Curriculum Overview 

A. General requirements

  • 1-11 credits per semester is considered part-time study at CUNY.  12-18 credits is deemed full-time study.

  • There is no minimum number of credits required per semester for the Sonic Arts program.

  • Elective credits may be filled with any graduate-level course, as approved by Prof. Geers,

  • If you need to take a semester off from study, you may retain your student status for about $300 by doing “maintenance of matriculation.”  This is also useful if you’ve finished all coursework but are not ready to graduate yet. 

  • Students may take a small number of credits at other CUNY campuses to count toward elective credits for their MFA.  These campuses include the CUNY Graduate Center, Hunter College, Queens College, City College, and others.

  • All students’ degree progress will be reviewed at the end of their first in the program, either in the spring of their first year or after completing twelve degree credits, whichever comes first.  Students who do not pass the first-year review will not be permitted to continue in the program.  Faculty will contact students about this if their review reveals problems.

B. Classes

  • Students should use the Sonic Arts curriculum as their guide in choosing courses, but many courses not listed there could apply towards the degree, most obviously as elective credits.  If there is something you’re interested in, ask Prof. Geers how you might do it.

  • Sonic Arts students should be able to take nearly all graduate courses in Music (Media Scoring and others), and many in the PIMA and Art MFA programs.  Schedules for these are great places to look when planning your study.

  • Here are semester schedules and course bulletins:

http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/about/administration/enrollment/registrar/bulletins.php 

  • In addition to classes at the Brooklyn College main campus and the Feirstein School of Cinema facilty, students may also:

    • Register for an independent study  of 1-3 credits with a full-time faculty member (with their advance permission).

    • Register for an internship of 1-3 credits with on-campus faculty or staff (such as working in recording studios or running sound for concerts.)

    • Register for an internship of 1-3 credits with an off-campus entity, such as a company, recording studio, a concert venue, or a non-profit.

    • Take one or more courses at another CUNY campus, such as the Graduate Center, Queens College, Hunter College, City College, etc.  The course must be a graduate-level course to apply towards your MFA.

    • Take one or more courses at another accredited university and request that they be transferred and recognized by Brooklyn College.  It is best to speak with Sonic Arts Director Doug Geers about this in advance, to ensure the that credits will be accepted.

 C. Lessons

  • Students are required to take four semesters of composition lessons, or three semesters of lessons and one semester of the Sonic Arts Composition Seminar course. Additional semesters of lessons may be arranged, with permission from Prof. Geers. The lessons are a student’s chance to have one-on-one mentorship with a member of the faculty.

  • Each semester, students may request to study composition with a particular faculty member.  We recommend making requests as early as possible since faculty members’ schedules tend to fill up quickly. We will do our best to match students with their desired faculty members.  If you wish to study with someone, get in touch with them.  If they say they can take you, copy that reply to Prof. Geers so he can make note of it in the program records.

  • Students are encouraged to study with multiple members of the faculty during their time in the program, but this is not required.  Students might want to study with two different people during their first year to help decide with whom they would complete their capstone project.

  • Lessons should be 50 minutes per week for fifteen weeks each semester.

  • Each student and composition teacher must find a mutually-possible time to meet.  Faculty are not expected to alter their schedules to accommodate a student.

  • Students must give 24-hour notice when a lesson or class session will be missed, except in case of emergency or sudden illness.

  • If faculty miss a lesson due to travel or other circumstances, they are expected to give a makeup lesson before or after the time away.

D. Capstone project

  • The “capstone project” is our term for your thesis project.  This project must be proposed and approved by faculty.  It has three parts: The project itself, an accompanying essay, and a public presentation of the work.

  • The capstone project may be a major new creative work, a research project, a combination of these, or something else.  Consult with Prof. Geers to ensure that your idea for a capstone is appropriate.

  • For most students, the capstone project is new creative work: A big piece, an EP or LP, a set of instruments (hardware or software), one or more installation works, etc.  

  • It is expected that the student include some kind of public presentation of the capstone work.  In the case of musical pieces, this could be performance on a concert.  If that is not possible, some kind of public talk about the work in which some portion of it gets played (even from a recording) is OK.  Note though that documented public showing/performances of work are good for your career, in multiple ways.

  • The essay portion of the capstone should be a twenty-page paper about the work.  This is a kind of extended artist’s statement: What motivates and has influenced your work? What are your goals?  How did you come to do this project?  How did it evolve and come together as you worked on it?  This is not a research paper but may include references to sources that were influential to you.  This paper must be submitted to Prof. Geers and approved by him one month prior to the Brooklyn College deadline for submitting the paper (circa November 10 in the fall and April 15 in the spring semester.)

  • All Sonic Arts students take a two-semester seminar course sequence named “Sonic Arts Capstone.” These courses help students formulate capstone project plans, research as necessary, and receive critique on capstone project ideas and materials as the projects develop. 

  • Sonic Arts Capstone I seminar is offered every fall semester, and Capstone II every spring.  The fall course includes writing a fifteen-page paper which may be the basis of your capstone project paper, which is then refined and expanded during the Capstone II class.

  • The Sonic Arts Capstone II seminar guides students to the completion of their capstone projects, papers, and presentations. It also includes discussion of professional development issues regarding future employment and grants for artists.

  • Each student should identify a member of the faculty to be his/her/their capstone advisor.  This person will provide critique in the capstone process and sign off on it when it is complete.  The student must get approval of this faculty member and inform Prof. Geers who their advisor is.  Note that it is proper to register for composition lessons or an independent study with the capstone advisor while the work is being done, so that the faculty member may be paid for their work helping you.  This is especially important for adjunct faculty (Marina, Ben, Jules, Red, etc.)

  • There is a document explaining the capstone process.  If you want it and don’t have it, be in touch with Prof. Geers.

  • There is a document that is a checklist of steps to graduate.  If you would like a copy, please be in touch with Prof. Geers.