I had Pro. Njelle Hamilton for the Art of Close Listening. Prof. is nice, but this class was seriously so boring. Hamilton is incredibly strict with grading, too much for a 2 credit engagements course imo. You have to go on these "Soundwalks" and write a 250 word reflection. Seems "low-stakes" as Prof describes it, until you get the grade back and she critiques you for not "listening enough into your environment".
I seriously felt like I was in a fever dream whenever I was in this class. Prof. rambles on about nonsense about listening and you have to listen to these cringe "soundscapes", which is a collection of a bunch of random sounds and you are held hostage in class until you can figure out what the heck it's supposed to mean.
Your final project is a group project where you have to create a soundscape of your own with so many ridiculous guidelines, and write a 1000 word paper about your listening experience listening to another group's soundscape. Seriously the worst class ever. I was really looking forward to the engagements as a first-year but now i'm DREADING my next EGMT.
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4 Reviews
I took the art of collaboration with marianne kubik in fall 0f 2025. By far the best engagement I have taken. She makes it super fun and interactive and you really get to know everyone in the class. We rarely had any homework but if we did it was just to watch a short video and we also wrote 2 reflective "papers" about collaboration but they were very relaxed. In class we spent our time doing group activities that taught us about collaboration and I think basically everyone ended with an A. I recommend this engagement to absolutely everyone.
I took Time and Memory in the Arts with Professor Smith, and I regret it. Not only was the course work pretty boring, but the readings were SO LONG. I was in disbelief that I had the most homework for my EGMT. Not only this, but you had to read all of them throroughly, because you had to cut the readings out of the course packet and glue them into the EGMT book. It was exhausting and it felt pointless. Do not take this class. Professor Smith is awesome - very sweet and fun, but this class was not it.
Dr. Swoboda is amazing and I highly recommend this class. She is super easy to work with and tries her best to make the class enjoyable. In terms of work, there is very little, so if you're looking for an easier class, I would recommend Art and Attunement.