Note: This Inquiry is not enrolling new students.
What kind of meaning does music have for you? Where does that meaning come from? This inquiry explores the cultural impacts, social roles, and scientific understandings of music– its power to intensify feelings and memories and evoke emotions.
Enrolled in this Inquiry?—Click here for a requirement checklist.
Inquiry Course Requirements:
Students choose one of the following courses, which explores music as an art form shaped by those who compose, perform, and listen to it.
- Introduction to the World’s Musics (MUSC 216)
Gender and Music (MUSC 231)
Music of the Silk Road (MUSC 232)
Music of Latin America (MUSC 233)
Meets Core Knowledge and Methods outcomes in Cultural Literacy and Humanities
To understand further the social role that music plays, students take either:
- Music as Communication (MUSC 112)
or
Psychology of Music (PSYC 222)
Meets Core Knowledge and Methods outcomes in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Meaning of Music continues the exploration of music as an art through an additional arts or humanities course. Students choose one of the following:
- Lady Sings (ENGL 235)
Scream and Shout (ENGL 365)
Music and Myth (MUSC 227)
Music and Art (MUSC 228)
Film Music (MUSC 229)
Literature and Opera (MUSC 230)
The Story of Music (MUSC 205)
Meets Core Knowledge and Methods outcomes in Arts and Humanities
To gain a deeper understanding of how music is heard by the body, students choose:
- Science of Sound (PHYS 202)
Physics of Music (PHYS 475) (Physics majors only)
Meets Core Knowledge and Methods outcomes in Mathematics and Natural Sciences
- When this coursework is finished, all Inquiry students complete:
Integrated Learning Portfolio (1 credit)
NOTE: STUDENTS MAY NOT TAKE MORE THAN TWO MUSC courses to complete this Inquiry.
Integrated Learning Portfolio (ILP)
The final requirement for any Inquiry is the Integrated Learning Portfolio. The ILP is the place where students articulate the connections they see among their courses– and where they reflect on the contribution each course makes to the Inquiry topic. Portfolios can include assignments from each Inquiry class, or artifacts from the class itself: images, articles, data– whatever material has been most significant to you.
Assembled as a Google site or through a similar platform, the ILP is submitted as the student completes their Inquiry coursework. During their final semester in the Inquiry, students will be registered for their ILP by the Inquiry Lead. The ILP is worth one credit and graded on a Credit/No Credit basis.
About Core Inquiries
Core Inquiries give students an opportunity to apply coursework from a range of liberal arts disciplines to a common topic or question. In an Inquiry, students satisfy their Core Knowledge and Methods requirements by taking a set of courses– each connected to the Inquiry topic– and completing an Integrated Learning Portfolio. Through their Inquiry coursework, students can fulfill their Core Knowledge and Methods requirements in four or five classes (the number varies depending on which Inquiry you take), rather than six.
