African-American Studies · Columbia University
I think this class is very professor and student dependent. 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Spring 2025 Course: AHMMUN3320_002_2025_1-MUSICINEASTASIA : AHMMUN3320_002_2025_1 - MUSIC IN EAST ASIA Instructor: George Murer
Three 500 word essays ("quizzes") and a final made of four of the "essays" each 750 words. Totally manageable, even if you do the readings, they are short/ you can find good summaries
Various ways to view music in the world we live in - what is authenticity in music? What is performance? How is music positioned and valued in the world we live in? How have developments in technology, the rise of streaming services and data collection, and the change(s) in culture affect the way we value music, if it even needs to be valuable or have meaning at all? Every week taught us to really consider the many elements of music we take for granted.
Do not listen to previous reviews. TAKE THIS CLASS AS YOUR GLOBAL CORE. Professor Fellezs was so approachable and such a nice guy. He reviews all the readings in class so do not bother reading them. He has one TA and himself, both grade generously and I would consider this class an easy A and definitely the only good option for a global core. Take this especially if you are a good writer. I wish there was another global core as great as this one, I genuinely enjoyed his lectures and the readings. Yes he is a bit monotone, but who cares, he does you a favor going over all the readings and everything is take home.
There are two sides to every story. Marxism was discussed on numerous occasions as a plausible antithesis to humans paraded as capital in this country (among other New World countries), but it was never touted as the bonafide way in either Fellezs' lectures or Darlene's discussion section, nor was anyone's voice stifled from disagreeing with the benefits of socialism or communism or despotic/darwinian nature of capitalism. This reviewer created a complete mischaracterization and false dichotomy to fit his own aims, whatever they may be. I cannot speak for the TA Yannick's teaching style though it is widely accepted among our classmates who gossip(ed) like pornstars scromp that he educated from a narrow radical bent that many students found restrictive to say the least. Regardless, anyone who gripes about the reading load in a Global Core class at Columbia, a class which they chose on their own accord, having two weeks to review the syllabus before dropping, discredits himself/herself the moment he/she speaks. It's like a smoker complaining about his lung cancer while concurrently smoking a cigarette. WE came here to read. WE came here for a rigorous education. It's literally Columbia's badge of honor, our badge of honor; a badge that signifies that we attend a school that is proud to make us read more about the world than any other undergraduate school in the country; unfortun…
Very light. Workload: 6- 1 page response papers every other week in response to the readings 1- Midterm (may be take home?) 1- Final (may be take home?) Attendance of discussion section
This is the first time I've written a review, and I believe it is for good reason. This course is disappointing to say the least, yet it has so much potential. I will start with the good, and progress to the bad and ugly. Good: The professor is very chill and requirements are very lax. The readings are interesting. You will learn something and it will at times be thought provoking. The professor covers all the readings in class in case you didn't read it. Bad: The class takes this anti-capitalist stance. While I am totally fine with a critique of capitalism, this class (and its professor, but mostly the TA's) seem to take an anti-capitalist point of view and spew Communism without providing the same level of critique. While it is not a comparative politics/economics class, it nonetheless was disappointing that there was no counter argument of anti-Communism. While this is more prevalent amongst the TA's, the professor also falls into it. There are a lot of assigned readings, most of them are interesting, but 300+ pages a week for a Global Core is my last priority. Do you want to critically challenge some of the things in the class. Forget about it. It is a class where if you know the formula (ie. repeat what they say and write it down), you will get a good grade. Ugly: Discussion sections and the TA's. This is the part that compels me to write this review. In a full class disc…