- to introduce students to the central issues in the study of
literature and its relation to music, with special emphasis on 
the relevance of the works under discussion to contemporary 
social and ethical concerns;
- to study a series of literary works with important ties to 
music;
- to enhance students' critical skills through the analysis of
individual works of literature; 
- and to develop students' communication skills through oral
presentations and expository writing assignments. 

Students' performances will be assessed through presentations,
papers, tests, and a final examination.

The focus of the course varies with the individual instructor, with common topics
including opera as literature; literary representations of music; the music of
poetry; literary and musical metrics; timbre, tone and voice; and ethnomusicology 
and the function of the word in traditional music.  The following is a sample
syllabus of the works considered in a single semester:

Opera as Literature

Monteverdi.  Orfeo
Mozart.  The Marriage of Figaro
Rossini.  The Barber of Seville
Verdi.  Otello
Wagner.  Tristan and Isolde
Puccini.  Madame Butterfly
Prokofiev.  War and Peace
Britten.  Billy Budd
Wilson.  Einstein on the Beach

Students are required to abide by the University of Georgia academic honesty policy.