Showing posts with label UNH. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UNH. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Musical Theater = that which causes post-play depression
My last gen ed class of college is on a very familiar and special subject for me: Musical Theater. Having grown up on Broadway music and occasionally indulged in the theater bug at the local Village Players Theater, this is a class I love despite the distant aspect of it (like my statistics class, THDA 440 is online this summer). For the first assignment, I had to describe what "musical theater means to me:" which is to say, the dual association of the classic Broadway shows and Andrew Lloyd Webber 1980s hits which my parents enjoyed, and the offshoot of the tradition of opera, my favorite discipline in the arts. My dad was an avid amateur musical actor and some of my earliest memories are of him learning lines, going to rehearsals, and watching “old” musicals on VHS. My start on the stage was with him (Mr. Bumble, in an impressive costume he handmade) in "Oliver!" - my brother and I were 2 of the 3 smallest orphans in the cast, and I learned just how bad I am at choreography and how depressed I get when a show ends! There is something so engaging about working on music, dance, and words collaboratively. The interaction with the material and your fellow actors, not to mention the audience, is compelling and consuming enough to leave a vacant space in your life when it is completed. I probably won't do much musical theater in the future, but the teamwork and the music/words interface are two of "my favorite things."
Saturday, July 9, 2011
7/8 of a college degree: looking back on the major(s)
College has been somewhat of a playground for me, though without the typical drinking and party scene. Academically, I have felt encouraged and ambitious enough to attempt a double major, and complete 2 minors.
My major in music had been a sure thing since no earlier than January of 2008, a month or so before auditioning, and before that, I had expected to major in something basic like Spanish. The music major I chose was a broad specialization – Liberal Studies, the former Undifferentiated option, and designed to revitalize interest at UNH in music history and create opportunities for more custom focuses, like ethnomusicology. The curriculum appealed to me, and the focus of the major seemed less performance-oriented – a plus for a self-taught amateur enthusiast. Once at UNH, I participated in both a lesson studio, and the Liberal Studies symposium group. Both were experiences of great value, and seeing the work of my peers in the history field is always sweetly humbling for me. I may know them from classes and UNH life, but I am always amazed to see the breadth of knowledge, different experience, and devotion they bring to their studies! The Liberal Studies experience– classes, professors, and peers – has seen me through 3 years now of UNH music, and in the last year, has inspired me to look towards graduate study in musicology as the next step in my academic career.
The very first class I attended at UNH (and, unless drivers’ ed counts, my very first classroom experience ever after 12 years of homeschool education) was elementary Italian, with Amy Boylan. My operatic vocabulary, functional but creaky, served me well as I found that already I understood Italian at a high level for this intro class. Professor Boylan suggested I enter Mayder Dravasa’s class the following semester and essentially skip a year’s classes – taking the beginning of 1st year and the end of 2nd year back to back. After this much Italian, I was ready for the UNH in Italy at Ascoli Piceno semester abroad, along with 17 other UNH students and piano professors Chris and Arlene Kies. Combining the classes at UNH with an independent study and my Ascoli classes, I had completed a minor with hardly any effort. My only regret was not paying more attention in Amy’s class when we learned about Italian menus and restaurants. I figured this would never come in handy, not expecting to be in Italy a year later..it would have been very useful!
Spring of 2010 brought me very close to declaring a second major in Linguistics. The subject matter fascinates me and the detailed work of surveys, syntax, and morphology scratched some serious academic itches. To understand accents, dialects, and why words look and sound like they do – the ultimate geek experience! I ultimately decided against the major due to the tiny size of the linguistics department – the music community, though small, is about 10 times the size of linguistics and allows for a little bit more cross-fertilization of ideas. I occasionally fantasize about a graduate degree or second B.A. in linguistics, and applying myself to the study of Italian dialects.
My farthest digression from music started around the same time as my classes in Historical and Comparative Linguistics. I took a class on Earth History with the chair of the Geology department, and again, scratched academic itch. Here was the grand panorama of evolution, plate tectonics, and the solar system. I was hooked. Over summer 2010, I made countless spreadsheets of major requirements, trying to configure a plan which allowed me to graduate on time and still hit the high points of two extremely divergent disciplines. In the end, class options limited the viability of said plan (and I do feel more competent in the humanities/arts than in sciences – if only I had had this discussion in high school!) and I will graduate with geology as my second minor. Geology, Italian, and linguistics are three fields dear to my heart which I still enjoy keeping up with – and hope to revisit over the years if I succeed in creating an academic career. UNH served me well in offering all these options. I would indeed “major in UNH studies” if there were such an option!
My major in music had been a sure thing since no earlier than January of 2008, a month or so before auditioning, and before that, I had expected to major in something basic like Spanish. The music major I chose was a broad specialization – Liberal Studies, the former Undifferentiated option, and designed to revitalize interest at UNH in music history and create opportunities for more custom focuses, like ethnomusicology. The curriculum appealed to me, and the focus of the major seemed less performance-oriented – a plus for a self-taught amateur enthusiast. Once at UNH, I participated in both a lesson studio, and the Liberal Studies symposium group. Both were experiences of great value, and seeing the work of my peers in the history field is always sweetly humbling for me. I may know them from classes and UNH life, but I am always amazed to see the breadth of knowledge, different experience, and devotion they bring to their studies! The Liberal Studies experience– classes, professors, and peers – has seen me through 3 years now of UNH music, and in the last year, has inspired me to look towards graduate study in musicology as the next step in my academic career.
The very first class I attended at UNH (and, unless drivers’ ed counts, my very first classroom experience ever after 12 years of homeschool education) was elementary Italian, with Amy Boylan. My operatic vocabulary, functional but creaky, served me well as I found that already I understood Italian at a high level for this intro class. Professor Boylan suggested I enter Mayder Dravasa’s class the following semester and essentially skip a year’s classes – taking the beginning of 1st year and the end of 2nd year back to back. After this much Italian, I was ready for the UNH in Italy at Ascoli Piceno semester abroad, along with 17 other UNH students and piano professors Chris and Arlene Kies. Combining the classes at UNH with an independent study and my Ascoli classes, I had completed a minor with hardly any effort. My only regret was not paying more attention in Amy’s class when we learned about Italian menus and restaurants. I figured this would never come in handy, not expecting to be in Italy a year later..it would have been very useful!
Spring of 2010 brought me very close to declaring a second major in Linguistics. The subject matter fascinates me and the detailed work of surveys, syntax, and morphology scratched some serious academic itches. To understand accents, dialects, and why words look and sound like they do – the ultimate geek experience! I ultimately decided against the major due to the tiny size of the linguistics department – the music community, though small, is about 10 times the size of linguistics and allows for a little bit more cross-fertilization of ideas. I occasionally fantasize about a graduate degree or second B.A. in linguistics, and applying myself to the study of Italian dialects.
My farthest digression from music started around the same time as my classes in Historical and Comparative Linguistics. I took a class on Earth History with the chair of the Geology department, and again, scratched academic itch. Here was the grand panorama of evolution, plate tectonics, and the solar system. I was hooked. Over summer 2010, I made countless spreadsheets of major requirements, trying to configure a plan which allowed me to graduate on time and still hit the high points of two extremely divergent disciplines. In the end, class options limited the viability of said plan (and I do feel more competent in the humanities/arts than in sciences – if only I had had this discussion in high school!) and I will graduate with geology as my second minor. Geology, Italian, and linguistics are three fields dear to my heart which I still enjoy keeping up with – and hope to revisit over the years if I succeed in creating an academic career. UNH served me well in offering all these options. I would indeed “major in UNH studies” if there were such an option!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
7/8 finished with my college degree: looking back on the gen ed experience
I will miss college classes. UNH's 40 credit general education curriculum does only require 1 class of all students (English 401), as pointed out to me by the friend who gave me the unofficial campus tour, and the other 36 credits are yours to explore new areas. The ability to dive headfirst into a new discipline (albeit occasionally taking that dive into the shallow end with unexpected results) has been a mainstay of my education thus far. If I could, I would have taken more of these forays into the rest of campus life, and reforms to broaden gen ed lists have crossed my mind several times.
People of my mother's generation, and farther back, Teddy Roosevelt's, have seen gen eds as an arbitrary component of a college education, and a forced sidetrack from the majors in which they are concentrating. I wish future generations could experience a more unified curriculum, where classes drawn from different areas of study demonstrate just how many different ways science and art are "done" at a university. Gen eds should produce wonder, and perhaps some ambition for further pursuit of these disciplines - not a rote presentation for the sake of both instructor and student's "required" participation.
Wouldn't it be great if during a semester, every student became acquainted with several branches of science which are as interdependent as they are independent, such as biology, chemistry, and physics! The 40 credits of gen eds could be re-distributed into several semester-length in depth looks at various areas of study at UNH, divided by broad themes. Already these required classes are distributed by category, and draw from different colleges within the university; interdisciplinary classes are a natural extension of these and the Inquiry courses. Students could spend their classroom time with professors who love their work. Instead of cramming for midterms, students could learn about the methods, achievements, and principles which unite disciplines - and even learn about the contributions of science to art and vice versa.
There is so much information to encounter in the disciplines at UNH which make up the gen ed pool, and I do not believe that real proficiency is expected as the goal of the general education requirement. Instead of a goal of "mastery" of basic chemistry, or linguistics, or American history, why not allow students to encounter these concepts in a presentation by enthusiastic professors, emphasizing the vast range of work and beauty their subjects embrace?
People of my mother's generation, and farther back, Teddy Roosevelt's, have seen gen eds as an arbitrary component of a college education, and a forced sidetrack from the majors in which they are concentrating. I wish future generations could experience a more unified curriculum, where classes drawn from different areas of study demonstrate just how many different ways science and art are "done" at a university. Gen eds should produce wonder, and perhaps some ambition for further pursuit of these disciplines - not a rote presentation for the sake of both instructor and student's "required" participation.
Wouldn't it be great if during a semester, every student became acquainted with several branches of science which are as interdependent as they are independent, such as biology, chemistry, and physics! The 40 credits of gen eds could be re-distributed into several semester-length in depth looks at various areas of study at UNH, divided by broad themes. Already these required classes are distributed by category, and draw from different colleges within the university; interdisciplinary classes are a natural extension of these and the Inquiry courses. Students could spend their classroom time with professors who love their work. Instead of cramming for midterms, students could learn about the methods, achievements, and principles which unite disciplines - and even learn about the contributions of science to art and vice versa.
There is so much information to encounter in the disciplines at UNH which make up the gen ed pool, and I do not believe that real proficiency is expected as the goal of the general education requirement. Instead of a goal of "mastery" of basic chemistry, or linguistics, or American history, why not allow students to encounter these concepts in a presentation by enthusiastic professors, emphasizing the vast range of work and beauty their subjects embrace?
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