Music Learning Outcomes

Mission Statement 

Music is an essential part of human life. It has been used for millennia to bring people to laughter, to tears, and to inspire a sense of solidarity. The Grinnell College Department of Music is committed to helping students become more skilled, creative, critically reflective, and socially aware members of a community by integrating music-making with theory, context, and critical engagement. We offer a range of courses on diverse practices from multiple disciplinary perspectives that are anti-racist, inclusive, and equitable so that all students feel a sense of belonging and can expand the possibilities of what music can be for them. Whether they are majors or taking a single course, students will learn to integrate music into their lifelong quest for meaning. 

Learning Outcomes 

Graduates of the Department of Music will be able to: 

  1. Write critically and persuasively about musical sound and its meaning using analytical terminology, tools, and frameworks appropriate to the object of study and the intended audience.  

  1. Create music, whether as improvisers, composers, performers, or digital producers, with a high level of competence.  

  1. Develop research questions and methods that are practically and ethically appropriate to creative, analytical, or historical projects.  

  1. Integrate intellectual and embodied knowledge by cultivating critical, analytical, and creative skills in tandem. 

  1. Collaborate and co-create effectively, inclusively, and joyfully with faculty and peer co-learners during classes and ensembles in service of shared goals.  

  1. Interrogate relevant structures of power to situate musicians in complex cultural contexts.  

Updated 3/15/2024

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