My courses are all informed by my training in ethnomusicology. In ethnomusicology, we aim to understand how music both forms and is informed by its socio-cultural context. In other words, how do music and sound shape our experience of the world in which we live?
If these kinds of questions sound exciting to you, please feel free to explore my current and recent course offerings! You can also see examples of student work at my course blog, Ethnomusicology @ HMC.
Teaching Philosophy
We live in an era of unprecedented media saturation——massive catalogs of music, film, literature, and visual arts are available via our phones at any moment. Understanding how these forces shape our experience of the world is a critical skill for modern citizens of the world.
All of my courses are designed to be accessible to individuals with no formal musical background. Rather than relying on analytical tools like music theory, which have limited application beyond Western art music, in my courses you will learn to attend to the way that music functions socially.
Learning in community can be richly rewarding, but also comes with challenges. Everyone has different learning needs, study habits, and preferred modes of communication. In all of my courses, you will encounter a wide range of media, grounded in rigorous readings, as a way of providing multiple pathways into the course material, and of accommodating different musical, aesthetic, and academic preferences.
I also work hard to create inclusive learning spaces. I integrate different platforms like Menti and Lucid into my course design as a way of welcoming different styles of engagement and learning needs. I am also accessible for regular office hours (listed on my syllabi). If you can’t make my regularly scheduled office hours, please reach out to me via email or Canvas to schedule an appointment!
Recent Courses
I teach courses ranging from freshman seminars to upper-level electives. My current courses cover a variety of geographical and historical contexts, ranging from investigations of the many manifestations of musical cultures around the world, to more localized courses focusing on specific national contexts like the Taiwan or the USA.
Although these courses are listed primarily as music courses, most of my courses are deeply interdisciplinary, with connections to cognate fields such as East Asian Studies, Taiwan Studies, and media studies.
If you are interested in learning more about one of my courses, please feel to explore my course descriptions, linked below. If you are interested in learning more about a specific course, you can always contact me via my faculty page for course materials like syllabi and final project descriptions.
- HSA 10: Critical Inquiry——Audiotopia (freshman seminar)
- MUS 179f: Popular Music of East Asia: A History
- MUS 179g: Western Music and Its Discontents
- MUS 179h: Music and Nationalism
- MUS 179i: Documents of an Island Nation: Taiwan Through Music, Documentary, and Film (taught in parallel with National Taiwan University)