Mar 29, 2024  
Course Catalog 2022-2023 
    
Course Catalog 2022-2023 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Course Search


This is a comprehensive listing of all active, credit-bearing courses offered by Oberlin College and Conservatory since Fall 2016. Courses listed this online catalog may not be offered every semester; for up to date information on which courses are offered in a given semester, please see PRESTO. 

For the most part, courses offered by departments are offered within the principal division of the department. Many interdisciplinary departments and programs also offer courses within more than one division.

Individual courses may be counted simultaneously toward more than one General Course Requirement providing they carry the appropriate divisional attributes and/or designations.

 

Learning Enhancement Across the Disciplines

  
  • LEAD 220 - Leadership Change: Introduction to Leadership Development

    CC
    1 credit
    “Introduction to Leadership Development” is a self-reflective and hands-on course that is designed to give students the tools to assess their current leadership skills, and intentionally improve those skills. Utilizing Kouzes and Posner’s “Leadership Challenge” model, students will connect with successful leaders in the community, develop habits necessary to leadership, and create plans to improve their own efficacy. Students will leave this course with an action plan of how to transform their current leadership tendencies into a holistic and intentional practice.
  
  • LEAD 230 - Practicum in K-12 Course Design Utilizing Children’s Literature

    CC
    2 credits
    This course will be a community-based learning course, working with a local teacher to read, review, and recommend books to support curriculum areas and incorporate into unit plans. Building upon students’experience working with children, students willlearn effective strategies in unit and lesson planning, creation of activities and assessment strategies encompassing multiple modalities. Pedagogical and leadership skills built within this course are essential for students interested in a career as a classroom teacher or workshop facilitator. Students will gain valuable insight into the scope of planning and intentional curriculum connections essential to effective classroom teaching.
  
  • LEAD 365 - Business, Finance, and Consulting Career Community

    CC
    1 credit
    Students will clarify potential pathways, identify informative experiences, and synergize learning inside and outside the classroom. By participating in the assigned workshops, students will develop their self-introduction and communication skills to establish connections and evoke a positive impression that could lead to employment opportunities.In order to enroll in this course, students must be accepted into the Junior Practicum program. Contact the Career Development Center for more information about the Junior Practicum application process.
  
  • LEAD 366 - Arts and Creative Professions Career Community

    CC
    1 credit
    Students will clarify potential pathways, identify informative experiences, and synergize learning inside and outside the classroom. By participating in the assigned workshops, students will develop their self-introduction and communication skills to establish connections and evoke a positive impression that could lead to employment opportunities.In order to enroll in this course, students must be accepted into the Junior Practicum program. Contact the Career Development Center for more information about the Junior Practicum application process.
  
  • LEAD 367 - Nonprofit and the Public Sector Career Community

    CC
    1 credit
    Students will clarify potential pathways, identify informative experiences, and synergize learning inside and outside the classroom. By participating in the assigned workshops, students will develop their self-introduction and communication skills to establish connections and evoke a positive impression that could lead to employment opportunities.In order to enroll in this course, students must be accepted into the Junior Practicum program. Contact the Career Development Center for more information about the Junior Practicum application process.
  
  • LEAD 370 - Education Career Community

    CC
    1 credit
    Students will clarify potential pathways, identify informative experiences, and synergize learning inside and outside the classroom. By participating in the assigned workshops, students will develop their self-introduction and communication skills to establish connections and evoke a positive impression that could lead to employment opportunities.In order to enroll in this course, students must be accepted into the Junior Practicum program. Contact the Career Development Center for more information about the Junior Practicum application process.
  
  • LEAD 371 - Law and Public Policy Career Community

    CC
    1 credit
    Students will clarify potential pathways, identify informative experiences, and synergize learning inside and outside the classroom. By participating in the assigned workshops, students will develop their self-introduction and communication skills to establish connections and evoke a positive impression that could lead to employment opportunities.In order to enroll in this course, students must be accepted into the Junior Practicum program. Contact the Career Development Center for more information about the Junior Practicum application process.
  
  • LEAD 372 - Medical, Public, and Global Health Professions Career Community

    CC
    1 credit
    Students will clarify potential pathways, identify informative experiences, and synergize learning inside and outside the classroom. By participating in the assigned workshops, students will develop their self-introduction and communication skills to establish connections and evoke a positive impression that could lead to employment opportunities.In order to enroll in this course, students must be accepted into the Junior Practicum program. Contact the Career Development Center for more information about the Junior Practicum application process.
  
  • LEAD 373 - Music Professions Career Community

    CC
    1 credit
    Students will clarify potential pathways, identify informative experiences, and synergize learning inside and outside the classroom. By participating in the assigned workshops, students will develop their self-introduction and communication skills to establish connections and evoke a positive impression that could lead to employment opportunities.In order to enroll in this course, students must be accepted into the Junior Practicum program. Contact the Career Development Center for more information about the Junior Practicum application process.
  
  • LEAD 374 - Science and Technology Career Community

    CC
    1 credit
    Students will clarify potential pathways, identify informative experiences, and synergize learning inside and outside the classroom. By participating in the assigned workshops, students will develop their self-introduction and communication skills to establish connections and evoke a positive impression that could lead to employment opportunities.In order to enroll in this course, students must be accepted into the Junior Practicum program. Contact the Career Development Center for more information about the Junior Practicum application process.
  
  • LEAD 900 - Individual Study

    CC
    1 credit
    Individual Study is an opportunity for a student to work with an instructor on a one-to-one basis to address specific topics in greater depth than would be possible in one of the courses in the LEAD program. This option is available on a limited basis, with consent of the appropriate instructor.
  
  • LEAD 900B - Individual Study

    CC
    1 credit
    Individual Study is an opportunity for a student to work with an instructor on a one-to-one basis to address specific topics in greater depth than would be possible in one of the courses in the LEAD program. This option is available on a limited basis, with consent of the appropriate instructor.
  
  • LEAD 901 - Individual Study

    CC
    2 credits
    Individual Study is an opportunity for a student to work with an instructor on a one-to-one basis to address specific topics in greater depth than would be possible in one of the courses in the LEAD program. This option is available on a limited basis, with consent of the appropriate instructor.
  
  • LEAD 902 - Education Reform Strategies

    CC
    4 credits
    This course is designed to explore education improvement and innovation. This educational experience, will allow the student to examine questions such as: What are we aiming for in education? How do we create change on a great scale? How are these questions shaped by history, politics, and race? Through the course, the student will hone key competencies for system-level leaders: political empathy and the ability to identify and analyze problems and connect those problems with context-specific solutions. The student will combine these skills as they develop a capacity to form, interrogate, and revise robust theories of action for education reform.
  
  • LEAD 903 - Management and Planning in Higher Education

    CC
    4 credits
    The Management and Planning in Higher Education course is designed to provide an in depth analysis about the organizational and function of major administrative units and administrators in institutions of higher education.
  
  • LEAD 904 - Higher Education Institutions As Complex Organizations

    CC
    4 credits
    College and universities today encompass a broad range of divisions, including academic affairs, student life, fund raising, technology and finance. This course considers how faculty and staff across these areas collaborate to support students’ holistic success during their time in college and position them for success after graduation. What organizational structures facilitate this work? What are the challenges? How do institutions adapt in shifting national and global contexts?
  
  • LEAD 905 - Business, Finance, and Consulting Career Community

    CC
    1 credit
    Students will clarify potential pathways, identify informative experiences, and synergize learning inside and outside the classroom. By attending the assigned workshops, students will develop their self-introduction and communication skills to establish connections and leave a positive impression that could lead to employment opportunities.
  
  • LEAD 906 - Arts and Creative Professions Career Community

    CC
    1 credit
    Students will clarify potential pathways, identify informative experiences, and synergize learning inside and outside the classroom. By attending the assigned workshops, students will develop their self-introduction and communication skills to establish connections and leave a positive impression that could lead to employment opportunities.
  
  • LEAD 907 - Nonprofit and the Public Sector Career Community

    CC
    1 credit
    Students will clarify potential pathways, identify informative experiences, and synergize learning inside and outside the classroom. By attending the assigned workshops, students will develop their self-introduction and communication skills to establish connections and leave a positive impression that could lead to employment opportunities.

Learning Lab

  
  • LLAB 101 - Academic Writing Through Transition

    HC ARHU
    2 credits
    Writing and reading at the college level entail a transition for all. Academic Writing Through Transition helps students gain fluency in active reading and writing skills to support their success with college-level work. Designed with attention to developing critical thinking and analysis, this course integrates academic readiness strategies. Readings will engage with questions of identity and communication in an academic environment. Students will practice skills such as reading comprehension, composition, revision, and documentation and will benefit from the opportunity to practice these skills in a collaborative learning environment.
    This course is appropriate for new students.
  
  • LLAB 102 - Quantitative Thinking

    HC NSMA QFR
    2 credits
    Quantitative Thinking begins where you are and develops your skills through project-based learning. You will learn to apply quantitative methods to find, describe, and interpret data from local and global sources and choose analytical models to draw conclusions and make predictions. Using real-life applications of mathematical tools, you will gain confidence in your ability to solve quantitative problems and make an argument with empirical evidence. This course is particularly appropriate for students who will be taking introductory courses in the quantitative natural and social sciences, including Economics and Statistics.
    Prerequisites & Notes: Open to students who have not completed the QFR requirement. If you have already studied calculus in high school or at Oberlin, please speak with the instructor and your advisor to determine whether this is the right course for you.
    This course is appropriate for new students.

Linguistics

  
  • LING 415F - Internships in Teaching - Full

    FC SSCI
    4 credits
    Qualified students who have already taken Fundamentals of Linguistics (ANTH 202) may serve as an assistant for the course. Primary activities may include holding weekly review sessions, hosting exam review sessions; having drop-in tutoring hours, and providing other, similar support for the course. Students enrolled in this course will have the opportunity to delve much deeper into “the fundamentals of linguistics” and to learn about the standard pedagogical approaches used in the field.
    Prerequisites & Notes: Prerequisites: ANTH 202
    Consent only
  
  • LING 415H - Internships in Teaching - Half

    HC SSCI
    2 credits
    Qualified students who have already taken Fundamentals of Linguistics (ANTH 202) may serve as an assistant for the course. Primary activities may include holding weekly review sessions, hosting exam review sessions; having drop-in tutoring hours, and providing other, similar support for the course. Students enrolled in this course will have the opportunity to delve much deeper into “the fundamentals of linguistics” and to learn about the standard pedagogical approaches used in the field.
    Prerequisites & Notes: Prerequisites: ANTH 202
    Consent only
  
  • LING 500 - Linguistics Portfolio


    0 credits
    Normally completed in the student?s final semester in residence, the portfolio requirement for the Linguistics Concentration consists of two parts: (i) submitting a Linguistics Portfolio (three substantive pieces of work completed in courses taken to meet the requirements of the Linguistics Concentration), and (ii) undergoing a review of the portfolio with members of the Curricular Committee on Linguistics. P/NP grading only.
  
  • LING 501 - Linguistics Capstone

    FC SSCI
    4 credits
    Normally completed in the student?s final semester in residence, the Linguistics Capstone is designed as a Private Reading on an advanced topic in Linguistics for students pursuing an Individual Major in Linguistics. The capstone typically involves the student researching the primary Linguistics literature and developing their own independent Linguistics research paper or project.
  
  • LING 995F - Private Reading - Full

    FC SSCI
    4 credits
    Students who wish to pursue a topic not covered in the regular curriculum may register for a private reading. This one-to-one tutorial is normally at the advanced level in a specific field and is arranged with a member of the faculty who has agreed to supervise the student. Unlike other courses, a student cannot register for a private reading via the online registration system. To register for a private reading, obtain the form from the Registrar’s Office, complete the required information, obtain the faculty member’s approval for the reading, and return the form to the Registrar’s Office.
    Prerequisites & Notes: Instructor consent required.
  
  • LING 995H - Private Reading - Half

    HC SSCI
    2 credits
    Students who wish to pursue a topic not covered in the regular curriculum may register for a private reading. This one-to-one tutorial is normally at the advanced level in a specific field and is arranged with a member of the faculty who has agreed to supervise the student. Unlike other courses, a student cannot register for a private reading via the online registration system. To register for a private reading, obtain the form from the Registrar’s Office, complete the required information, obtain the faculty member’s approval for the reading, and return the form to the Registrar’s Office.
    Prerequisites & Notes: Instructor consent required.

London Program

  
  • LOND 907 - A History of London

    FC SSCI
    4 credits
    This course explores the history of London from its Roman origins to the present day and examines how royalty, trade, religion, and transport have shaped the city’s pattern of growth over 2000 years. Field trips required.
    Prerequisites & Notes: Taught in London. Acceptance to the Oberlin-in-London Program required.
  
  • LOND 908 - The London Stage

    FC ARHU
    4 credits
    This course aims to expose students to contemporary British theatre in all its variety. At its heart will be discussion of productions in the current London repertory, with plays ranging from classical to contemporary, and venues including subsidized, commercial, and fringe theatres. Field trips required.
    Prerequisites & Notes: Taught in London. Acceptance to the Oberlin-in-London Program required.
  
  • LOND 910 - London Internship Seminar

    FC ARHU
    4 credits
    This team-taught course led by one specialist in theater and one in politics will study political drama on the contemporary London stage. We will aim to see and discuss a wide variety of plays performed in a wide variety of venues. We will see one play weekly, and hold seminars in which we will prepare for an upcoming performance?sometimes by reading the play and discuss the play we have just seen.

Mathematics

  
  • MATH 050 - Understanding Networks

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    Since the 90’s, societal awareness of the many massive networks tying us together has grown explosively; so have methods for modeling and analyzing these networks. We will use graph theory, probability, and computation to understand ubiquitous network phenomena like small-world effects and viral memes.
  
  • MATH 131 - Calculus Ia: Limits, Continuity and Differentiation

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    A first course in the calculus of functions of one variable including supporting material from algebra and trigonometry. Topics include limits, continuous functions, solution of equations and inequalities, differentiation of real-valued functions of one variable, and the graphical analysis of functions.
    Prerequisites & Notes: To get consent, you must take a Pre-Advisement Survey, which covers mostly precalculus topics. To take this survey, look for a link in the “Placement Exams” section of Blackboard’s “Institution Page” (or contact an instructor). After taking the survey, you must contact an instructor to help figure out whether 131 or 133 is right for you. The two-course sequence MATH 131, MATH 132 is equivalent to MATH 133. If you are comfortable with the material from MATH 133 (even if you do not have Oberlin credit), then you should instead take MATH 134. The Mathematics Department strongly discourages students from repeating courses if they have received credit for work prior to Oberlin or show adequate proficiency of the material.
  
  • MATH 132 - Calculus Ib: Integration and Applications

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    Continuation of MATH 131. Topics include integration of real-valued functions of one variable, basic properties of the trigonometric and exponential functions, the fundamental theorems of the calculus, and applications.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MATH 131
  
  • MATH 133 - Calculus I: Limits, Continuity, Differentiation, Integration and Applications

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    A standard first course in the calculus of functions of one variable. Topics include limits, continuous functions, differentiation and integration of real-valued functions of one variable, the fundamental theorems of calculus and applications.
    Prerequisites & Notes: To get consent, you must take a Pre-Advisement Survey, which covers mostly precalculus topics. To take this survey, look for a link in the “Placement Exams” section of Blackboard’s “Institution Page” (or contact an instructor). After taking the survey, you must contact an instructor to help figure out whether 131 or 133 is right for you. The two-course sequence MATH 131, MATH 132 is equivalent to MATH 133. If you are comfortable with the material from MATH 133 (even if you do not have Oberlin credit), then you should instead take MATH 134. The Mathematics Department strongly discourages students from repeating courses if they have received credit for work prior to Oberlin or show adequate proficiency of the material.
  
  • MATH 134 - Calculus II: Special Functions, Integration Techniques and Power Series

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    Continuation of the study of the calculus of functions of one variable. Topics include logarithmic, exponential and the inverse trigonometric functions, techniques of integration, polar coordinates, parametric equations, infinite series and applications.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MATH 132, MATH 133, or comfort with the material from MATH 133 (even if you do not have Oberlin credit). If you are already comfortable with the material from MATH 134, then you should instead take MATH 220 or 231.
  
  • MATH 220 - Discrete Mathematics

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    An introduction to problem solving and proof writing via a variety of mathematical topics that do not involve calculus– including mathematical logic, sets, induction, recursion, number theory, combinatorics, and graph theory.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MATH 133 or comfort with the material from MATH 133 (even if you do not have Oberlin credit). Either MATH 134 or CSCI 150 is recommended, but MATH 133 can suffice for students ready for this intermediate-level mathematics course.
  
  • MATH 231 - Multivariable Calculus

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    An introduction to the calculus of several variables. Topics considered include vectors and solid analytic geometry, multidimensional differentiation and integration and a selection of applications.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MATH 134 or comfort with the material from MATH 134 (even if you do not have Oberlin credit).
  
  • MATH 232 - Linear Algebra

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    An introduction to linear algebra. Topics considered include the algebra and geometry of Euclidean n-space, matrices, determinants, abstract vector spaces, linear transformations and diagonalization.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MATH 220 or MATH 231.
  
  • MATH 234 - Differential Equations

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    An introduction to analytic, qualitative and numerical methods for solving ordinary differential equations. Topics include general first order equations, linear first and second order equations, numerical methods (Euler, Runge-Kutta), systems of first order equations, phase plane analysis, and Laplace Transforms. There is emphasis throughout the course on geometric and qualitative interpretations of differential equations, as well as applications to the natural sciences.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MATH 231
  
  • MATH 301 - Foundations of Analysis

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    A rigorous examination of the basic elements of analysis. The structure and topology of the real number system, completeness, compactness, connectedness, continuity and uniform continuity, differentiability, the Riemann integral, sequences, series and uniform convergence are typical topics to be explored.
    Prerequisites & Notes: Prerequisites & Notes: MATH 220 and 231, or Consent of Instructor. Due to the importance of these courses to the mathematics major, students should not take MATH 301 and MATH 327 in the same semester.
  
  • MATH 302 - Dynamical Systems

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    A first course in discrete dynamical systems in dimensions one and higher. Topics include hyperbolicity, bifurcations, symbolic dynamics, chaos and fractals. Student projects, consisting of a presentation and an expository paper, will be based on independent reading.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MATH 301
  
  • MATH 305 - The Mathematics of Climate Modeling

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    An introduction to climate modeling from a differential equations perspective. The focus will be placed on low order models, in which the interactions of major climate components such as incoming solar energy, atmospheric and oceanic heat transfer, outgoing radiation, and planetary albedo are studied. Students will be instructed in the use of the computer algebra system Mathematica, which will be used extensively. The course includes an independent project/research component.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MATH 234
  
  • MATH 317 - Number Theory

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    This course is an introduction to number theory. Topics include primality, divisibility, modular arithmetic, finite fields, quadratic reciprocity, and elliptic curves. Emphasis will be placed both on theoretical questions and on algorithms for computation.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MATH 220 and 232, or consent of instructor. Taught in alternate years only.
  
  • MATH 318 - Cryptography

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    This course covers the mathematical foundations of modern cryptographic systems. Along with building the necessary number theoretic and computational tools, the focus will be on Public Key Cryptography, including systems based on discrete logarithms and on integer factorization. Additional topics may include the history of cryptography, the Data Encryption Standard, elliptic curves, and lattice-based cryptography.
    Prerequisites & Notes: Prerequisites & Notes: MATH 220. CSCI 150 should be taken prior to or concurrently with this course.
  
  • MATH 327 - Group Theory

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    A first course in the modern algebraic structures and techniques fundamental to mathematics and useful in many areas of science and engineering. Topics include: groups, subgroups, quotient groups, isomorphism theorems, permutation groups, finite groups, and selected applications to combinatorics, geometry, symmetry, and crystallography.
    Prerequisites & Notes: Prerequisites & Notes: MATH 220 and 232, or Consent of Instructor. Due to the importance of these courses to the mathematics major, students should not take MATH 301 and MATH 327 in the same semester.
  
  • MATH 328 - Computational Algebra

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    This course examines connections between the algebra and geometry of the set of solutions to a system of polynomial equations (called a variety) and the use of algorithms to effect concrete calculations. Topics studied include rings and ideals, Grobner bases, resultants and elimination theory, Hilbert’s Nullstellensatz, the correspondence between polynomial ideals and algebraic varieties, and applications of the methods to other areas of mathematics. There will be opportunities for computer experimentation and student projects.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MATH 231 and MATH 232. MATH 220 is also highly recommended. Given in alternate years
  
  • MATH 329 - Rings & Fields

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    This is one of two courses introducing algebraic structures and techniques fundamental to mathematics and useful in many areas of science and engineering. Topics include: rings, subrings, ideals, fields, integral domains, polynomial rings, extension fields, finite fields, famous impossible constructions and Galois theory.
    Prerequisites & Notes: Math 327
  
  • MATH 331 - Linear Optimization

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    An introduction to optimization, both continous and discrete. Emphasis is placed on the theory of mathematical programming optimization and the analysis of optimization algorithms. These are applied to significant problems in the fields of medicine, finance, public policy, transportation and telecommunications.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MATH 220 and MATH 232
    Sustainability
  
  • MATH 332 - Nonlinear Optimization

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    An introduction to nonlinear optimization, with applications in analytics, engineering, finance, and machine learning.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MATH 231 and MATH 232
  
  • MATH 335 - Probability

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    An introduction to the mathematical theory of probability and its applications. Topics include discrete and continuous sample spaces, counting techniques, random variables, expected value, inequalities, and limit theorems.

     
    Prerequisites & Notes: MATH 231. MATH 220 is also strongly recommended.
  
  • MATH 342 - The Mathematics of Social Choice

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    Social Choice Theory seeks to aggregate individual interests in order to make a collective decision. We will examine the mathematical underpinnings of this field. Applications, chosen particularly from Economics and Politics, may include voting systems, auctions, apportionment of congressional seats, and fair division of goods. We will also discuss the algorithmic and game theoretic issue of creating mechanisms to encourage participants to reveal their honest preferences so that the optimal choice can be made.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MATH 220
  
  • MATH 343 - Combinatorics

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    An advanced course in discrete mathematics. Topics covered include enumeration, combinatorial identities, generating functions, partitions and set systems.
    Prerequisites & Notes: Any one of MATH 317, 327, 328, 329, or 335
  
  • MATH 350 - Geometry

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    This course takes a modern approach to geometry based on group theory and the Erlangen Programm making possible the survey of a wide spectrum of geometries, Euclidean and non-Euclidean. Geometries treated include neutral, Euclidean, spherical, and hyperbolic. The discovery of these geometries in the 19th century caused a scientific and philosophical revolution second only to the Copernican revolution.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MATH 232 or consent of instructor.
  
  • MATH 353 - Topology

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    An introduction to point-set and algebraic topology. The fundamental notion of a topological space is introduced and various properties a topological space might have are studied, including connectedness and compactness. Spaces are also investigated by means of certain algebraic invariants including the fundamental group. These invariants are applied to the theory of covering spaces and various results about surfaces, continuous maps, and vector fields are proved.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MATH 301 or 327. Note: Given in alternate years only.
  
  • MATH 356 - Complex Analysis

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    An introduction to the theory of differentiable functions of a complex variable, including the Cauchy theorems, residues, series expansions and conformal mappings.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MATH 301. Note: Given in alternate years only.
  
  • MATH 357 - Harmonic Analysis

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    The class explores the influence of music on the development of mathematics, specifically the sub-discipline of analysis. From Pythagoras’s tuning problem, an early evidence for the existence of irrational numbers, to finding precise descriptions for pitch and musical timbre, questions from music inspired important developments in mathematics, giving rise to the flourishing subfield known as harmonic analysis. By exploring the influence of music on mathematics, the class will provide an introduction to harmonic analysis, reaching from classical results on the convergence of Fourier series to the theory of the Fourier transform and distributions, and their applications to acoustics.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MATH 301
  
  • MATH 358 - Real Analysis

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    This course presents important generalizations of integration and differentiation developed in the twentieth century. An introduction to metric spaces, Lebesgue’s theory of the integral,and general measure and integration theory.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MATH 301
  
  • MATH 397 - Seminar in Mathematical Modeling

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    Teams of students will work on mathematical modeling projects. This semester, the theme will be the application of mathematics to the visual arts.
    Prerequisites & Notes: Two 200-Level mathematics courses, CSCI 150, and consent of the instructor.
  
  • MATH 401 - Honors

    FC NSMA QFR
    4 credits
    Consent of instructor required.
  
  • MATH 550F - Research - Full

    FC NSMA
    4 credits
    Projects for original investigation. Interested students are encouraged to talk to individual faculty members about possible projects. Consent of the department chair required.
  
  • MATH 550H - Research - Half

    HC NSMA
    2 credits
    Projects for original investigation. Interested students are encouraged to talk to individual faculty members about possible projects. Consent of the department chair required.
  
  • MATH 551F - Research - Full

    FC NSMA
    4 credits
    Research - Full
  
  • MATH 551H - Research - Half

    HC NSMA
    2 credits
    Research - Half
  
  • MATH 995F - Private Reading - Full

    FC NSMA
    4 credits
    Private readings are offered as either a half or full academic course and require the faculty member’s approval. Students who wish to pursue a topic not covered in the regular curriculum may register for a private reading. This one-to-one tutorial is normally at the advanced level in a specific field and is arranged with a member of the faculty who has agreed to supervise the student. Unlike other courses, a student cannot register for a private reading via PRESTO. To register for a private reading, obtain a card from the Registrar’s Office, complete the required information, obtain the faculty member’s approval for the reading, and return the card to the Registrar’s Office.
  
  • MATH 995H - Private Reading - Half

    HC NSMA
    2 credits
    Private readings are offered as either a half or full academic course and require the faculty member’s approval. Students who wish to pursue a topic not covered in the regular curriculum may register for a private reading. This one-to-one tutorial is normally at the advanced level in a specific field and is arranged with a member of the faculty who has agreed to supervise the student. Unlike other courses, a student cannot register for a private reading via PRESTO. To register for a private reading, obtain a card from the Registrar’s Office, complete the required information, obtain the faculty member’s approval for the reading, and return the card to the Registrar’s Office.

Music History

  
  • MHST 071 - Music of the 1970s

    HC CNDP
    2 credits
    The 1970s saw a dramatic shift in styles, technologies, and consumption of popular music. The rock industry coalesced while genres splintered, pushing listeners into marketable boxes. In the course, students will uncover the layers of political, social, and cultural shifts in the 1970s that continue to shape and reshape rock and roll and its branches. We will explore hip-hop, prog rock, electronic rock and synth pop, glam, arena rock, disco, soul, R&B, punk, and more. Artists pushed technological innovations as they often eschewed popularity for the sake of their music. Meanwhile, genres re-segregated often along racial lines, producing hotly contested releases that sometimes garnered dramatic critical reception.
    Prerequisites & Notes: Must be an incoming Oberlin student.
  
  • MHST 101 - Introduction to the History and Literature of Music

    FC CNDP
    4 credits
    A survey of the major developments in the history of Western music including jazz, vernacular music, electronic and computer music, and an introduction to ethnomusicology. Selected major musical works will be considered from a variety of historical standpoints. The course serves as a prerequisite to the MHST courses. Conservatory students are encouraged to register for this course in their freshman year.
    Prerequisites & Notes: Knowledge of musical notation.
  
  • MHST 138 - The Broadway Musical

    FC CNDP
    4 credits
    A survey of the American Broadway musical from the late-nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries. Topics will include operetta, the early twentieth-century musical comedy, Black musical theater, the integrated musical, the concept musical, mega musicals, jukebox musicals, and recent developments in the genre. Required performances and viewings outside of class. No prerequisites. All students in the conservatory and the college are welcome.
  
  • MHST 221 - American Music

    FC CNDP, DDHU
    4 credits
    What does it mean to sound “American”? This course will investigate how “American music has been defined in the United States from the colonial era to the twentieth century. With frequent references to literature and criticism, we will trace the growing rift between so-called classical and popular music in the United States and its implications for composers, performers, and audiences. Topics will include New England Psalmody, shape-note singing, minstrelsy, American opera, Broadway, jazz, serialism, and rock ‘n’ roll.
    Prerequisites & Notes: ESOL 130 or testing equivalent is required of International students.
  
  • MHST 222 - Hip-Hop History and Analysis

    FC CNDP DDHU CD
    4 credits
    This course surveys the history of hip hop from its origins until the present day, and introduces students to the most recent methods of musical analysis and graphical representation as necessary tools in the framing of hip hop as an art form. African-American cultural topics are placed at the forefront of this course, including sampling as signification; philosophies of neoliberalism, racial capitalism, and Black socialism embedded in hip hop; and issues of gender in the African American community. Students will consider the evolution of hip hop’s graphical representation in relation to standard notation, and will create their own representations of selected works. Music performance experience and/or experience with basic music theory recommended.
    Does this course require off campus field trips? No

  
  • MHST 226 - Music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance

    FC CNDP, DDHU
    4 credits
    A survey of church and court music from the early Middle Ages to 1600. The course will consider the forging of Western musical traditions within the context of medieval liturgy and the ensuing growth of a variety of genres¿music which richly expresses Romanesque otherworldliness, the ideals of courtly love, Gothic rationalism, the blossoming of the individual in the Renaissance, and the mystical fervor of the Counter Reformation.
    Prerequisites & Notes: ESOL 130 or testing equivalent is required of International students.
  
  • MHST 235 - Music in the Baroque Era

    FC CNDP, DDHU
    4 credits
    A survey of music from the rise of monody in the Florentine academies c.1600 to the death of Bach in 1750. The course will consider opera, church music, and instrumental music from multiple perspectives, underscoring the interplay of technical and contextual views. Works by Monteverdi, Schuetz, Bach, Handel and others are studied from the standpoint of form and style, and as expressions of various social forces.
    Prerequisites & Notes: ESOL 130 or testing equivalent is required of International students.
  
  • MHST 237 - Music and Melodrama on Stage and Screen

    FC CNDP DDHU
    4 credits
    This course, open to instrumentalists in the Conservatory or College, combines a survey of music and melodrama in nineteenth-century theater and early silent cinema with a practicum in performing music for silent film. Beginning with eighteenth-century experiments combining oratory, pantomime, and instrumental music, we will consider how instrumental music supported the “heightened dramatization” of nineteenth-century stage melodrama and provided the musical topics of early film. Students will then study, select, and perform cinematic photoplay music to accompany selected classic silent films. Other assessments will include a research essay and program notes in support of the final performance project. Students will visit the Cleveland Public Library to view their archive of theatrical scores and silent film books.
    Does this course require off campus field trips? Yes

  
  • MHST 238 - Musical Theater and Opera

    FC CNDP, DDHU
    4 credits
    This course will explore the connections between opera in Germany and Brodway musical theater during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Our investigations will focus on Kurt Weill and his political musical theater, and will branch out to include such topics as Bertolt Brecht, Franz Werfel, George Gerswhin, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Marc Blitzstein, and Leonard Berstein. Combining scholarship and performance, this class will culminate in a production of Weill’s musical Love Life.Pre-requisites: One MHST course at the 200-level, Music Theory III or Permission of the Instructor. Required course for the ‘Broadway via Berlin: The Political Musical Theater of Kurt Weill’ StudiOC learning community. Admission by audition and/or interview only.
  
  • MHST 245 - Music in the Classic Era

    FC CNDP, DDHU
    4 credits
    A survey of music from the mid-18th century through the time of Beethoven. Discussion of developments in Italian and French opera, of German and English instrumental and sacred works, patronage systems and the dissemination of music including its place in the concert repertory today. Particular attention will be paid to instrumental and vocal works of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Three classes plus one listening laboratory per week.
    Prerequisites & Notes: ESOL 130 or testing equivalent is required of International students.
  
  • MHST 255 - Music of the Romantic Era

    FC CNDP, DDHU
    4 credits
    A survey of music by principal European composers of the nineteenth century, from 1820-1914. Includes discussion of Beethoven’s late works and their interpretations by later composers, the Italian operatic repertory, Wagner’s Gesamtkunstwerk and its influences, aesthetics of the New German School, the rise of nationalistic music, position of women musicians, development of a concert audience in the United States, Expressionism, Symbolism, and the formation of today’s standard repertory.
    Prerequisites & Notes: ESOL 130 or testing equivalent is required of International students.
  
  • MHST 260 - Desire and the Diva

    FC CNDP
    4 credits
    How is desire musically performed? This course investigates divas - objects, generators, and personifications of musical desire - as performers, cultural products, and artists. We will examine the rise of the diva from the eighteenth century through the present through operas, films, and popular music. Investigating how the diva inhabits desire will allow us to discuss interdisciplinary issues including sexuality, gender, exoticism, and colonialism within dramatic forms. Of particular interest will be the intersection of the diva with performativity, including how divas use desire to create and/or radically reinterpret how a creator envisioned a character through the force of their own personality. 
    Prerequisites & Notes: ESOL 130 or testing equivalent is required of International students.
  
  • MHST 261 - A Thematic History of Jazz through The Neumann Collection

    FC CNDP, DDHU CD
    4 credits
    A Thematic History of Jazz through The Neumann Collection presents a survey in reverse chronological order, tracing issues and thematic tributaries from the contemporary jazz scene through the origins and roots of the culture, music, and musicians. Specialized histories will include place and space in important cities, performing groups, performers, sub-genres, and stylistic schools. Most importantly, students will consider the social, cultural, and racial issues surrounding race, gender, identity, and the economy of music which will support and deepen their participation in their unique cultural matrix
  
  • MHST 275 - Music Since 1914

    FC CNDP, DDHU
    4 credits
    A survey of European and American concert and stage music from 1914 to the present. Topics covered include neoclassicism, serialism, Harlem renaissance, national influences (politics, folk art), electronic music, indeterminacy, minimalism, performance art, post-modernism, viability of avant-garde music today.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MUTH 132 Music Theory II or testing equivalent. ESOL 130 or testing equivalent is required of International students. Freshmen and transfer students admitted by consent only.
  
  • MHST 276 - Twentieth-Century Art-Music Tradition

    FC CNDP, DDHU
    4 credits
    A survey of European and American concert and stage music in the twentieth century. Topics include modernism, neoclassicism, Harlem renaissance, serialism, electronic music, indeterminacy, minimalism, performance art, and post-modernism, among others.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MUTH 132 or testing equivalent required.
  
  • MHST 290 - Introduction to African American Music I

    FC CNDP, DDHU CD
    4 credits
    The first semester of a one-year survey of musical styles and forms cultivated by African Americans. First semester includes West African music and West African continuity in the American, early African American instrumental-vocal forms, and the social implications of African American music. Second semester includes later instrumental and vocal music (jazz, blues, rhythm and blues, gospel, soul, etc.) and important composers and performers of works in extended forms.
    Prerequisites & Notes: Crosslisted with AAST 171 and JAZZ 290. ESOL 130 or testing equivalent is required of International students.
    This course is cross-listed with AAST 171, JAZZ 290


  
  • MHST 291 - Introduction to African American Music II

    FC CNDP, DDHU CD
    4 credits
    The second semester of a one-year survey of musical styles and forms cultivated by African Americans. First semester includes West African music and West African continuity in the American, early African American instrumental-vocal forms, and the social implications of African American music. Second semester includes later instrumental and vocal music (jazz, blues, rhythm and blues, gospel, soul, etc.) and important composers and performers of works in extended forms. 
    Prerequisites & Notes: ESOL 130 or testing equivalent is required of International students.
    This course is cross-listed with AAST 172, JAZZ 291


  
  • MHST 301 - Introduction to Music Research and Writing

    FC CNDP, DDHU WADV
    4 credits
    A practical course open to all students wishing to develop their skills in writing about music and to familiarize themselves with essential bibliographic and research tools. The course will focus on specific problems and mechanics of preparing a research paper, concert, record and book reviews, program notes, etc.
    Prerequisites & Notes: Prerequisites: MHST 101 and one 200-level music history course.Consent of instructor required.
  
  • MHST 302 - Introduction to Historical Performance

    FC CNDP, DDHU
    4 credits
    What does a score tell us? What does it not tell us? And what is expected of the performer? A study of changing performance styles in music from the 19th century to the Middle Ages. Topics include the evolution of instruments, ensembles, and orchestras; and conventions of rhythm, tempo, articulation, phrasing, and ornamentation. Students will compare editions and prepare an edition themselves.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MHST 101 and one 200-level Music History course are suggested. ESOL 130 or testing equivalent is required of International students.
    This course is cross-listed with HPRF 302


  
  • MHST 303 - Music of Tudors

    FC CNDP, DDHU
    4 credits
    This seminar focuses on music from c. 1500 to c. 1700 with particular attention to the intertwining of musical style, social function, and monarchial agenda. The repertory under consideration will include the music of the Eton Choirbook, early Tudor songbooks, liturgical works of Tallis and Byrd, Jacobean masque, and sacred, instrumental, and dramatic works by Henry Purcell. An introduction to primary sources will also inform class discourse.
    Prerequisites & Notes: One 200-level MHST course is suggested. ESOL 130 or testing equivalent is required of all International students.
    This course is cross-listed with MHST-503


  
  • MHST 316 - Studies in Opera: Verdi

    FC CNDP, DDHU
    4 credits
    Giuseppe Verdi’s interest in literature profoundly shaped his approach to writing opera. This course focuses on operas (I masnadieri, Luisa Miller, Don Carlos) that Verdi adapted from plays of Friedrich Schiller; we will use these as examples of how literary models inspired Verdi to push past inherited nineteenth-century operatic conventions. We will additionally examine how the rise of romanticism in Italy and France shaped Verdi’s literary tastes and affected his collaborations with librettists. Significant course time will be devoted to individual research projects, in which students will analyze a Verdi opera of their choice in relation to its literary source.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MHST 101 and one MHST 200-level Music History course are suggested.
  
  • MHST 319 - Studies in Genre: The Symphonic Poem

    FC CNDP, DDHU
    4 credits
    This course follows the emergence of the symphonic poem from its late eighteenth century antecedents, (characteristic symphony, concert overture, melodrama), and how the relationship between words and instrumental music was reevaluated at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Repertoire will include works of Beethoven, Schumann, Liszt, Dvorak, and Strauss, among others. We will consider how critical reception established a philosophy of program music, articulating the tensions between musical representation, formal cohesion, and transcendent meaning. Together we will explore research tools most relevant to this topic, and students will receive continuous support in the preparation of their original research projects.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MHST 101 and one MHST 200-level course.
  
  • MHST 322 - Musical Expressions of Gender and Sexuality

    FC CNDP, DDHU
    4 credits
    From early-modern European salons to the transformista (drag) scene in modern Cuba, music has been inextricably intertwined with expressions of gender and sexuality. This seminar-style course explores a diverse tradition of female, queer, and non-binary contributions to musical life while also considering ways that music has posed a threat to normative masculine and heterosexual identities. Our readings span historical and geographical boundaries and draw from musicology, ethnomusicology, and gender studies. By examining music as a medium for the negotiation of gender and sexuality, we will gain a deeper appreciation of the relationship between music, social power, and resistance.
    Prerequisites & Notes: One 200-level course in the Musicology Department.
  
  • MHST 323 - Music Minus 10

    FC CNDP, DDHU
    4 credits
    Exploration of concert music, primarily American, of the last ten years. Topics include Pulitzer Prize winners, composer-in-residence programs and new commissions by symphony orchestras, new commissions by opera theaters, new music groups, new music festivals, and government arts support.
    Prerequisites & Notes: Prerequisites: One MHST 200-level course
  
  • MHST 330 - The Modern Keyboard (1700- ): Body, Gender, Race, and Technology

    FC CNDP, DDHU
    4 credits
    The keyboard is not only a tool for pianists.It shapes how we conceptualize pitch space, compose music, and tune our voices.But for all it affords, it also constrains musical resources.What about the “blue notes” that fall between its keys?This course examines how keyboard technologies have shaped musical history, as well as bodily techniques and constructions of gender and race.It runs from Cristofori’spianoforte to contemporary synthesizers, and touches on topics including partimenti, virtuosity, physiology, microtonalism in Japan, the Steinway firm, the Hindustani harmonium, prepared pianos, Black pianism, ludomusicology, telecommunications, and office secretaries.
    Prerequisites & Notes: At least one @200 level music history (MHST) course.
  
  • MHST 331 - Johann Sebastian Bach

    FC CNDP, DDHU
    4 credits
    A study of Bach’s life and selected works. The course addresses the “new image” of a familiar master which has emerged from the startling research of post-1950 scholars. Through a close study of the cantatas and works such as the Brandenburg Concertos, St. John Passion, and Musical Offering, the class seeks to illumine Bach’s position in various musical traditions, to explore his response to cultural environment, and to describe analytically his expressive vocabulary. 
    Prerequisites & Notes: ESOL 130 or testing equivalent is required of International students.
  
  • MHST 332 - History of Film Music

    FC CNDP, DDHU
    4 credits
    A comprehensive survey of film music history from the silent era through the present day. Issues discussed will include compositional developments (growth of instrumentation; use of Leitmotivic structure; expansion of diegetic versus non-diegetic music); music as narrative aid (generating continuity; providing momentum; subliminal commentary); and using music as an iconographic character or plot device. Films viewed will include those with soundtracks by major 20th-century composers as well as specialized soundtrack composers.
    Prerequisites & Notes: One 200-level MHST course is suggested. ESOL 130 or testing equivalent is required of International students.
    Does this course require off campus field trips? No

  
  • MHST 333 - The Racial Politics of Classical Music

    FC CNDP, DDHU CD
    4 credits
    As practitioners and academics have deepened their exploration of the issue of race in various artistic fields, one result has been a flood of articles and books examining systemic racism in the performance and pedagogy of classical music. This course provides students with an overview of the relevant literature at the intersection of race and classical music. Particular attention is paid to challenges surrounding the integration of Black American musical idioms and styles within classical music. Topics covered include culturally responsive pedagogy; critical race theory; Black musical aesthetics; decolonization; and anti-racism.
    Prerequisites & Notes: MHST-101 Music History 101 or other introductory musicology courses are suggested.
  
  • MHST 336 - Philosophy of Music

    FC ARHU
    4 credits
    As a unique College-Conservatory collaboration, this course encourages any student who cares about music to reflect on its nature and significance. With a focus on Western art music, the course introduces students to key texts and arguments in musical aesthetics. Topics include the nature of the musical work, the relation between music and the emotions, and ways in which music can be meaningful. Students will be responsible for attending the T-TH lecture and one Friday discussion section. Please register for the section that has a discussion section which will work with your student schedule.
    Prerequisites & Notes: 1 full course in philosophy OR 1 200-level course in music history OR consent of instructors. Cross-listed with PHIL 231.
    This course is cross-listed with PHIL 231


  
  • MHST 337 - Introduction to Organology

    FC CNDP, DDHU WADV
    4 credits
    This course will focus on a number of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century musical instruments from the Frederick R. Selch Collection of American Music History. Our goals will be (1) to learn how modern orchestral instruments developed, especially in the United States, and (2) to examine how the performance of music enabled people to intervene in social, political, and economic situations of their day. As music historians our goal will be to analyze a series of historical objects to ascertain the various ways musical behavior both influenced and responded to many aspects of social life; as performers and composers our goal will be to contemplate how our daily interactions with our own musical objects imply, not only a familiar artistic praxis, but a way of seeing. Each student will be responsible for creating a portion of public exhibition that will go on display at the end of the semester.
  
  • MHST 342 - Fin-de-Siècle Music in Germany and France

    FC CNDP, DDHU
    4 credits
    Musicians living at the end of the 19th century in France and Germany proclaimed the rise of naturalism, impressionism, expressionism, symbolism, primitivism, Dadaism, and many more such movements. Why so many “isms”? This course will situate the large number of musical and artistic movements that proliferated in Germany and France at the end of the 19th century into their broader social, political, and philosophical contexts. Our studies will cover the music of Fauré, Debussy, Ravel Satie, Busoni, Reger, Richard Strauss, and Mahler.
    Prerequisites & Notes: One 200-level MHST or ETHN course. ESOL 130 or testing equivalent is required of International students.
  
  • MHST 344 - Making American Music-Selch

    FC CNDP, DDHU
    4 credits
    This hands-on, collaborative course will examine eighteenth- and nineteenth-century musical instruments, books, art, and other ephemera from the Frederick R. Selch Collection of American Music History. Our goal will be to discover how people have written, performed, and consumed music in the United States from aesthetic, political, and economic standpoints. Each student will be responsible for creating a portion of public exhibition that will go on display at the end of the semester. Pre-requisites: MHST 101 and one 200-level music history course.
  
  • MHST 347 - What’s That Sound? The History and Development of Instruments (Frederick R. Selch Collection)

    FC CNDP, DDHU
    4 credits
    This hands-on, collaborative course will explore how the construction, use, and sounds of instruments have changed over time. This class will work directly with instruments in the Frederick R. Selch Collection of American Music History, and will involve frequent visits to instrument makers, restorers, and collections in and around Oberlin. Each student will be responsible for creating a portion of public exhibition that will go on display at the end of the semester.Pre-requisites: MHST 101 and one 200-level music history course.
  
  • MHST 351 - Ludwig van Beethoven

    FC CNDP, DDHU
    4 credits
    A study of the life and works of the composer. Selected compositions will be examined by considering such aspects as compositional sketches, stylistic development, performance practices, and cultural environment. Consent of instructor required.
    Prerequisites & Notes: Prerequisites: MHST 101 and one 200-level music history course.
  
  • MHST 353 - Studies in Opera: Opera in the United States Since 1950

    FC CNDP, DDHU
    4 credits
    A study of operas composed and produced on American stages since 1950, including tonal, modern, postmodern, minimalist, and experimental works; also, of American institutions producing operas and their audiences. Emphasis will be on operas composed since 1985, including some by European composers. Consent of instructor required.
    Prerequisites & Notes: Prerequisite: One 200-level music history course.
 

Page: 1 <- Back 1013 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 -> 27