what if it had been different 02

C H R I S T O P H E R J S M I T HV E R N AC U L A R M U S I C C E N T E R

T E X A S T E C H U N I V E R S I T Y

“WHAT IF IT HAD BEEN DIFFERENT?”: ROLE-PLAYING GAMES AS PRACTICE-BASED TEACHING AND

RESEARCH

Christopher J SmithProfessor & Chair of Musicology

Director, Vernacular Music CenterTTU Teaching Academy

INTRODUCTION

pattern recognition

pattern recognition

practice-based research

processes(not objects)

processes(not objects)

processes(not objects)

not facts but tools

patterns in knowledge creation

patterns in knowledge creation

demonstration, imitation, critique

problem-based learning

critical perspectives within cultural contexts

“moments”

modeling “contingent thinking”

modeling “contingent thinking”

“Musicologists’ Creed” a/k/a #MCreed2016

“Musicologists’ Creed” a/k/a #MCreed2016

“Musicologists’ Creed” a/k/a #MCreed2016

“Isms”

Parsifal (1880)

Le Sacre du printemps (1913)

ludography

ludography

always-online

Query?

new and “post”-literacies

new and “post”-literacies

older competencies

clientele

clientele

clientele

MUHL3303 “Music as Cultural History: The Modern Period”

MUHL3303 “Music as Cultural History: The Modern Period”

MUHL3303 “Music as Cultural History: The Modern Period”

MUHL3303 “Music as Cultural History: The Modern Period”

content contextThe “Tristan chord”

content context

SHMRG“5 Questions”

SoundHarmony

MelodyRhythmGrowth

“Who’s playing?”“Who’s listening?”“Who’s paying?”“How does it work?”“What does it do?”

WI vs CI

WI vs CI

Practice-based research a/k/a/ Arts-practice research

Engaging the clientele’s platforms

Balancing “new skills” versus “meet them where they are”

Critical reading, writing, thinking, speaking, and listening

modeling behavior

modeling investigative processes

patterns & hypotheses

incrementalizing investigative processes

incrementalizing investigative processes

incrementalizing investigative processes

incrementalizing investigative processes

incrementalizing investigative processes

incrementalizing investigative processes

incrementalizing investigative processes

alternate history as teaching tool:contingent analysis and “Devised” creativity

“Gaming history”

contingency vs inevitability

“great composers”“great men”

“great art”“the great works”

“works that have stood the test of time”

resisting canons

flipping classroom processes

pitfalls of team-based work

trial & error

Spring 2015: details

Spring 2015: hurdles

Spring 2015: closing loopholes

Spring 2015: closing assessmentThe Ancient Overlords

Spring 2015: reflections

Spring 2016: iteration

Spring 2016: reconfiguring

Minds on Fire

Reacting to the Past

refocus: watershed events uniting content, context, & individuals

“moments”

The 3-part “Long Twentieth Century”

“moments”

“The Long 20th Century: c1857-c1980”

1857: Prelude to Tristian & Iso

lde

1980: Reich Tehillim

Part I: 1857-1914 Part II: 1917-39 Part III: 1945-80

MUHL3303 “Music of the Long Twentieth Century: 3 sections, 3 exams”

Inhabiting characters

“three premieres”

“The Long 20th Century: c1857-c1980”

1857: Prelude to Tristian & Iso

lde

1980: Reich Tehillim

Part I: 1857-1914 Part II: 1917-39 Part III: 1945-80

MCreed “Module I w

atershed”: 1876 Bayreuth Fest

MCreed “Module II w

atershed”: 1920 Pulcin

ella

MCreed “Module III w

atershed”: 1951 Ives 2

nd Symphony

MUHL3303 “Music of the Long Twentieth Century: 3 sections, 3 exams”

staging the watershed event

Spring 2016: closing assessmentThe Return of the Ancient Overlords

very preliminary observations and insights

reiterate: use platforms they know:“flip” their presumptions

seek dynamic energy

Takeaway:“Seeing history as an act of imagination, rather than of memorization”