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Dear Prof. Morse (and List),<br>
<br>
I fear you may have misunderstood the nature of the situation--my
initial message<br>
was perhaps a little too brief--so let me fill in a gap or two.<br>
<br>
The course is in the history of music theory, and the term paper
assignment<br>
has several options: the development of a concept over some span of
time; a<br>
"school" of music theory/theorists (e.g., harmonic dualism); or a
study of a theorist<br>
not dealt with directly in the course--i.e., a "minor" theorist. We
had noticed on day<br>
one (actually, I had noticed before then) that all of the theorists
on the agenda, from<br>
Pythagoras to Hindemith, were male. Given that we have the music of
female<br>
composers from at least the 12th century (Hildegard), the apparent
lack of theoretical<br>
writings by women seems curious. In any case, the student in
question has floated<br>
several possible paper topics, one of which included the question
about women theorists.<br>
I would not approve such a topic on gender alone--the theorist's
contribution would<br>
need to be worth writing about (and there are plenty of male
theorists who would not<br>
meet that threshold). But I've had trouble even getting to that
point; hence my query online.<br>
<br>
I have received a few suggestions from others, for which I am
grateful. The small number<br>
of suggestions, however, only serves, in my mind, to sharpen the
point. And the person<br>
most named (and I think most familiar) is known to me as a brilliant
teacher, but not<br>
as one who contributed to the discipline of music theory in the
manner of Guido or<br>
Glareanus or Schenker. But I may be mistaken--one of the joys of
teaching at this level<br>
lies in reducing not only my students' ignorance.<br>
<br>
With best wishes,<br>
<br>
John<br>
<br>
<br>
Michael Morse wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid:SNT112-W539135FF9CCB4906B8351BD0E70@phx.gbl"
type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
Why would you accept a paper about a theorist solely based on
their gender? The setup is especially egregious, as the student
doesn't even know which theorist they want to discuss, nor what
their ideas might be, only that the subject of a <i>music
theory</i> paper should be based on the (to be determined)
theorist's gender. Isn't the conclusion already written? The
theorist-to-be-named is a. brilliant of course and a right-on
sister; b. deliberately neglected or obscure because of
patriarchal oppression.
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Do you really want to collude in this self deformation?</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>MW Morse</div>
<div>Trent University</div>
<div>Peterborough, Oshawa<br>
<br>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
John L. Snyder
Professor of Music Theory and Musicology
Moores School of Music
University of Houston
713-743-3143
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:JLSnyder@uh.edu">JLSnyder@uh.edu</a>
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