From the Rutgers-Newark M.A. Program in Jazz History and Research

First Online Master’s Course in Jazz Historiography now Open for Registration;

Offered in September

Lewis Porter, Ph.D.
Professor of Music/Jazz Pianist
Director of the M.A. Program in Jazz History and Research

Rutgers University campus at Newark, N.J.My course Historiography is available online in June and September, and anyone anywhere can register for the course starting now!

Please FORWARD this announcement to any and all who might be interested.

This is the first course from the Jazz History and Research program to be available online.

Evan Spring, a graduate of my M.A. program, was an editor of the Annual Review of Jazz Studies for seven years, spearheaded the effort to convert it into the "open access" Journal of Jazz Studies, had a WKCR show for 20 years, and—significantly--already taught the Research Methods portion of Historiography as a full-semester course in my M.A. program for three years. 

I have been teaching this course since 1997, and it is a regularly updated distillation of everything I've learned about the practice of being a jazz historian. Each class features extensive text, several of my pre-recorded audio lectures, embedded illustrations and music audio, and relevant links. Evan will provide the follow-up, interactive teaching role – guiding class discussion, giving and grading assignments, monitoring each student's research projects, and so on. He is Instructor, though I have designed and provided the course content (with Evan's ample editorial assistance and suggestions). Because Evan has already taught Research Methods very successfully, he clearly has the expertise and dedication necessary to provide individual guidance for each student. Students will also interact extensively in an online class forum. 

My blog postings, which can be seen and heard at https://www.wbgo.org/blog/category/20877,  will give you a rough idea of the look and feel of the course, but please note that the course content will be far more thorough and sophisticated in its presentation, as befits a graduate-level course. And of course, since this is for 3 academic credits, there is homework to be done--listening, reading, short writing assignments, etc.

MORE INFO:
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The course is an introduction to the critical-thinking approach and multimedia research methods that I have used with graduate students in the Rutgers M.A. program in Jazz History and Research. This course is not a survey of jazz history, and it assumes you already know something about jazz history. It is about the ways jazz history has been written, and how we can “rewrite” jazz history by doing our own research. I like to say, “It’s not about what happened; it’s about what they say happened.”

Students in this class must have basic musical literacy and should know how to notate music (by hand or on the computer). There have been exceptions, however, and if an exception is made for you, please consult your instructor whenever you’re having trouble with musical terms and techniques.
From: Jazz Promo Services
Press Contact: Jim Eigo, jim@jazzpromoservices.com