Overall, I enjoyed this class. The content got more interesting in my opinion as time progressed because we began learning about Jewish music that was more recently dated as opposed to very early sacred music. There were weekly listening journals and the midterm and final were both papers that were manageable. My TA Jamie Ace was very kind and helpful as well. I would recommend this class as a GE.

This class was listed as Kligman teaching it, but he only came for two guest lectures and Janeczko taught the course entirely. Prof was really nice. The course information was hard to follow only because it was so boring that I physically couldn't force myself to pay attention at any time. The two-hour lectures were draining, especially with the prof's very calm demeanor and monotone voice. Attendance is required for lectures and discussions and there is a sheet of paper passed around every time. I probably went 70% of the time. It is also fine if you show up an hour late, you can just ask for the sheet and you are still counted. Lectures were sometimes posted, but slides were a bit all over the place, as many lecture slides were not posted, and many that were had many missing or extra slides that did not match the ones in lecture. Weekly assignment (10%) is filling out five listening surveys, asking you about the tempo, texture, structure, etc. of the songs, which you can choose from the weekly listening lists the prof provides. Each survey takes about 25 min. and they are due before discussion. He also fills out a chart on each song, so basically, all of the answers to the survey questions are on there. There are weekly readings, but I didn't even know we had them until the final, so they're clearly not important or talked about in lecture. We also had an Oral History Report (10%) was 500 words and super easy (I got 100% and I started the day it was due). The midterm (30%) was a 1,500-word "essay" on a playlist that you create of 10 different musical pieces (they all have to be related to the theme of the album) and you have to write short entries on each song and their historical, cultural, and musical context. I got 100% and started the weekend before it was due. I struggled a bit at first finding academic articles that talked about some niche Jewish songs, but ProQuest proved to be amazing for this class. Discussion participation counts for 5% of the grade, but I didn't talk once in discussion and ended with an A. The final (40%) is a 2,000-2,500 word essay, comparing and contrasting musical examples from at least three different genres (e.g., classical, jazz, rock, etc.) and/or contexts (e.g., synagogue, concert hall/theater, pub/club).