COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course for majors and non-majors explores the history of musical theatre -- one of America’s original art forms -- from its origins in the 19th Century to the present.  The class will explore all aspects of the development of the musical, including art song, plot and character form, lyric and song use and ideological context.  Particular emphasis will focus on composers and lyricists, including Gershwin, Porter, Rogers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Lowe, Kander and Ebb, Herman, Bernstein and Sondheim. Course includes listening and viewing assignments working toward a research project.  This course meets the WR requirement for writing and research.

 LEARNING GOALS:

At the conclusion of this course students will be able:

REQUIRED MATERIALS

Supplemental Text:

Bloom, Ken.  Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time. New York:

Black Dog and Leventhal, 2004. ISBN: -10: 1579123902; ISBN-13: 9781579123901.

Additional Texts for Discussion (Student Packet):

COURSE REQUIREMENTS/COURSE POLICIES

PAPERS / EXAMINATIONS:

Becaue this course meets the requirements for the W/WR notation, the writing that you do in this course will be of the research variety; therefore the assignments during the term will help you to build toward the larger project due at the end of the term.  There will be a midterm and a final as well, mainly to help you to stay focused on the readings and discussion during the term.  Therefore, it is important that you adhere to the dates assigned on your “Assignment Calendar” and submit work in a timely manner.  Any students caught plagiarizing or submitting work not their own will fail the course and be recommended for disciplinary action.

The Assignment Calendar lists all dates for readings, assignments and exams; requests for alternative dates will not be honored and late work will not be accepted.  In accordance with the academic setting, please schedule your time so you do not make excuses.

ATTENDANCE:

Attendance and participation are crucial to doing well in this course; therefore, I limit each of you to one [1] unexcused absence.  2 or more unexcused absences will result in a lower grade and/or failure of the course.

To "excuse" an absence, you must e-mail a memo to my attention for each date you wish to be excused; this memo should include the date you missed class, and the reasons for which you wish to have the absence excused.  Verbal excuses for missing class, either by phone or in person will be considered unexcused; a memo does not automatically excuse the missed class—the excuses are subject to the instructor's discretion. 

While this policy may appear tough, I endeavor to underscore the importance of the class meetings; in this light, all students can expect equal treatment from both your colleagues and me.  

CLASS POLICIES:

Plane/train reservations for returning home for breaks should be made with your Assignment Calendar in mind.  Reservations for Spring Break and subsequent vacations are not legitimate reasons for missing class or for missing examinations.

If you have a cell phone or a beeper, please be considerate and turn off the ringer/beeper.  If you need to take/make a call, please leave the room to do so.

SCORES / FILM VIEWINGS:

Each score for each show is on reserve in the library.  I copied these from my personal discs, so you should feel free to make copies for yourself.  Not only will this allow you to begin a solid musical theatre recording library for free, but it will allow you to listen to the scores while reading the libretti for our shows, but it will allow you to have the material available for your papers and exams.

The films that I am assigning for the term will be shown on campus via the College cable network.  Films are shown at 7 PM on the days on your Assignment Calendar on Channel 62.

I will keep films on reserve as well, so anyone not living on-campus will be able to see them in the library at their leisure.

SEMINAR PAPERS:

I expect that seminar papers will be word-processed, single-spaced, and documented with current MLA documentation style.  Each paper must include a standard cover sheet, including assignment title, your name, the course title, and my name, and they must be submitted on the date due via email (as a Word attachment).  Number the pages with a header that includes your last name and the page number.  Papers that do not meet these requirements will be turned back, unread, for resubmission, complete with grade penalty.  Papers should conform to any guidelines set forth in the assignment sheet, and they should be submitted by the times / dates outlined on the Assignment Calendar.

ADA POLICY:

Manhattanville College provides accommodations for students with documented disabilities.  If you have a disability for which you believe you require accommodations, please contact Jean Baldessare, in the Academic Dean’s Office. 

COLLEGE ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY

Introduction:

Students and faculty must recognize that plagiarism is not merely a moral problem and not simply a legal one, especially since the task of a university is to impart knowledge and to form character.  First, plagiarism deceives the instructor and the student since it prevents self-knowledge. When a student cheats, he/she never understands her/his true capabilities.  Second, plagiarism is a theft of materials or computer space, obviously, but it also robs fellow students of equal consideration because it throws all other papers or material in competition with what has already been judged superior.  It makes honest work--on the computer or in writing--impossible.  Third, plagiarism breeds an atmosphere of moral pollution; one cheater will always throw suspicion onto all classmates.  An instructor must then concern him/her self with the integrity of a grade rather than with the integrity of the student.  This situation perverts the values of humane education.

Policy and Definition:

I. Plagiarism means to present, as one's own, the work, writing, words, or computer information of someone else.

A. You commit plagiarism if you submit as your own work or make use of:

1. Part or all of a written, spoken, or computer-generated assignment copied or accessed from another person's manuscript, notes, computer disks or mainframe account.

2. Part of all of an assignment copied, paraphrased, or accessed from a source, such as a book, magazine, pamphlet, computer disk, or mainframe account.

3. A sequence of ideas, arrangement of material, pattern of thought or someone else, even if expressed in your own words.

4. Plagiarism occurs when such a sequence of ideas is transferred from one source--including electronic sources--without the process of digestion, integration, and reorganization in the writer's mind, and without acknowledgement in the essay.

B. You are an accomplice to plagiarism and equally guilty if you:

1. Allow access to your computer account, disks, or to your writing or ideas, in outline or finished form, to be copied in any way and submitted as the work of someone else.

2. Prepare an assignment for another student and allow it to be submitted as hers/his own work.

3. Keep or contribute to a file of essays with the clear intent that these essays be copied and submitted as the work of other students.

4. Allow access to your computer account or disks with the intent of permitting someone else to submit that material under their own name.

II.  The faculty of Manhattanville College composed and approved this policy; in the case of plagiarism, the instructor will fail the student in the course.  In consultation with the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, the instructor will recommend other action in accordance with college policy.

GRADING:

GRADING STANDARDS FOR ESSAYS AND EXAMS

A        90-100 points:

This is an essay or piece of writing free from mechanical errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation.  More importantly, the "A" essay expresses independent thought with grace, clarity, and force.  It contains good organization, and its purpose is clear from the start.  Ideas in the essay are supported with pertinent details.  Its words are precise and suited to its purpose (formal or informal, factual or imaginative, personal or impersonal).

B        80-89 points:

Also a solid essay, but typically containing shortcomings, notably routine errors, occasional monotony of expression, lack of originality, ambiguity in purpose, or some lack of precision and economy of word usage.

C       70-79 points:

This is a satisfactory piece of writing, acceptable as college work. However, a "C" essay often contains trite expressions and lacks adequate support of generalizations.  It may contain a pedestrian style and rely on clichés or uninteresting details for support.  It has careless errors in mechanics, but above all, it lacks an original, significant purpose or point of view.

D:      60-69 points:

This essay falls below acceptable college standards. It may have redeeming features, such as a discoverable, though shaky, thesis or claim.  Frequently, its writer has not understood the assignment and therefore does not address or respond to a definite purpose.  The essay may be passable in places because of its content, but quite inadequate in its manner of expression: poor mechanics, and style (monotonous sentence patterns, imprecise word usage throughout, rambling organization, repetition of ideas without moving forward).  Generally, weakness of form reveals weakness of content as well.

F:       59 and below; work not submitted:

An essay that receives a failing grade does not automatically mean a failing grade in the course. It does mean, however, that performance on the particular assignment is markedly below college standards and that prompt improvement needs to be made.  Since understanding these weaknesses is the first step toward eliminating them, the writer should first carefully read through the essay and determine specific problems.  Then, in consultation with the instructor, the student should work to eliminate problems and strengthen writing skills, with additional help from the tutors at the Academic Resource Center.

DISCUSSIONS:

I will use the following chart to evaluate your classroom interactions:

10:        Participates actively, and appropriately

 9:         Participates moderately, and appropriately

 8:         Participates actively, usually appropriately

 7:         Participates moderately, usually appropriately

 6:         Participates rarely, but appropriately

 5:         Participates rarely, usually appropriately

 4:         Participates moderately, usually inappropriately

 3:         Participates actively, usually inappropriately

 2:         Participates rarely, usually inappropriately

 1:         Doesn't participate, but appears attentive

 0:         Absent both physically and/or mentally

FINAL COURSE GRADE:

The final course grade will be determined by using approximate percentage points, but, as noted above, instructor judgment may determine the final average based upon overall quality of work, improvement, serious participation in class, and a commitment to mastering the academic process.  No request for an "Incomplete" grade will be honored.