignment).

Everyone will briefly outline her proposal in class (title, aim/value, field positionings, methods and modes of research (including introduction of comparative/multisited perspectives, and considering ethical aspects of your proposed work)), while the group will provide critical feedback, assuming positions of (a) academic journal editor, considering publication, (b) foundation board, considering funding - why might you reject this proposal? Why might you accept it?

Readings for class discussion:

All: Fetterman, chapter 6; Dewalt (read chapters 5-8 selectively; skim the rest according to your interests); Emerson et al: Preface, chapters 1, 2; Barz chapter 13 (Barz)
Note: from now on there are no individually assigned readings, but do read everything, take notes, and be prepared for critical discussion.

Assignments (for next time):

Additional theoretical and critical perspectives for the coming week. Read selectively from the following, according to relevance for your project (pick at least three chapters or articles you haven't read previously): Marcus 1998 chapters 8-10; Marcus 1999 (any); Barz (any); Marcus, J. 2001 (Orientalism); Maso (phenomenology); Van Loon (cultural studies); Spencer (postmodernism); Lather (postmodernism); Robben & Sluka (parts IX and X on reflexive and fictive ethnography), or anything else from the works listed in the bibliography. You'll incorporate these readings, along with others from weeks 1-4, in your critical synthesis, due week 7.

PO (participant observation) fieldnotes assignment: infield and outfield (c):

• Purchase a small, pocket-sized notebook (you can experiment with different sizes).
• Select a site (perhaps a store, restaurant, class…) , and visit it regularly each day - i.e. 7 days total - throughout the coming week - applying all the strategies of participant observation we've been reading about. If this site can be part of (or close to) your project, great. If not, fine too. (But do focus on a setting that includes music.)
• The aim: describe the physical site, the social interactions/discourses of the site, and their meanings for participants. Try to include something with music in it, and make a special focus on music in what follows. Try situating yourself closer to the P or O in P-O (participant-observation). What's the difference?
• Infield: Practice the various techniques of infieldnotes (open or covert jot, mnemonics, headnotes)
• Outfield: using your computer, writeup outfieldnotes – expand your jottings, mnemonics, or headnotes into your journal entry for the day. How much can you remember? Try various strategies: writing immediately after withdrawing from the infield, later that evening, the next day. How much do you remember? Try various techniques
• For each entry, also include a meta-entry: your observations of yourself as a fieldworker, i.e. fieldwork of fieldwork (reflexivity). Observe yourself, situate yourself. How did people react to you? What was the effect of your presence in the field? What relationships were established? What techniques were most fruitful? How did you feel doing them – what modes of working do you feel comfortable in?
• In your outfieldnotes: invent typographical means of differentiating the various registers and categories of content. [e.g. separating descriptions from
• Bring everything with you next time.

week 6 (Oct 19 - 25): More theoretical and critical perspectives on fieldwork & the ethnographic enterprise.

Due: Fieldnotes (c).

In class: Discussion of PO assignments and proposals. Discussion of readings completed last week (please prepare to present one of your selected readings). Introduction of Soundwalk (to be explained).
Assignment (for next time):

Critical synthesis on fieldwork and ethnography. Three-page (single-spaced, 1" margins, Times New Roman or equivalent font) critical synthesis on fieldwork and ethnography, addressing key issues of representation and ethics, and gathering theoretical and critical readings to date (as many as possible), including all readings, whether assigned for everyone to read together, or for a particular person to present (b). (However it is not necessary to read every word of every reading in order to include it in your critical synthesis.) Focus on comparing, contrasting, thematizing, and critiquing. Group multiple readings together - you won't have space to talk about each one individually. Rather, the idea is to highlight the main ideas, to emphasize what's important, what's controversial, and what's lacking. Show me that you've done the readings...and thought about them critically as sources (to be understood in context) not merely references (to be accepted as authorities). Three single-spaced pages is a minimum. Note that your grade will depend on the number of readings you critically discuss, and how well you critically synthesize them. You needn't cover every last one, but please don't stint either. You must cover all readings assigned for everyone to read, those that you presented in class, and those that you selected (when there was a choice). Very important! As you mention a reference, be sure to cite it in-text using the (author date:pages) format, and append an alphabetical list of references (not counted in the 3 pages) cited at the end. If you use bibliographic software (Endnote, Refworks, etc.) this list will be generated automatically. Remember, Refworks is free - available on the UofA Library site. Another wonderful tool is Zotero, a Firefox plugin - a highly recommended research tool.

Soundwalk. Also due next time: soundscape/soundwalk assigment (to be further explained in class): select a route of approximately 1-2 km. At 4 or 5 points along this route, pause and listen for a while, eyes open, then eyes closed. Consider: sonic texture, timbres, pitch, loudness, rhythms, tempos, sources, locations. Before moving ahead, notate your listening experience in a small notebook, in 2 ways: (a) using linguistic description, (b) using any kind of graphical notation. How does opening or closing the eyes affect your experience? Also note your exact location. Record the sound at each stopping point using a mobile phone. Afterwards, compare notations and sound recorded. Create a google map (go to [2], click on the menu button, then select "my maps", "create map", and add markers numbered sequentially. If possible upload your sound files to youtube or soundcloud (providing you haven't recorded conversations) and link to these markers. You can also draw lines connecting the markers to indicate the route you followed. For some background on these techniques read [3], [4], and browse [5] and [6]. This assignment will not be graded.

week 7 (Oct 26 - Nov 1): field recording: an overview of physical principles, formats, technologies, equipment, supplies, methods, storage, labeling, basic metadata concepts. Budgeting.

Due: Three (or more)-page critical synthesis on fieldwork and ethnography (b).

• Discussion and critique of fieldnotes and more on proposal drafts. Resubmit until acceptable. Ethics!
  
• History of fieldwork technology
• Physics and engineering concepts for music and fieldwork
• Equipment
• Field recordings, metadata, storage and archiving

In class: Readings for class discussion:

Jackson: chapter 9; Fetterman: chapter 4. Entries for "Metadata", and "Dublin Core" in wikipedia (follow available links).
Also see Dublin Core Usage Guide and other documents at Dublincore.org

Harvard's guide to metadata standards is very useful as a summary of the various types (descriptive, technical, structural, preservation, rights...)

Assignment: research proposal preliminary budget (i) and readings for next week. Also: resubmit proposals (revised), and add ethics. Note: from here on I won't mention under "assignment" the readings listed for class discussion the following week...just know that you should read them before class...

week 8 (Nov 2 - 8): audio-recording and editing. DAW, Audacity, Praat, pitch detection, spectral analysis. MIDI, music transcription and scorewriting software.

Due: Proposal’s preliminary budget (i) and revised proposals (with ethics this time!).
At this time you should have fleshed out the following sections of your proposal: aim; area (briefly); scope; research questions; research methods; budget; bibliography (include annotations if you have them). (Please develop some familiarity with bibliographic software!) You should also have completed a draft ethics application. In class we want to go quickly around the table: everyone provide succinct aim, scope, method. Bring your budgets for discussion too. (As we learn more about equipment your budget section will expand, as it's an equipment list as well.)

Have a look at audio editing and analysis software, including scorewriters, sequencers, digital audio editors, and analysis tools and consider related metadata issues.

Review entries for "Metadata", and "Dublin Core" in wikipedia (follow available links).

In class:
Class discussion:

• Proposals & ethics: go 'round the table
• Budgets - compare notes
• Metadata
• Other readings

Class lecture:

• Introduction to physics of recording, audio signals, waves, recording
• Some cool simulations
• Demos of software tools (audio, linguistics, scorewriters).
• Audio recording in theory.
• Look at some equipment, old and new.

Readings for class discussion (to be read in advance):

Jackson chapters 10, 11; Ives: chapter 1 (dated, but fun to read); Bartlett (browse for basic concepts about microphones and digital recording). Wikipedia: "scorewriter".
Also, browse the outcome document for the Sound Directions project (Harvard and Indiana U.)

Assignment: audio recordings of music, plus metadata and transcription/analysis; begin to become familiar with software tools (d).

Recording: Try making a variety of recordings of the same music event, with different hardware/software settings, in different physical positions (close, far), using various kinds of equipment at your disposal. For each recording, document these parameters (part of "technical metadata"; see below) so you can relate the different "inputs" (equipment and settings) to "outputs" (recordings themselves).

Metadata: Create a basic table (in Word or Excel) to record metadata, focussing on descriptive and technical metadata. Descriptive metadata will include everything about recording content (e.g. date, place, time, composer, title, musicians, etc.) Technical metadata (which falls under the broader heading of administrative metadata) will include such things as: kind of microphone, details about the recording setup, distance from music, etc.

Transcription and analysis: Also try using various tools (Finale, Sibelius, abc, Audacity, Praaat) to transcribe and analyze the music. Some tools will also enable you to embed metadata, i.e. tie a comment to a particular moment in time. We'll also explore this procedure using HyperRESEARCH later on.

See Making an audio recording for some helpful hints on making recordings, in addition to your readings above.

week 9 (Nov 9 - 15): interviewing

Due: Rough edits of audio recordings (using Audacity), plus metadata (Dublin Core) and short music notation transcription/analysis, for discussion and critique in class (final edits due with final project). Use of Audacity and a scorewriter for transcription/analysis. (d)

Readings for class discussion (prepare in advance):

Review Fetterman, pp. 37-56 and Jackson ch. 7 which we covered in week 4; add: Kvale (read chapters 2, 3, 10; skim chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, and others selectively, according to your interests); Emerson et al: chapters 3, 4, 5; Ives: chapters 2 & 3; DeWalt chapter 7; Heyl 2001

Assignment (due next time): Conduct one interview, about an hour long, in three segments. Try three techniques: audio recording, simultaneous notes, and memory (subsequent notes). Try two levels of formality: (a) formal interview, and (b) informal interview, bordering on participant-observation conversation. After you've completed the interview: Write up your notes. Transcribe and analyze a portion of the recorded interview using two levels of etic detail: (a) microtranscription possibly with IPA or temporal notation; (b) content transcription. You may use Audacity to slow a recording for transcription. Record a commentary (a sort of metadata) about your experiences to share with the class. Bring all materials next week. (e)

week 10 (Nov 16 - 22): photography and image manipulation software (Photoshop, Gimp) (no class - Reading Week)

This is Reading Week - a chance to catch up. In lieu of class please read through this section, clicking all links and learning as much as possible about the following.

Due: Interview results (questions, recording, transcription, analysis) (e), for discussion and critique in class. Also be prepared for all in-class activities, as listed below (review websites, etc.).

• Transfer assignments to instructor via google drive (if files are too big we can do this next week via memory stick):
  • Week 8: Revised proposal, budget, ethics application
  • Week 9: Audio recording rough edits, with metadata, and a short notation/transcription
  • Week 10: Interview results (questions, recordings, transcription, analysis - if you have physical notes bring them to class).

• Notes on the above: please review this week...
  • Your proposal (and your budget is part of that) is an evolving document! Keep working on it.
  • Budgets are equivalent to equipment lists with prices. The more complete, the better. I want everyone to select and price all the varieties of technology we describe in class, even if you think you can get away without them, e.g.: various microphones (lavelier, wireless?), A/D converter, backup solution, speakers for feedback interviews, headphones for transcribing, DSLR with different lenses, flash, software (free or not)...Detail is what I'm looking for: a camera bag that holds everything, cleaning solutions for lenses, cables and electrical converters...extension cords, mic stands, camera tripods, software you need to download before heading to the field, even special notebooks or pens. And don't forget budgets for room and board! Everything should be clearly identified not only by generic type, but by manufacturer and model, with accurate prices. Be creative, and be thorough!
• Notes on software tools: please check these out...
  • Audacity: you need to export files or else transfer the aup file with its associated directory
  • Transcription tools: TranscriberAG, transcriber IPA, IPA font[7]
• Review Signals, Waves, Acoustics, Psychoacoustics, and music (and do the homework assignment!)
• Review Multimedia editing and analysis software and Fieldwork equipment suggestions (tentative)
• Audio recording in theory (review) and in practice

• Photography in theory and practice
• This site contains useful tutorials: http://www.shortcourses.com/
• You'll also find much on YouTube.

Readings for future class discussion (prepare in advance):

Jackson chapters 12, 13; Grimm (browse as needed).

Assignment (for next time): photography (f). Prepare a photo essay on a music-related (ideally, project-related) topic, including various kinds of photography (portrait, performance scene; flash, no flash; zoom, wide-angle etc.) If you use a "point and shoot", fine - but experiment with all possible settings (on manual mode) as well as lighting conditions, camera movement, stabilizing the camera (tripod, table..) or not, etc. Basically: experiment and document the conditions of each photo in metadata. In other words, take lots, and lots of pictures, but in a scientific way - in order to understand the consequences of camera settings and picture setup! Photos should be edited (cropped), possibly image-manipulated captioned, and uploaded to a google site (see below) for general display (NB: ethics! restrict visibility as needed). Also prepare a parallel table of metadata (technical and descriptive). Bring for discussion next week.

week 11 (Nov 23 - 29): videography and video editing software (iMovie, Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere)

Due: Preliminary photography results, plus metadata and text analysis, for discussion and critique in class (f)
(Everyone prepare to present and discuss fieldwork from the previous three weeks - photography at least briefly, and audio recordings and interview assignments if you didn't get to do this last week).

In class:

• Present and discuss your interview assignments
• Present and discuss your audio recordings with metadata and notation/transcription
  • Etic and emic transcriptions
  • Transcription as field practice: How does it feed back into fieldwork?
• Discussion: issues in interviewing and transcription of speech
  • Emic and etic perspectives
  • Etic transcriptions: detail that may indicate speaking style. IPA can be used.[8]
  • Extended quotations vs interpretation - advantages and disadvantages. What does it mean to "give voice"?
  • Transcription as field practice: How does it feed back into fieldwork?
• Present and discuss photograph results.

• The Gimp
• Videography, theory, practice, fieldwork
• Data coding: multilevel process (memos/annotations, open coding, closed coding, thesis chapters/sections)

Note: software you should be mastering includes:

• Audacity - audio editing, analysis
• The Gimp - still photography/image manipulations
• iMovie or Final Cut Pro - video editing, analysis
• HyperRESEARCH - qualitative data coding, for text, images, audio, video...in other words, everything!

Readings for discussion (prepare in advance):

Jackson chapter 14; Hampe (browse as needed); Weynand (browse as needed if you're using Final Cut Pro). Wikipedia: "List of video editing software"

Assignment (for next time): videography (g)

week 12 (Nov 30 - Dec 6): data organization, protection, storage, and use, in the field and beyond. More about metadata (kinds, representations). Archiving, digital repositories, databases, web 2.0 (blogs, wikis, podcasts).

Due: Rough edits of video footage (including titles and subtitles), with metadata and in-video transcription/analysis, for discussion (you can continue editing later ....final edits due with final project) (g). Please bring your video work in progress to share with the class. Talk about difficulties and issues involved in editing, whether technical or thematic. You can also use this opportunity to talk about previous practica, particularly if you haven't presented any of yours yet (audio recordings, photography, interviews...).

In class:

• Student video presentations
• Cataloging and archiving workflows, considering issues:
  • metadata
  • data security
  • data dissemination
• Digital repositories
• Examples
• Qualitative Data coding
  • HyperRESEARCH
  • Nudist
  • Other
  • Annotating audio and video:
    • HyperResearch
    • VESTA
    • YouTube

Background readings (prepare in advance) for discussion:

Fetterman chapter 4 (again); Jackson chapter 15; Emerson: chapter 6
Review metadata material: Entries for "Metadata", and "Dublin Core" in wikipedia (follow available links).
Also see Dublin Core Usage Guide and other documents at Dublincore.org

Assignment (for next time): data coding using HyperRESEARCH (h).
Practice by coding the various types of document as generated by prior practica: fieldnotes, interview transcripts, audio, image, video. Select a small set of codes, and refine it as you go. Think about how you might assign codes to chapters in your thesis or dissertation, allowing you to analyze, synthesize, and write up fieldwork materials as an ethnography (which you don't need to write for this class!). Also: Refine your project proposals (including budget), and develop your practica further (e.g. if you haven't prepared a metadata sheet for one or more practica, please do so).

week 13 (Dec 7 - 13): Moving out and writing up: from field data to ethnography (coding, analyzing, sorting, searching, synthesizing). Qualitative analysis software. Publication media (print, disc, web, documentary film).

Due:

Google sites websites: Preparation and presentations of google site summarizing your edited multimedia work. This will include everything you've prepared over the term, including two new components due this week: coding, and videography. You should edit these materials, e.g. cropping photos, excerpting fieldnotes, etc. and include metadata for everything you present on the site (you may present metadata in a single spreadsheet, or distribute metadata according to media type - your choice). Note that the process will be much easier if you store all your files on google docs - it's very easy to include these on a google site. (You'll include everything -- edited and unedited -- on the DVD version due at the end of the term.) See my sample site below for ideas. Consider the website you present to be a first draft: you can continue to edit the site and all its constituent materials after the 16th, but please do your best to make it as perfect & beautiful as possible, including:

• Final research proposal (with budget and ethics)
• Fieldnotes (illustrating infield and outfield notes)
• Interviews (audio recordings, and transcriptions - (a) microtranscription, (b) content transcription - see above)
• Music recordings (and notations) - edited using Audacity.
• Photography (images - to be cropped and adjusted using the Gimp or other software)
• Videography - edited video footage, using iMovie or other software. Put together selected clips, with attention to sequncing & transitions, and including titles and subtitles as appropriate.
• Coding: You should have been working on coding your field research products (text, image, audio, video) using HyperRESEARCH qualitative analysis via coding files. You should have created several codes, and linked them to (a) fieldnotes; (b) interview recordings and transcripts; (c) other audio recordings; (d) images; (e) video recordings. You do not need to purchase HyperRESEARCH - the free trial version will suffice.

Readings: (prepare in advance for discussion)
Fielding 2001; Fetterman: chapters 5, 6; Emerson: chapters 7, 8; Kvale chapters 11-15 (skim); DeWalt chapter 9; Hampe (again, browse what interests you); selections from Clifford and Marcus (introduction, other essays). Skim HyperRESEARCH documentation and tutorials (download at http://bit.ly/hyperresearch)

Return to Sample ethnographic introductions and consider how fieldwork was woven into a completed ethnography.

Class:

• Note: Final due date for all assignments - Dec 18, 3:30 pm.
• Media editing overview:
  Multimedia editing and other transforms - concept and practice
  • Each multimedia file represents a real-world signal encoding real-world waves (temporal, spatial, or both) within certain boundaries of space (image), time (audio), or both (video).
  • Non-destructive editing: you can always undo - the edits are not performed until a "rendering" phase (applies mainly to video)
  • Editing includes the following operations:
    • extracting AV pieces defined by smaller space-time boundaries ("cropping")
    • emphasizing or deemphasizing frequencies ("filtering") in time (pitch - getting rid of hum, color - correcting balance) or space (anti-pixelating)
    • applying special effects (color to b&w, eliminating "red eye", sharpening lines, etc.)
    • generating "artificial" AV pieces (e.g. text, voiceover) not captured in the field, which you can add
    • assembling smaller pieces into bigger pieces while attending to junctures ("transitions")
      • adjacency: putting pieces end-to-end
      • overlay: putting one piece atop another
  • Other transformations:
    • compressing/decompressing: compressed files are smaller, but harder to edit - and sometimes (lossy compression) lower quality.
    • transcoding: changing the codec, e.g. from mpeg to dv, or tiff to jpeg
• Some basic operations you should now know how to do:
  • Audio editing: extracting clips, applying fades, normalizing, overdubbing (suggestion: Audacity)
  • Image editing: cropping, adjusting color and contrast, adding graphics and text (suggestion: Gimp)
  • Video editing: preparing clips, separating audio/video components, applying effects and transitions, assembling clips, assembling audio and video clips separately, titling and subtitling... (suggestion: iMovie)
• Data organization, protection, storage, and use, in the field and beyond (review; from Week 12)
• Moving out and preparing your final products: Transforming ethnomusicological fieldwork into communicative ethnographic scholarship
  • text vs multimedia?
  • audience?
  • Often text is considered the only possible mode of scholarly communication, AV serving only to provide illustrative examples. But AV can also become the primary modality...
  • While most research products are text-centric, and theses are still required to be strings of words (with embedded diagrams, maps, charts, data tables, transcriptions and photographic images), documentary film (from raw performance footage to highly interpreted to docudrama) is a powerful technique for reaching a wider audience using the full force of fieldwork's AV materials. See Ethnographic film & music for a brief historical overview and summary of issues.
  • Ethnographic writing.
    Ethnomusicological scholarly writing and publication centers on text, plus a limited number of figures (usually b&w)...occasionally with audio examples. Online scholarship provides more room for AV modalities.
    • Seminar paper
    • Conference paper
    • Thesis
    • Book chapter
    • Journal article
    • Encyclopedia entry (usually includes your own fieldwork, and summarizes others')
    • Monograph
  • Ethnographic multimedia:
    • film/video (documentary film)
    • photography (photo essay)
    • audio (documentary audio)
  • The crucial role of coding in creating your final product:
    • Ethnographic writing: Analysis and synthesis: linking fieldwork materials to your thesis outline via coding.
    • Ethnographic multimedia: linking fieldwork materials to your outline for film, photo essay, or audio recording
    • Qualitative analysis software provides a systematic means of organization
• Your website presentations (10 min each max, plus followup questions/discussion).

week 14 (no class): final web project (text/audio/image/video) due: Dec 18

Submission by 3:30 pm on Dec 18th must include proposal, budget, ethics application, and partial ethnography (including text, audio, image, video, with metadata, transcriptions, analyses…). Burn all final assignments on a single DVD, with your name written on it. Organize the DVD by folders (one for the proposal/budget/ethics and critical synthesis, and others for each practicum). Each folder should contain a file called README including a file list, explaining what it contains. Put all related materials together). At the top level please include a link to your online presentation (see below).

Please submit the DVD at the Music Office, 382 FAB (open 9:30 - noon, and 1 - 3:30, or drop it off at my office in Old Arts.

The DVD assignment list follows, together with weights for each assignment:

• Three-page (minimum) critical synthesis on fieldwork and ethnography (b): 5%
  
• Final project proposal with budget and ethics, and uploaded presentation of your fieldwork (see below) (j): 34%
  
• Six practica @ 6% each: 36% (fieldnotes (c); audiography (d); interviews (e); photography (f); videography (g); coding (h)). Each practicum may consist of a number of files of different formats, and should be accompanied by metadata whenever appropriate.
  

Of the remaing 25%: 5% is for your preliminary project proposal (a) and budget (i), handed in earlier this term. Participation & assigned presentations count for 20%

For the DVD submissions, feel free to augment, rewrite, supplement, complement what you originally submitted or presented in class. For instance, over the course of the past several weeks, you may have revised your budget significantly, added material to your project proposal, complemented photographs with metadata, or refined your metadata model.

Online presentation: Putting things online is a preferred mode of dissemination these days. I'd like you to compress (because full resolution may be too big) and edit all your materials (polished a bit - photos cropped, video edited) in order to create an online portfolio of your DVD, using google site within University of Alberta google apps, organized as a private "virtual exhibit" of your work (to make the google site private click the blue "Share" button at the upper right, then change to private access. Add my email (and those of your colleagues in the class, if you wish) to the list of those who can access the site. Include the URL link on the DVD. (j)
Here is an example. You should provide captions for audio, video and still photography, on their respective pages. Illustrate interviews and fieldnotes with images and sound, on their respective pages. Include metadata for each of the practica (a,b,c,d,e,f,g) as well as proposal, budget, and ethics. See last week's entry for more details.

The DVD contains all your fieldwork results, uncompressed, and somewhat raw. The online presentation can be more selective and polished - and everything is compressed and linked for convenient web viewing.

Software and hardware tools

Ethnographic fieldwork is perforce very much a DIY enterprise, and for this reason I advocate use of free or inexpensive available tools whenever possible. However some investments (e.g. a good camera or audio recorder) are certainly justified and worthwhile, especially prior to embarking on long-term fieldwork.

Photography

Hardware: ordinary point/shoot camera, or smart phone. You can also borrow my mechanical Pentax to explore all the parameters of still photography.

Software: the Gimp (free), Photoshop (expensive).

Audio

Hardware: ordinary point/shoot camera, or smart phone will record some audio (badly). A Zoom or equivalent solid state recorder is advisable. Recording direct to laptop is sometimes workable. You can also borrow a Minidisc recorder from the CCE.

Software:

audio editing: Audacity

speech transcription: TranscriberAG

microtranscription in IPA: Charis unicode

Video

Hardware: ordinary point/shoot camera, or smart phone; Zoom or equivalent; consumer-level video camera. You can also borrow a Hi8 camera from the CCE, or my professional Sony.

Software: avidemux, iMovie (for Mac) (free); Adobe, Final Cut Pro

Score notation

See Scorewriters.

Qualitative research analysis

We will use the trial version of Hyperresearch, which is adequate for this course (the full version or equivalent may be necessary for your long-term research).

Bibliography

Course readings

Available on reserve; several items available online; many also available in the SUB bookstore for purchase.

Bartlett, Bruce and Jenny Bartlett. 2009. Practical Recording Technique (Fifth Edition). Amsterdam: Focal Press.

Barz, Gregory F. and Timothy J. Cooley. 2008. Shadows in the Field: New Perspectives for Fieldwork in Ethnomusicology (second edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Available online via UofA Library.) second edition first edition (contains many of the same essays)

Brunt, Lodewijk. 2001. Into the Community. In: Handbook of Ethnography, edited by Paul Atkinson, Amanda Coffey, Sara Delamont, John Lofland and Lyn Lofland. London: Sage. (ch. 5)

Burawoy, Michael and Joseph A. Blum, Sheba George, Zsuzsa Gille, Teresa Gowan, Lynne Haney, Maren Klawiter, Steve H. Lopez, Sean Riain, Millie Thayer. 2000. Global Ethnography: Forces, Connections, and Imaginations in a Postmodern World. University of California Press.

Cerwonka, Allaine and Lisa H. Malkki. 2007. Improvising Theory: Process and Temporality in Ethnographic Fieldwork. Chicago: U. Chicago Press.

Charmaz, Kathy and richard G. Mitchell. 2001. Grounded Theory in Ethnography. In: Handbook of Ethnography, edited by Paul Atkinson, Amanda Coffey, Sara Delamont, John Lofland and Lyn Lofland. London: Sage. (ch. 11)

Clifford, James and George Marcus. 1986. Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography.

Dewalt, Kathleen M. and Billie R. Dewalt. 2002. Participant Observation: A Guide for Fieldworkers. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press.

Emerson, Robert M., Rachel I Fretz, and Linda L. Shaw. 2001. Participant Observation and Fieldnotes In: Handbook of Ethnography, edited by Paul Atkinson, Amanda Coffey, Sara Delamont, John Lofland and Lyn Lofland. London: Sage. (ch. 24)

Emerson, Robert M., Rachel I. Fretz, and Linda L. Shaw. 1995. Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Fargion, Janet Topp, ed. 2001, 2nd edition. A Manual for Documentation, Fieldwork, and Preservation for Ethnomusicologists. 91pp. $6 for members / $12 for non-members. 91 pages. Order at http://webdb.iu.edu/sem/scripts/publications/specialseries/special_series.cfm

Faubion, James D. and George E. Marcus (editors). 2009. Fieldwork Is Not What It Used to Be: Learning Anthropology's Method in a Time of Transition. Ithaca: Cornell University Press

Faubion, James D. 2001. Currents of Cultural Fieldwork. In: Handbook of Ethnography, edited by Paul Atkinson, Amanda Coffey, Sara Delamont, John Lofland and Lyn Lofland. London: Sage. (ch. 3)

Fetterman, David M. 1998. Ethnography (second edition): Step by Step. London: Sage.

Fielding, Nigel. 2001. Computer Applications in Qualitative Research. In: Handbook of Ethnography, edited by Paul Atkinson, Amanda Coffey, Sara Delamont, John Lofland and Lyn Lofland. London: Sage. (ch. 31)

Grimm, Tom and Michelle Grimm. 2003 The Basic Book of Photography: the Classic Guide (5th edition). New York: Plume Press.

Hampe, Barry. 2007. Making Documentary Films and Reality Videos : A Practical Guide to Planning, Filming, and Editing Documentaries (Second Edition). New York: Holt.

Heyl, Barbara Sherman. 2001. Ethnographic Interviewing. In: Handbook of Ethnography, edited by Paul Atkinson, Amanda Coffey, Sara Delamont, John Lofland and Lyn Lofland. London: Sage. (ch. 25).

Ives, Edward D. 1995. The Tape-Recorded Interview: A Manual for Field Workers in Folklore and Oral History (2nd edition). Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press.

Jackson, Bruce. 1987. Fieldwork. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Kvale, Steinar and Svend Brinkman. 2009. InterViews: An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing (Second Edition). London: Sage.

Lather, Patti. 2001. Postmodernism, Post-structuralism and Post(Critical) Ethnography: of Ruins, Aporias and Angels. In: Handbook of Ethnography, edited by Paul Atkinson, Amanda Coffey, Sara Delamont, John Lofland and Lyn Lofland. London: Sage. (ch. 33)

Marcus, George E. 1998. Ethnography Through Thick and Thin. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Marcus, George E. (editor). 1999. Critical Anthropology Now: Unexpected Contexts, Shifting Constituencies, Changing Agendas (School of American Research Advanced Seminar Series)

Marcus, Julie. 2001. Orientalism. In: Handbook of Ethnography, edited by Paul Atkinson, Amanda Coffey, Sara Delamont, John Lofland and Lyn Lofland. London: Sage. (ch. 7)

Maso, Ilja. 2001. Phenomenology and Ethnography. In: Handbook of Ethnography, edited by Paul Atkinson, Amanda Coffey, Sara Delamont, John Lofland and Lyn Lofland. London: Sage. (ch. 9).

Murphy, Elizabeth and Robert Dingwall. 2001. The Ethics of Ethnography. In: Handbook of Ethnography, edited by Paul Atkinson, Amanda Coffey, Sara Delamont, John Lofland and Lyn Lofland. London: Sage. (ch. 23)

Robben, Antonius and Jeffrey A. Sluka (Editors). 2006. Ethnographic Fieldwork: An Anthropological Reader (Blackwell Anthologies in Social and Cultural Anthropology) (Paperback)

Spencer, Jonathan. 2001. Ethnography after Postmodernism. In: Handbook of Ethnography, edited by Paul Atkinson, Amanda Coffey, Sara Delamont, John Lofland and Lyn Lofland. London: Sage. (ch. 30)

Van Loon, Joost. 2001. Ethnography: A Critical Turn in Cultural Studies. In: Handbook of Ethnography, edited by Paul Atkinson, Amanda Coffey, Sara Delamont, John Lofland and Lyn Lofland. London: Sage. (ch. 19)

Weynand, Diana. Apple Pro Training Series: Final Cut Pro 7 (Paperback).. Peachpit Press; 1 Pap/Dvdr edition (August 21, 2009)

Reference

Encyclopedia of Sociology

Encyclopedia of Social Theory

Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology

Ethnographic Film

Resources for Ethnomusicological Research

Official statements

Course prerequisites: none
Course-based ethics approval, Community service learning: NA
Past or representative evaluative course material: see instructor
Additional mandatory instruction fees: No

Policy about course outlines can be found in Section 23.4(2) of the University Calendar. (GFC 29 SEP 2003).

Academic Integrity
“The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behaviour (online at http://www.governance.ualberta.ca/en/CodesofConductandResidenceCommunityStandards/CodeofStudentBehaviour.aspx ) and avoid any behaviour that could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University.

Learning and working environment
The Faculty of Arts is committed to ensuring that all students, faculty and staff are able to work and study in an environment that is safe and free from discrimination and harassment. It does not tolerate behaviour that undermines that environment. The department urges anyone who feels that this policy is being violated to: • Discuss the matter with the person whose behaviour is causing concern; or • If that discussion is unsatisfactory, or there is concern that direct discussion is inappropriate or threatening, discuss it with the Chair of the Department. For additional advice or assistance regarding this policy you may contact the student ombudservice: (http://www.ombudservice.ualberta.ca/ ). Information about the University of Alberta Discrimination and Harassment Policy and Procedures is described in UAPPOL at https://policiesonline.ualberta.ca/PoliciesProcedures/Pages/DispPol.aspx?PID=110

Academic Honesty:
All students should consult the information provided by the Office of Judicial Affairs regarding avoiding cheating and plagiarism in particular and academic dishonesty in general (see the Academic Integrity Undergraduate Handbook and Information for Students). If in doubt about what is permitted in this class, ask the instructor. Students involved in language courses and translation courses should be aware that on-line “translation engines” produce very dubious and unreliable “translations.” Students in language courses should be aware that, while seeking the advice of native or expert speakers is often helpful, excessive editorial and creative help in assignments is considered a form of “cheating” that violates the code of student conduct with dire consequences. An instructor or coordinator who is convinced that a student has handed in work that he or she could not possibly reproduce without outside assistance is obliged, out of consideration of fairness to other students, to report the case to the Associate Dean of the Faculty. See the Academic Discipline Process.

Recording of Lectures:
Audio or video recording of lectures, labs, seminars or any other teaching environment by students is allowed only with the prior written consent of the instructor or as a part of an approved accommodation plan. Recorded material is to be used solely for personal study, and is not to be used or distributed for any other purpose without prior written consent from the instructor.

Attendance, Absences, and Missed Grade Components:
Regular attendance is essential for optimal performance in any course. In cases of potentially excusable absences due to illness or domestic affliction, notify your instructor by e-mail within two days. Regarding absences that may be excusable and procedures for addressing course components missed as a result, consult sections 23.3(1) and 23.5.6 of the University Calendar. Be aware that unexcused absences will result in partial or total loss of the grade for the “attendance and participation” component(s) of a course, as well as for any assignments that are not handed-in or completed as a result. In this course, 10% of your grade depends on regular attendance and energetic participation.

Policy for Late Assignments:
See section on Evaluation, above.

Specialized Support & Disability Services:
If you have special needs that could affect your performance in this class, please let me know during the first week of the term so that appropriate arrangements can be made. If you are not already registered with Specialized Support & Disability Services, contact their office immediately ( 2-800 SUB; Email ssdsrec@ualberta.ca; Email; phone 780-492-3381; WEB www.ssds.ualberta.ca ).

Media Archives and Departmental Broadcasting of Audio-visual Material
Audio or video recording of performances, lectures, seminars, or any other academic or research environment activities are carried out by the Department of Music for archival purposes. These archives may be collected and housed in the Music Library. Recorded material is to be used solely for non-profit, educational, research, and community outreach purposes, and is not to be used or distributed for any other purpose without obtaining the express permission from all parties involved. Please be advised that your solo or group performance may be featured on the University of Alberta's Department of Music website and/or social media platform(s). If you object to this use of audio and/or video material in which you will be included, please advise your instructor or the Department of Music in writing prior to participating in any performance, lecture, seminar or public event held by the Department of Music.