Professor
Cheryl Keyes
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2020 - 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
Winter 2020 - 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
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2022 - Now this class is required for all GJS majors and for that i am so sorry i feel so bad. but honest to god this might sound harsh, but if you dont absolutely need this class to graduate dont take it. i saw the reviews for keyes before taking the class but honestly i thought "it cant be that bad right" and boy was i wrong. this class has no structure or organization what so ever. i genuinely do not understand why this class would be offered as a GE. there were non musicians in the class who were struggling and thought this would be a GE class. if you're going to take it you should have a background in jazz and r&b. the tests were just a memorization list and was not at all informative of our progress in the class. the midterm went horribly and she said she wouldn't curve it due to low attendance which was just a stab in the back to those who did go to lecture (me i went to every lecture leading up the midterm and still failed). she did end up curving it because the results were so poor, but still if your entire class is performing poorly and isn't enjoying your class like maybe take a look in the mirror rather than punishing the students. Lectures: two hours twice a week that i will never get back cus this woman just cannot lecture for sh*t. she goes on this stream of consciousness about these random topics each week and does nothing to tie together each lecture. she uses slides that are often just bullets of random facts. we were all so confused as to what we needed to take notes on and the ta's said just make sure to get whats on the slides but sometimes she just starts talking and doesnt have slides or the information on the slides didn't match up with what we were expected to know on the tests. Discussion: every ta did something different and it seemed like they were all on different pages. my ta was wan and we had to do weekly responses to the readings (which were absolute hell and so long) but he would never put in the points so nobody knew how they were doing in the class or what they needed to submit. everyone in the class was genuinely so confused as to what the objective of the learning was each week. i bs'ed every disscussion in class because you could always get away just saying the same things about race and gender inequality within the music industry during the era. overall, going into the class i was really interested in what i could learn and i wish it was taught by someone else because i genuinely believe more people would enjoy this topic. miss cheryl is clearly a very smart and intelligent woman and is an accomplished ethnomusicologist but just should not be teaching. maybe give her a seminar so she can just talk but for a class (that is required for most people in there) it's just way too disorganized and random. dont take this if you dont need to and if you do just prepare to learn nothing, waste your time, and bs your way through it.
Spring 2022 - Now this class is required for all GJS majors and for that i am so sorry i feel so bad. but honest to god this might sound harsh, but if you dont absolutely need this class to graduate dont take it. i saw the reviews for keyes before taking the class but honestly i thought "it cant be that bad right" and boy was i wrong. this class has no structure or organization what so ever. i genuinely do not understand why this class would be offered as a GE. there were non musicians in the class who were struggling and thought this would be a GE class. if you're going to take it you should have a background in jazz and r&b. the tests were just a memorization list and was not at all informative of our progress in the class. the midterm went horribly and she said she wouldn't curve it due to low attendance which was just a stab in the back to those who did go to lecture (me i went to every lecture leading up the midterm and still failed). she did end up curving it because the results were so poor, but still if your entire class is performing poorly and isn't enjoying your class like maybe take a look in the mirror rather than punishing the students. Lectures: two hours twice a week that i will never get back cus this woman just cannot lecture for sh*t. she goes on this stream of consciousness about these random topics each week and does nothing to tie together each lecture. she uses slides that are often just bullets of random facts. we were all so confused as to what we needed to take notes on and the ta's said just make sure to get whats on the slides but sometimes she just starts talking and doesnt have slides or the information on the slides didn't match up with what we were expected to know on the tests. Discussion: every ta did something different and it seemed like they were all on different pages. my ta was wan and we had to do weekly responses to the readings (which were absolute hell and so long) but he would never put in the points so nobody knew how they were doing in the class or what they needed to submit. everyone in the class was genuinely so confused as to what the objective of the learning was each week. i bs'ed every disscussion in class because you could always get away just saying the same things about race and gender inequality within the music industry during the era. overall, going into the class i was really interested in what i could learn and i wish it was taught by someone else because i genuinely believe more people would enjoy this topic. miss cheryl is clearly a very smart and intelligent woman and is an accomplished ethnomusicologist but just should not be teaching. maybe give her a seminar so she can just talk but for a class (that is required for most people in there) it's just way too disorganized and random. dont take this if you dont need to and if you do just prepare to learn nothing, waste your time, and bs your way through it.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2022 - Taking this class with Alfredo Rivera as the Ta is a sentence for hell. He is the worst Ta to ever exist. He treats his students so badly, he doesn't help you succeed in the class and will do everything to make things harder. He needs to be fired immediately. He has no beneficial purpose as a ta and everyone in my discussion or anyone that has ever taken him before will agree
Spring 2022 - Taking this class with Alfredo Rivera as the Ta is a sentence for hell. He is the worst Ta to ever exist. He treats his students so badly, he doesn't help you succeed in the class and will do everything to make things harder. He needs to be fired immediately. He has no beneficial purpose as a ta and everyone in my discussion or anyone that has ever taken him before will agree
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Most Helpful Review
The most difficult part of this class was sorting through the information presented, and there was a lot of reading and listening to do. Professor Keyes is a super cool person who is extremely knowledgeable about the material. The material presented in this class is very important, and enjoyable. Would rcommend this course for anyone interested in social sciences who enjoys music. Scott Linford was an awesome TA, very supportive and available to students for clarity about the material.
The most difficult part of this class was sorting through the information presented, and there was a lot of reading and listening to do. Professor Keyes is a super cool person who is extremely knowledgeable about the material. The material presented in this class is very important, and enjoyable. Would rcommend this course for anyone interested in social sciences who enjoys music. Scott Linford was an awesome TA, very supportive and available to students for clarity about the material.
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