Sessional Instructor
I was a sessional instructor in the ethnomusicology department of the University of British Columbia’s School of Music from 1991 to 2013. I must have been doing something right, judging by the comments I have received, like the following:
“Thanks for a wonderful and enlightening course!”
“You have a very engaging style of teaching and I very much enjoyed your class for sure!”
“I wanted to thank you again for teaching this course in the summer!”
“You always mention how we as students have to pry ourselves away from our summer activities to come to class, but you do as well! Having this be in the summer allowed me to enjoy the course without distractions from other classes or responsibilities! And it was a VERY INTERESTING course! I’m not one for class participation – if you have not guessed already – but your lectures were very interesting and brought up many novel points and perspectives. I was surprised to see a lot of what I had learned in previous courses in Psychology, Sociology, and even English apply to the study of music! I guess there is some practical use to the theories I forced myself to memorize!”
“I’m the one who needs to thank you for giving me insights especially regarding how it is possible to view the world of popular music from the academic perspective. Examining the relationship between culture and musical style (not to mention irony) I find REALLY intriguing; this is probably one of the things I’ll be thinking about for the rest of my life.”
“Thank you for your teachings this summer. I feel I’ve become more aware of Canadian pop music and what’s going on with the radio.”
“Thank you again for another eye (and ear) opening course. I am truly glad that I was around this summer and able to experience pop music through the lectures, music, readings, and discussions.”