allison.chu [at] yale.edu
Teaching
Currently, I serve as a Teaching Fellow at Yale University. Outside of academia, I've applied my teaching skills and philosophy to workshops and lecture series with arts festivals and in my work with the Midnight Oil Collective.
Teaching Philosophy
As a specialist in music history, I value exploring the “why;” I frame my lessons as opportunities to consider different perspectives, nuance opinions, and understand how we can draw connections to our contemporary cultural moment. While specific to music, this has shaped my approach to teaching as I think about how best to prepare my students to participate in ongoing cultural debates. I believe that a classroom that supports this kind of learning requires trust, care, and clarity, and as a teacher, I strive to embody these qualities in my content presentation and persona, as well as in my attention to the learning environment. I aim to cultivate an inclusive classroom that respects the student as an active participant in their learning, building on their background knowledge and responding to their feedback. I attend to the transitional moments in my content delivery to better signal connections and links to class objectives. I am extremely detail oriented in my class planning, and I am constantly experimenting with different methods for content delivery, whether that be in discussion, visual materials, or my spoken commentary.
McDougal Teaching Fellow
Yale Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning, 2022 - present
As a McDougal Fellow, I support the teaching of my fellow graduate and professional school students both in my department and beyond. I work with a cohort of Fellows to develop teaching resources, lead intermediate and advanced workshops on instructional skills, and provide classroom observations and individual consultations.
Workshops Led:
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Fundamentals of Music
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Fundamentals of Equitable Teaching
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Mental Health in the Classroom
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Preparing and Delivering Effective Lectures (delivered virtually)
Courses Taught
1000 Years of Love Songs
Graduate Teaching Fellow for Prof. Anna Zayaruznaya, Yale University Spring 2023
This non-major music appreciation course is a survey of the history of musical style and form told through love songs. The class includes both music of Western art traditions and popular American forms, with a focus on textual and musical expressions of love. The class format included two weekly lectures with written and listening assignments. Students ranged from first years to seniors with varying degrees of musical experience.
As a Teaching Fellow, I was responsible for leading one optional review session a week and grading all assignments. I also delivered two 75-minute lectures.
Music in European Court, Church, and Theater, 1600-1800
Graduate Teaching Fellow for Prof. Jessica Peritz, Yale University Fall 2022
This major course is a survey of Western musical practices from c1600-c1800. Though the focus of the class was on notated European music, sessions also situated Western music in the broader global context of colonialism and empire. The class format included two weekly lectures and a discussion sections, with listening and terminology quizzes and two written assessments. Students ranged from first years to seniors.
As a Teaching Fellow, I was responsible for leading two discussion sections of 3-10 students and grading assignments. I also delivered two 75-minute lectures.
Introduction to the History of Western Art Music, 1800 - present
Graduate Teaching Fellow for Prof. Gundula Kreuzer, Yale University Spring 2022
This non-major survey course introduced students to musical practices, institutions, genres, styles, and composers in Europe and North America from 1800 to present. The class format included two weekly lectures and a discussion section, with written assignments and two major assessments. Students ranged from first years to seniors with varying degrees of musical experience.
As a Teaching Fellow, I was responsible for leading two discussion sections of 12-14 students and grading assignments. I also delivered one 75-minute lecture on American musical traditions at the turn of the 20th century.
Elements of Musical Pitch and Time
Graduate Teaching Fellow for Prof. Ian Quinn, Yale University Fall 2021
This non-major introductory course covered the fundamentals of musical language (notation, rhythm, scales, keys, melodies, and chords), including writing, analysis, singing, and dictation. This was the first iteration of a new curriculum based on the singing-school tradition that was taught entirely without the use of the keyboard. Incorporating pedagogies from South Indian Carnatic music and shape-note traditions, Prof. Quinn developed a new system of notation for this pedagogical approach, before introducing students to notation systems of Western Art music.
As a Teaching Fellow, I was responsible for leading two discussion sections of 11-13 students and grading final assignments.