user_undefined ([info]user_undefined) wrote in [info]oberlin,
@ 2006-02-05 11:35:00
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Current music:Ferry Corsten - Punk

Theory profs.
I'm trying to choose between Allen Cadwallader and Diane Urista for Music Theory II. The former is on ratemyprofessors.com, but the latter is not. Any thoughts on either or both professors?


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[info]chiron_slade
2006-02-05 04:49 pm UTC (link)
Pick Urista. She's wonderful. She's a really awesome person and will always keep you interested in the material. She's also very eager and willing to work with you on anything you need extra help with. She's great.

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[info]user_undefined
2006-02-05 04:56 pm UTC (link)
Cool. Thanks for the tip.

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[info]jai_montreal
2006-02-05 06:19 pm UTC (link)
as Mae West said given the choice between two evils I'll take the one I haven't tried before"
Diane Usista is light on homework and any sort of academic acountability. but is a congenial person.
Cadwallader is intense and sometimes cruel and mean, but a very effective teacher for those genuinely interested in theory. He's really only interested in teaching theory and comp majors and considers teaching everyone else a waste of his time. (that's what he said in my counterpoint class)

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[info]user_undefined
2006-02-06 12:46 am UTC (link)
Ouch. I'm not in the con at all, so I'm sure he wouldn't have much of an opinion of me. Thanks for the help.

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(Anonymous)
2006-02-06 04:12 am UTC (link)
That's not to say Cadwalader's a bad teacher. He was great for theory III and counterpoint. But he didn't take any BS from his students, and actually expected everyone to do the readings and homework and be knowledgeable about them for the class he wanted to discuss them in. more of an issue in counterpoint than theory.

If you can get Philip Stocker or Arnie cox, they would be less intimidating teachers, and both are very good.

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[info]stadtpfeiffer
2006-02-06 04:14 am UTC (link)
Mr. Cox: simply incredible. What an amazing teacher.

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[info]user_undefined
2006-02-06 04:27 am UTC (link)
The two that are teaching the time slot I want are Cadwallader and Urista.

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(Anonymous)
2006-02-07 10:08 pm UTC (link)
Or Jan Miyake.

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[info]oratoriopiano
2006-02-05 04:52 pm UTC (link)
Choose Cadwallader if you want a teacher who stormed into a classroom and pushed a piano away from a blind student who was playing it, causing him to fall on the ground. Tenure's a bitch.

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[info]user_undefined
2006-02-05 04:55 pm UTC (link)
Ouch.

That makes the choice pretty clear... thanks.

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(Anonymous)
2006-02-08 06:27 am UTC (link)
I was in the class that this happened in, and you're not exactly telling the whole story. I was in his Theory IV class at noon, and the class before mine was from 11-11:50, jazz theory. They frequently went past their time limit, often up until 11:58 or something close to the next class. Cadwallader is a particular man; he likes to make sure the classroom is set up just the way he wants it so that he doesn't have to worry about logistics at all while he's in the middle of teaching. So, when the class before mine was ongoing at 11:54 or so, with no signs of slowing, for the umpteenth time, Cadwallader got angry, walked in, told the class they needed to leave now, and when the teacher just looked at him and the student kept playing, he pushed the piano away, and the student lost his balance, quickly recovering.

Lacking patience? Yes, it would seem so. Unjustified? Well, you'll have to decide that for yourself. Cadwallader wants to teach a certain way, and he tried diplomacy first, and got frustrated.

p.s. you will really learn the material if you take his class - he is very clear and organized. This often comes across as bluntness in certain ways, but you might learn to appreciate that.

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[info]user_undefined
2006-02-08 06:36 am UTC (link)
They moved me to a different time slot, so I'm not taking class with either of them anyway. Urgh.

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[info]okazu
2006-02-05 05:06 pm UTC (link)
cadwallader is evil for reals

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[info]user_undefined
2006-02-06 12:47 am UTC (link)
So it seems. Thanks for the help.

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(Anonymous)
2006-02-05 11:17 pm UTC (link)
Yeah, just another opinion to make it even more clear. Do NOT take a class with Cadwallader. He is rude to his students and is an angry man in general. He shouldn't be teaching in the con at all anymore.

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[info]shereminisces
2006-02-06 01:51 am UTC (link)
I'm sad about all the Cadwallader comments... I mean, probably you won't take my word against everyone else's, but I want to stick up for him a bit. I love Mr. Cadwallader. He can be a bit gruff sometimes, but I find him to be really engaging because of how into music theory he is. He really seems to love it. And he definitely has interesting takes on things. I got into an argument with a girl in a class of his once, because she wanted the bare-bones theory and he was actually making it fun, and she said something disparaging to him... Maybe most connies don't like fun, sometimes off-the-wall stuff, but as an abnormal connie, I dug his class. He's always been nice to me, too.

Other theory profs I like are Mr. Cox and Mr. Brown, if you want a basis for comparison.

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[info]oboemu
2006-02-06 02:21 am UTC (link)
I agree with you...I've taken a couple classes with Cadwallader and I don't have anything bad to say about him. It's true that he often seems to be a bit grumpy (less so in the afternoon than in the morning), but it didn't bother me.

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[info]user_undefined
2006-02-06 04:39 am UTC (link)
Cool. Thanks for your thoughts.

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[info]user_undefined
2006-02-06 04:37 am UTC (link)
Okay, thanks very much. It sounds like I'd probably be okay with either professor.

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[info]mis_red_fish
2006-02-06 03:57 am UTC (link)
i took a 9am theory with cadwallader, and he was fine. very humorous, i thought, as well. his expectations (that you do the work assigned, which isnt a lot) are reasonable and i've never witnessed him being cruel to fuzzy puppies or bunnies, so thats a plus.

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[info]user_undefined
2006-02-06 04:36 am UTC (link)
Hm. Thanks for the input. Decisions, decisions.

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