Citation and Authority: 800-1750

Spring 2021
MHS 121
 
 
Instructor: Prof. Michael Alan Anderson
manderson@esm.rochester.edu
Office: ESM East Wing 316
 
Teaching Assistants
Eleanor Price eprice8@u.rochester.edu
Julia Egan julia.egan12@gmail.com

Office Hours
Prof. Anderson and the teaching assistants will be available by appointment for assistance with course
material outside of class. You can always send an email to us for more immediate attention to questions
or problems. We will have required check-ins as part of the course.

COURSE GOALS
The course covers major developments in music from antiquity through the time of Handel and Bach
with an eye toward trends in borrowed material as the basis for new works. At the end of this class, you
should be able to:

 Identify works and performances of important musicians from before 1750 and recall essential
points about genre, form, style, and social context. 
 Interpret how musical works and practices communicate meaning in different times and places
through specific compositional, rhetorical, and expressive strategies.   
 Formulate creative and cogent ideas about the course material, mainly in writing. 

CLASS ONLINE
This course will take place entirely online and asynchronously in a series of nine modules, plus an
introductory module. Modules will be released gradually, so that students can keep pace and learn
together. No more than two modules will be open at one time. Each module will be live for one or two
weeks. Assignments for a module will always be due on a Wednesday evening (11:59pm), though not
every Wednesday. We will not meet live as a class, except for mandatory discussion sessions in Module
3 and Module 8. We will also schedule two additional individual check-in meetings in mid-February and
early April.

REQUIRED TEXTS
You must purchase or rent these editions and not earlier ones; material changes over the years,
including the pieces in the anthology. Both are available packaged together at the bookstore.

 J. Peter Burkholder and Claude V. Palisca, eds., Norton Anthology of Western Music, vol. 1,
Ancient to Baroque, 8th edition (2019) hard copy
 Barbara Russano Hanning, Concise History of Western Music, 5th edition with anthology updates
(2019). EBOOK – with Total Access.
For those taking the class remotely who will need books shipped, visit the bookstore online to locate
these texts. For questions about ordering, you may also call the bookstore at (585) 274-1399.
  
REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING
Below are the areas and weight of the graded parts of the course. All grades are kept in the Grade
Center on Blackboard. Check the “My Grades” section for scores.

Written Response Assignments 40%

Module Assessments 35%
Discussion Boards 10%
Journal entries 10%
Lecture Video questions 5%

Grading Scale:

A= 93+ B+= 87-89 C+= 77-79 D+= 67-69 F= 60 or below

A-= 90-92 B= 84-86 C= 74-76 D= 64-66
B-= 80-83 C-= 70-73 D-= 61-63

WRITTEN RESPONSE ASSIGNMENTS

Details about the written paper assignments will be posted on Blackboard. There will be four
assignments of this sort: two summaries of scholarly articles, one analysis assignment (parsed into two
segments), and a critical thinking assignment. These written response assignments allow us to focus on
one of the goals of this course—improvement in written expression. The assignments will appear in
Modules 3, 5, 7, 8, and 9. Given the flexibility and early notice of assignments in the course, late
submissions of written response assignments will incur a penalty (10 points per day late) and are
generally not accepted 72 hours after the due date except under emergency circumstances.

MODULE ASSESSMENTS
Module assessments should be taken after completing the readings, listening, score study, and lecture
videos. These questions will test your ability to recognize, synthesize, and apply the facts, theories, and
contexts presented in the course. These assessments must be taken before the end of the module. You
will receive your score within a week of the module’s end. You are welcome to take the assessment
again with hopes of improving your performance. If you submit the assessment twice, your score will be
the average score of the two quizzes.

DISCUSSION BOARD
Every other module will have a discussion board post due. Discussion will take place in assigned groups
of approximately six students. For each discussion board, you must provide at least three responses.
One should be an original reply to the prompt, and is due (48 hours before a module due date), i.e.
always due on a Monday by 11:59pm. The two other responses are in reply to your classmates. Full
credit will be given for responses that cogently and substantively address a relevant topic within the
thread and generally respond in a way that "elevates" the discussion as one would find in a
conversation. Occasionally, the instructor or teaching assistant will enter the discussion thread to guide
the conversation. It is not enough to simply agree with your classmates and restate their position.
Responses will be scored on a simple 0-1-2 point system (0 no credit; 2 full credit). These boards will
constitute most of the interaction with your classmates. Please follow appropriate "netiquette" and be
kind, thoughtful, and supportive of your colleagues.

JOURNAL ENTRIES
Journal entries will alternate with discussion boards. These responses are mandatory but only viewed by
the instructor and teaching assistant. Sometimes, you will be asked to respond to a pointed question
about material encountered in the module. Other times, you may be asked about a more general issue
that is ancillary (but still related) to that material. Journal entries should be thoughtful reflections of
approximately 150 words.

FAQ
 How much time should I set aside weekly to spend on coursework?
o Between written responses, reading, lecture videos (captioned for ease of use plus
transcription), quizzes, discussion boards, and journal entries, students can expect to
spend between 6-10 hours per week on course material.
 Which tools in Blackboard will be used?
o The Course Modules are the central place for weekly assignments and materials. Links
will be provided to assessments, discussion boards, etc. from those modules. The
syllabus contains only overarching instructions about the course.
 Where should I look for updates and breaking news about the course?
o Announcements to the class will come directly to email and also be archived on the
Announcements page on Blackboard.
 What does a typical module’s work entail in the course?
o All weeks have a reading and listening assignment, a module assessment, plus a
discussion board or journal reflection due. Several weeks have a written response
assignment as well. Each module spells out what is expected before moving on.
 Is there a midterm and/or final exam?
o No.
 When will I receive feedback on written assignments?
o Generally, within a week. Certainly within two.
 What if I have a question?
o You may ask a question about content or process at any time to Professor Anderson or
the teaching assistants. If it is a general question that would benefit the class as a whole,
you may post to the “Ask a Question” thread on the general “Discussion” page. Both the
instructor and TA will be notified immediately of a general post and will usually respond
within 24 hours if not sooner.

MHS 221
Some students have enrolled in this course as MHS 221. The material is identical in the modules except
an advanced assignment is included above and beyond the workload of MHS 121. This small project will
be announced to the appropriate students early in the semester, and the assignment will be due at the
end of the semester.
ACCOMMODATION
Our school is committed to fostering a welcoming, encouraging, and empowering environment for
students with disabilities. Students who request an accommodation must provide appropriate
documentation to Eastman's Disability Coordinator (http://www.esm.rochester.edu/academic-
affairs/disability/). It is a personal decision to disclose the existence of a disability and to request an
accommodation – a decision not to disclose will be respected. While we cannot make accommodations
retroactively (for example, allowing a student to repeat a test with new accommodation), we encourage
beginning the documentation process at any time during the semester.

Here are some accessibility statements and resources from our various platforms in this course:

Blackboard Learn -  https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Instructor/Accessibility 

Panopto -  https://support.panopto.com/s/article/Learn-About-Accessibility-Features
Zoom -  https://zoom.us/accessibility

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
It is your responsibility to be familiar with the Eastman School of Music’s Academic Integrity Policy.
Violations of the policy are serious and will be immediately referred to the Office of Academic Affairs.
You can read the full Academic Integrity policy here: http://www.esm.rochester.edu/registrar/policy/03-
00/

HARASSMENT POLICY
All members of the University community have the right to learn and work in a safe environment free
from all forms of harassment, including harassment on the basis of sex or gender. Students who have
been subjected to sexual harassment, including sexual assault, dating/domestic violence, or stalking,
have the right to receive academic, housing, transportation, or other accommodations, to receive
counseling and health services, and to make a report about such behavior to the University and to law
enforcement. For more information please visit this link. The University strictly prohibits the use of
University online resources or facilities, including Blackboard, for the purpose of harassment of any
individual or for the posting of any material that is scandalous, libelous, offensive or otherwise against
the University’s policies. Please see this link.

PRIVACY STATEMENTS FOR COURSE TOOLS

Blackboard Learn - http://www.blackboard.com/Footer/Privacy-Policy.aspx
Panopto - http://panopto.com/privacy/
Zoom - https://zoom.us/privacy

TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Visit this web site for information on obtaining technical support with
Blackboard: https://tech.rochester.edu/services/learning-management-system/

THE LAND ON WHICH I TEACH

This material for this course is developed in the city of Rochester, New York, which sits on the lands of
the Seneca and Iroquois nations. These lands were relinquished at the end of the eighteenth century to
settlers who formed the United States in the Treaty of Big Tree.