Tuesday & Thursday, 3:10 – 4:25
Office Hours: Tuesdays 5 – 6 or by appointment
Email: [email protected]

Books to Purchase
Hanif Abdurraqib, Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest (University of Texas Press)
Ann Powers, Good Booty: Love and Sex, Black and White, Body and Soul in American Music (Dey Street Books)
Tracey Thorn, Naked at the Albert Hall: The Inside Story of Singing (Virago)
Marc Woodworth and Ally-Jane Grossan, eds., How to Write about Music (Bloomsbury)

*These books are available through QC’s Online Bookstore. They often offer good prices, but you’re free to buy them wherever you want. Other readings will be available as PDFs on our Calendar page.

Course Goals

• Gain an overview of a range of music writing genres, including the review, the infographic, the artist profile, the blog piece, and the personal essay.
• Practice elements of creative nonfiction writing, including voice, description, structure, analysis, and tone.
• Become adept at close listening, with attention to elements of music including lyrical content, structure, arrangement, instrumentation, genre, and cultural context.
• Experiment with tools and techniques for writing and producing podcasts or radio shows.
• Practice writing in stages and gain understanding of their own writing process, through informal writing (in class and on course blogs), drafting, responding to feedback from peers and the instructor, and revision.
• Practice productive workshop habits, including offering respectful feedback on elements of craft.

Online Learning
Teaching and learning online can be taxing. When we meet each other in a physical classroom, we establish a rapport and a dynamic. That will be different online, but I’ll do my best to foster interaction, conversation, and collaboration. If at all possible, I would appreciate it if you can turn your cameras on, though I understand there are reasons that make this impossible sometimes.

Zoom fatique is real! I will design sessions so they involve a variety of activities. Sometimes we’ll turn off our cameras and do some writing or another activity. If you need a break, take it. I encourage you to walk around, stretch, breath, splash water on your face–whatever helps you focus and feel present. For most of us–and most of the college (and most colleges, for that matter)–this is an ongoing experiment. I’ll check in with you regularly to ask you how it’s working and get your suggestions on improving our experience. One antidote to Zoom fatigue is to avoid multitasking. I know it’s hard to resist during a Zoom meeting, but please don’t be texting or emailing or looking around online during class. Keeping your attention on the work we’re doing together will benefit you, me, and the group as a whole.

Our Zoom link will remain the same all semester. You can find it under “Bookmarks” on our main page. I will send you a Zoom invitation via email before class for the first few sessions and check in about whether this continues to be helpful.

Note: For the sake of all our privacy–and comfort–you may not record our online sessions. Any recorded material (for example, video or audio) will be done in advance with the consent and participation of those involved. More informally, a good class dynamic depends on us all feeling free to participate, share our ideas, make mistakes, rethink, debate, and explore. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t feel very free to do all this if I were being recorded.

Workshops
This course is a workshop. That means you will read each other’s writing regularly and we’ll have group discussions about what’s working and what kinds of revision might help improve it–with a focus on particular elements of craft: voice, tone, description, sentence forms, imagery, structure, analysis, and reflection. Every student will workshop each of the major writing assignments. It will be important to participate thoughtfully in our conversations, submit all work and feedback on time, treat others in the class with respect and understanding, listen well to them, and write and revise enthusiastically. I’ll check in if I see you struggling, but participation is your responsibility. Please schedule a conference with me at least once during the semester, to talk about your writing, your process, goals, and the course.

QWriting
You’ll need a QWriting account to post various assignments. I’ll need you to send me the email address you used to sign up for QWriting so that I can make you a member of the site (so you can post).

The Writing Center
The Writing Center is a great resource for getting feedback on your writing, whether you’re struggling or just want to hear the ideas of a trained expert as you’re revising.

Accommodations
If you have any condition that requires accommodation in this class—for example, a medical condition or a difficulty with cognition or psychology—please let me know. You should also contact the Office of Special Services (718-997-5870). That office will strive to offer any services students need.

QC Counseling Services
Counseling Services are available to any Queens College student. We assist students with personal concerns that can affect their enjoyment of and success in college. Services are free and confidential. All sessions take place on Zoom or by Telephone, depending on student preference.

To make an appointment, students should call 718-997-5420 and leave a message with their phone number and CUNY ID. They can also e-mail [email protected].

Academic Integrity
Your written work should be your own. But your ideas should also engage those of other thinkers and writers. Communication gives ideas meaning and creates a community of thinkers. This is where citation and plagiarism can become tricky. Plagiarism is, of course, a serious issue. It is important that you establish your own point of view, make it clear what ideas are yours and which come from your sources, and respond to your sources critically. Be sure also to acknowledge your sources, using conventions common to creative nonfiction. We’ll discuss those conventions, which differ from the citation styles you use for most academic writing. Finally, if you’re struggling with your ideas, your writing, or your sources, be sure to talk to me. Plagiarism sometimes arises from confusion and sometimes from desperation. If you are feeling panicked or just unsure about a writing assignment, talk to me. I can help you with the process. I count on you to take your academic integrity seriously, and I take any breach of the college’s policy on plagiarism seriously, too. You should familiarize yourself with that policy, and let me know if you have any questions about it.