DAY 2: Habits of the Self

I must say, this class is doing great so far.  I have been so impressed with your hard work, grappling with difficult conceptual topics and issues.  Keep up the great work. 

This material is not easy.  And in IFS we don't have much time to belabor the details.  So don't get frustrated, stay positive, and remember that your classmates, Kerry, and myself are here to help.

I especially loved hearing about your personal songprints today.  If anything, we have learned how diverse we are as a class, coming from different backgrounds with different experiences.  And yet, so many similar themes and experiences also emerged, revealing some provocative common ground from which we can build a community of our own.

Don't get distracted.  Stay on task.  There's so much more fun awaiting us.  See you Tomorrow.

Dr.McDonald

Welcome to IU and Greetings IFS students Fall 2014!  

I'm very excited to work with you all this summer.  I have put together a very interesting course that I hope will challenge and inspire you to think critically about the relationships between music and social life.  

IFS is an incredible program here at Indiana University, and I feel quite fortunate to be a part of it.  This is my fourth time teaching an IFS seminar.  Based on my experience in previous years, teaching an IFS seminar has been the most challenging and rewarding experience of my teaching career.  I love it, and I hope you will too.

This is the Challenge: We only have 10 days together (9 classes) to cover an entire semester's worth of material.  Yikes!  I'm going to require you to read, write, and learn more in 10 days than you would normally do in 16 weeks.  This class will consume most of your waking hours (and some of your non-waking hours).  

This is the Reward:  We will get to do things impossible in a standard college classroom.  We are going to get to know one another, learn and listen from each other, play music together, dance, sing, live, and eat together.  At the end of this class you will no doubt be exhausted.  But you will have started your first semester at IU with a core group of friends, a familiarity with the University and local community, and a better understanding of music and college life.  

I promise it will be worth it.

I look forward to the challenge and the reward.  

See you soon!

Dr.McDonald