Fall 2026 Graduate Courses
MUSI 7509/Section 1 Cultural & Historical Studies of Music (3.0 credits)
Topic: Pirate Songs: Musics of Global Conflict in the Revolutionary Era
Tunes about pirates, sea battles, impressment, captivity, and blockade circulated across oceans and empires during the eighteenth century. This combined undergraduate/graduate research seminar investigates global and transnational conflict through the archive of naval song. Students will work with materials from the Naval Documents of the American Revolution project (https://navydocs.org/) and from Special Collections. Together we will investigate questions about oral transmission, the relationship between performance and power, and the preservation of memory and emotion.
Our core documents cluster around 1700s, when sea travel connected and reshaped the world. But the course spans centuries as it examines the mobility of song across linguistic, political, and temporal boundaries. The class will be relevant both to students working in premodern and medieval studies, who will practice working with manuscripts and early documents, and to students interested in popular culture who will examine the afterlives and modern reinterpretations of these songs.
By the end of the seminar, students will produce original individual and collaborative projects shaped by their interests and disciplinary backgrounds. Projects may include research papers, digital exhibits, annotated archival editions, or performances in multiple genres. Creative and interpretive approaches are welcome: students may reimagine archival songs through historically informed performance, experimental adaptation, or contemporary musical forms, grounded in rigorous research. Though students with backgrounds in music or languages other than English are encouraged to engage materials aligned with their skills and interests, no prior musical training or language expertise is required.
Bonnie Gordon
W / 3:30-6:00 pm / OCH S008
Class Number: 19828
MUSI 7509/Section 2 Cultural & Historical Studies of Music (3.0 credits)
Topic: TBA
Jade Conlee
T / 2:00-4:30 pm / OCH S008
Class Number: 20565
MUSI 7519/Section 1 Current Studies/Research and Criticism in Music (3.0 credits)
Topic: Opera in the 21st Century
Michael Puri
R / 2:00-4:30 pm / OCH S008
Class Number: 20797
MUSI 7543 Sound Studio (3.0 credits)
Topic: TBA
Ted Coffey
R / 5:00-7:30 pm / OCH B011
Class Number: 19156
MUSI 7547 Materials of Contemp Music (3.0 credits)
Topic: TBA
Matthew Burtner
T / 10:30 am - 1:00 pm / Contemplative Science Commons
Class Number: 19156