Year of Award

2008

Document Type

Professional Paper

Degree Type

Master of Arts (MA)

Degree Name

Fine Arts (Integrated Arts and Education)

Department or School/College

Creative Pulse Program

Committee Chair

Dorothy Morrison

Commitee Members

Randy Bolton, Michael Johns

Keywords

culture, curriculum, new program, non-western music, pilot unit

Publisher

University of Montana

Abstract

For my Final Creative Project, I set out to bring change to a rural Colorado school. I was to propose and pilot a unit in African Drumming. My eventual goal was to have this class offered for the fall of 2008 in the student class handbook and be able to teach this course. I began my process in the summer of 2007 engaging in conversations with my future colleagues asking for their support in this goal. We were able to come upon an agreement that I would be able to write and propose a new course with an accompanying curriculum to the school board and along with this; teach a “pilot unit,” during the spring semester of 2008 to a class of Humanities students. My unit in African Drumming would encompass their studies in the non-western style of music and culture. I was given two weeks to work with these students and have a culminating day where I would bring in guest drummers to play with the kids. My eventual goal of this project was to help convince the administration that offering a class in this discipline would enhance the school’s curriculum and that they would support me in my endeavor.

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© Copyright 2008 Melissa Claeys