Description
a research paper, of 1400 to 1600 words (roughly five pages before footnotes). Your topic may develop any idea related to a course on music as a humanistic activity: something philosophical, historical, aesthetic, biographical, cultural, analytical, and the like. It does not have to have musical analysis (unless the topic you choose requires it), but you will get no credit for papers on pedagogy (education), music psychology, music therapy, popular music (unless related to this course in some way), or applied science What material you consult, and how much, will depend on the topic you choose. General histories (Grout, Wright, etc.) are unlikely to be acceptable (unless your topic concerns general histories of music); web sources like Wikipedia are also generally unacceptable (unless, again, your topic has to do with something like the present-day dissemination of cultural knowledge). Among other things, the paper will be evaluated on the quality of the sources you use and how you use them (although the second is more important). A research paper involves much more than cutting and pasting—it involves your raising questions as you seek to understand the sources you consult.
