Optional Extra Credit Assignment: Musical Time Capsule
Up to Two (2) points on Final Grade
For this assignment, you will explore the many ways that music responds to, impacts, and is impacted by paradigm-shifting events in the United States and around the world. Students will select a musical event in 2021 or 2022, when performances returned during the COVID-19 pandemic. Examples include but are not limited to first performances back on Broadway, music tours that continued or were interrupted by COVID, musical awards shows (Grammys, Tonys), a concert you attended in the past two years.
As you prepare for this assignment, ask yourself these two questions: What music from this time should college students 20 years from now know about? And, how has live music changed since the lockdown in 2020?
You will need 5 sources regarding this event. These can include social media posts, newspaper/magazine articles, and scholarly articles. No video interviews, please.
There is no required format for this assignment; rather, students are asked to present their musical time capsule in a creative and organized way utilizing a combination of source materials (news articles, social media posts, recordings of performances, photographs, etc.) Although there is no required format, all successful assignments will have the following components:
650 – 850 words of the student’s own prose (complete sentences!). While you may use quotations, they will not count towards this minimum word count. We want to hear YOUR voice!
An examination of at least five (5) sources that directly support your discussion with proper citations and a works cited page.
For this assignment, social media posts and other informal sources may be included in this count so long as they directly support your discussion, are properly cited, and include a screenshot.
Of your five (5) sources, at least three (3) must be scholarly and/or from a reliable source other than social media posts.
Visual components such as screenshots, embedded images, or links to performances whenever possible.
Your completed assignment should be presented as a single word document or PDF with all required components.
