This was a spectacular class led by an amazingly talented professor and teaching assistants! The course consisted of three 2-page musical analysis papers throughout the quarter, where you'd analyze a song from the class playlist. There was also a 100-word blurb contribution to a "media gallery" on CCLE where students were tasked to share a song of their choice and write a short response on it. There was no midterm or final (the musical analysis papers replaced it, which were the most stress-free assignments I have ever done). Aside from that, lectures were asynchronous and based on the weekly readings (honestly reading was not necessary for success in the class) but discussion attendance does count! Despite it being mandatory, discussion was very interesting especially with TA Thomas Hanslowe! He'd whip out his guitar occasionally to demonstrate class vocabulary, musical styles, or just play a tune related to the class or not. It was awesome! Definitely recommend taking the class, especially if you're looking for a nice GE to balance out stressful STEM classes.

Taking History of Rock and Roll was definitely one of the best parts of my Fall quarter! Although the lectures were asynchronous, Professor Holmes was able to keep them super engaging with lots of visuals and audio that really illustrated all the concepts she was teaching. The discussion sections for this class were super fun. I would highly recommend TA Alex Hallenbeck; he always brought interesting things to discuss and was super chill about everything. During Fall, the final grade consisted of participation (graded by TA in the discussion section), 3 2-page papers analyzing songs on the syllabus (graded by TA), and then a 100-word blurb about any song you want (posted on discussion board). I was definitely a fan of rock coming into this class and I'm even more of a fan coming out with lots of new knowledge. Overall, this class was a breath of fresh air during these crazy times and I would urge anyone to take it with Professor Holmes!