The professor was a very nice person, don't get me wrong. The lectures were a snooze fest however. You can not pay attention in lecture and copy down only whatever is on the projected screen and do as well in the class as otherwise. If you are somebody who is interested in studying music theory then I would be interested in the class. However, this class is so so so so incredibly disorganized. Part of this could have to do with my particular TA, but interest you have in the music and wanting to be exposed to the culture is just sucked out of you by the amateur way in which this class is presented. For tests, you realize quickly that lectures are spent mostly by the professor talking tangentially about music for the first half hour plus and are pretty useless, as taking tests really boils down to memorizing the people and terms the TA sends you on the study list. But back to the disorganization. When it comes to the final essay, for instance, it is never clear at all what time exactly anything is due, there are really ambiguous instructions as to how to format things, which are exacerbated by the TA sending you ten different emails and the professor never sending out formal due dates or times. The whole organization does a very terrible job at captivating you, making you interested, as it is pretty much just a history class. Nobody in the class, even the music students, seemed interested. Twitter was on everybody's laptop screens during lecture. If you want exposure and discussion of music, or to be captivated by the culture applications of music, I'd take another class. Just took the final today, so INCOMPLETE means I haven't gotten my grade yet

she was such a horrible teacher. she;s really passionate about the topic...but she's a HORRIBLE TEACHER...DON'T TAKE HER.

So here's the deal, professor Keyes is REALLY nice, sweet, funny, and super knowledgeable/insightful about women in jazz. However, underneath her lax attitude is a very scary midterm and final. She tests on extremely random facts that are almost never discussed in class or only mentioned in passing without elaboration. NAMES, she tests on NAMES. I jotted down over 100 names during my time in this class and she tests on all of them. She does not use slides so trying to keep up with her long lectures was very hard. By the end of the class I felt that taking notes was honestly pointless. She graded very generously on the paper and attendance though. Also had to curve our exams because everyone did so poorly. I do appreciate that she wants everyone to pass. I took this class as P/NP because I could not afford to let it drop my GPA. One thing I did love was that periodically she would play the piano gorgeously for us. Nice treat.