Primary Resources for African-American Music and Community

FAIN: FW-50113-10

Robin Elise Armstrong
McDaniel College (Westminster, MD 21157-4390)

While textbooks ground and guide, students learn much more from primary resources; instead of passively receiving summaries and conclusions, they learn to analyze and draw their own conclusions Since this learning is active rather than passive, retention and understanding are higher. The course, "African-American Music and Community," illuminates for my students and myself a foundational component of American music and culture. Because of the intellectual benefits of using primary resources, I would like to find and coordinate primary resources to use in every discussion in this class, and am applying to the National Endowment for the Humanities Teaching Development Fellowship in order to have the opportunity to do so.