Associate professor, music history and literature
School of Music

Classes you teach:
Undergraduate and graduate courses in music history, music appreciation and music bibliography

Favorite class you teach (and why):
None. I’m like a parent. I love all my children.

Areas of interest:
My research specialties are music in Victorian England and American music, primarily African-American music. I also do work on the history of jazz and the history of rock and roll. 

Why you love to teach:
I think the quality of people’s lives has something to do with their awareness and understanding of the world they live in, and there has been no culture that has not created music. So music is not some luxury or something frivolous, it is one of the important parts of being a human being.

I believe that one of the challenges of people living today is understanding diverse groups of people, and what better way to understand a people than by studying their music? I think there is this wonderful universe of music that can add to the quality of people’s lives.

There’s a real pleasure in tweaking people and introducing them to something that is not a part of their experience or something they have never considered.

How to get the most out of academics:
The most important thing that I would say is to come to the University with an informed sense of expectation. Living here, learning here and operating here isn’t supposed to be the way it was when you were in high school.

For example, a university education in music is more than playing in the band or singing in the choir, there’s an academic component. All of a sudden students are expected to think about what they’re doing in a way that no one has expected them or asked them to think before.

Teachers can’t learn for you; you have to learn on your own. Students have to bring something to class and put themselves in the mode to be taught. You can’t be forced to learn.

Why you teach at Mizzou:
I think that Midwestern university towns are the best places on earth to live. There’s enough stuff here to keep you busy for a lifetime, and the quality of life is high. I think that a lot of learning can get done at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and the students, in general, are teachable and pleasant. If you want to be a teacher, the University of Missouri-Columbia is a fine place to spend a career.

Advice for new students:
There are some time-tested paths to success. One of them is to go to class.  Do your homework. Read your textbook. It’s your education.  You need to invest yourself in it and take responsibility for it. You take out what you put into it. Attitude is a very powerful condition.