North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 93, No. 9, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 4, 2009 Page: 4 of 8
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Page 4 Wednesday, February 4,2009
Zappa class studies significance o guitarist
By Melissa Crowe
Senior Staff Writer
FrankZappa has found his way
into university curriculum.
Since 2001, "The Music of Frank
Zappa," an upper-level undergrad-
uate and graduate music course,
exposed students the value of
Zappa's place in history
This semester is the first, and
last, for it to be offered in a tradi-
tional 16-week format. Because
of his new responsibilities as
chairman of the music compo-
sition division, Joseph Klein,
the class' instructor, said there
was not time to teach the course
during summer or long semes-
ters.
"I think a lot of people thought
it wasn't really a legitimate class,"
Klein said. "I think they have this
view that he is not a serious topic
to study in college."
However, Zappa's rich back-
ground makes him an excellent
topic at the uni versity level, Klein
said.
"Not only was he a musician,
composer and guitarist - Zappa
connects with so many things,"
Klein said. "What's his relevance
to society?"
Music senior Brady Morrison
said Zappa's output was so "vast
and complex" that it's worth
studying his music and philos-
ophy on the university level.
"He was an interesting enough
character, and his moustache is
just big enough to fit in university
curriculum," Morrison said.
The class includes an array of
people-not only music students,
but accounting, history, English
and even kinesiology majors.
"What is interesting about
having so many students is that
there are so many perspectives,"
he said. "If it is just a music class,
the students tend to just look at
the notes,"
Klein presents an umbrella
topic; students' group discus-
sions and journaling lead them
to their own endings. With the
diverse class, he said students
play ideas off each other, which
makes for great discussion.
"I keep it loose because I don't
isiting lecturers discuss
portrayals of mothers
By Stephanie Daniels
Junior Staff Writer
Discussions of motherhood
filled the Gateway Center Tuesday
afternoon in "Representing the
Maternal," a lecture given by
visitingprofessors on the depiction
of mothers in visual culture.
The event, which was hosted
by the College of Visual Arts and
Design, art history department
and women's studies program,
was the first of a three-part
series.
About 50 students and faculty
attended the lecture, which took
place from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the
Gateway Center.
"It's about the thoughts of
faculty and students having chil-
dren, adopting children and how
we see family in relationship to
the university," saidDenise Baxter
of the art history faculty.
The first presentation was from
Jennie Klein, chairwoman of art
history at Ohio University, whose
primary areas of research lie in
contemporary art, art criticism,
feminist art and performance
art.
Her lecture, titled "Visualizing
Maternity in Contemporary Art
Culture, Race and Class," focused
on issues of being the stereotyp-
ical mother and how it affects
women of different race or class.
Next, Lancaster University soci-
ology faculty member Imogen
Tyler was introduced to share
her piece, "Why the Maternal
Now?"
"I focus onwhy motherhood is
important now, more on a social
and political level," she said.
Tyler emphasized on statistics
of women in the workforce in both
England and the U.S.
"One factor that above all leads
Photos by Savannah Boyd/photographer
Imogen Tyler from Lancaster University speaks at the first of three "Maternal
Reflections" discussion sessions held at the Gateway Center.
to women's inequality in labor
markets is becoming mothers,"
Taylor said, quoting an excerpt
from "Fairness and Freedom:
Final Report."
Tyler is currently working on
a monograph titled "Crushed:
A Theory of Social Abjection," in
which she studies the develop-
ment of what she calls a theory
of "social abjection."
After both lectures, the
presenters answered questions
and led a discussion between
tables about the relationship
between work and representation
of the maternal as a university.
"This is the first time anything
like this has been presented at
NT," Baxter said.
Next in the series will be a
performance by the Guerrilla
Girls, a group of feminists who
wrote the book "Bitches, Bimbos
and Ballbreakers: Guerilla Girls'
Illustrated Guide to Female
Stereotypes" on Feb. 10. The
women will present their lecture
using humor to expose sexism,
racism and corruption in poli-
tics, art, film and pop culture.
York University women's studies
faculty member Andrea O'Reilly
will lecture on Feb. 18. Both events
are free and will be in the Gateway
Ballroom.
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know what direction it's going to
go," he said. "That's the best way
to learn Zappa anyways."
The University of Indiana also
teaches a class onZappa and uses
one of the same textbooks from
Klein's class, "The Real Frank
Zappa Book," by Zappa and Peter
Occhiogrosso. Where the two
classes differ, Klein said, is that
NT's is less regimented.
UI's "is much more about,
'We're going to listen to the music,
then talk about it,"' he said.
Morrison said he likes the
structure of Klein's class.
"It's really cool," Morrison said.
"You go listen to certain record-
ings and write journals abouthow
you perceive the music."
Plans are in place to have
lectures by Arthur Barrow,
Zappa's bassist from 1978 to 1980,
and Terry Bozzio, the drummer
from 1975 to 1978, as well as a
phone interview with Bob Zappa,
Frank's brother.
Klein keeps his class flowing
with an interdisciplinary
approach.
"It's taught part sociology,
psychology, philosophy, musi-
cology and even ties into politics
and religion," Klein said.
The course is put into the
context of Zappa's political, reli-
gious and social standing.
"He would do things inten-
tionally to be subversive," Klein
said.
Zappa testified before the
Senate in 1985 about censorship
and CD labeling with John Denver
of The John Denver Band and The
Byrds and Dee Snider of Twisted
Sister.
Although this is the last
semester the Zappa class is
offered, Klein said he is consid-
ering bringing it back every three
years.
He also said he would like to
start special topics classes on
George Antheil, Charles Mingus,
Conlon Nancarrow, Harry Part ch
and Edgard Várese.
"I like artists that you can take
an interdisciplinary approach to,"
he said. "Zappa, hands down,
there's just a lot to talk about."
Photos by Arash Sahba/Photographer
Fashion and Design Society members discuss the fashion program's entry portfolio review and its requirements.
Each year, NT's fashion design program reviews freshmen portfolios for acceptance to the program.
Group provides students
with fashion experience
By Katie Grivna
Junior Staff Writer
Walking into the fashion
design classroom before a
Fashion and Design Society
meeting, one is met by the
sound of sewing machines
and the anxious, tired faces of
fashion design students putting
the final touches on their latest
project.
Morgan Thomas, a fashion
design junior and organization
vice president, said the club was
established in 2005 and gives
fashion design students a way
to show their designs outside of
the classroom through fashion
shows and photo shoots.
The Fashion and Design
Society offers knowledge and
experience about the fashion
industry, according to its Web
site.
"We try to do things that
the [fashion design] program
doesn't focus on," she said. "We
try to incorporate skills thatthey
don't teach you in class that you
will use."
The society is not limited
to fashion design students.
Fashion photographers and
merchandising students are also
welcome, Thomas said.
The society also keeps track
of what is going on in the fashion
industry and looks for volun-
teer opportunities for members,
she said.
"You learn the basics from the
instructors, but believe it or not,
you learn more from each other. '
—Michael Adkins
Fashion design senior
"Even those little bits of
volunteering build up your own
experience that you can use in
the field," Thomas said. "We
help you get experience."
For students discouraged
by ordinary dull designs, the
society allows them to showcase
their ideas, she said.
The Fashion and Design
Society "is a creative outlet from
the boring, basic rules that we
have to learn before we can
break them," Thomas said.
The fashion design program
only accepts about 40 people per
year and is very competitive, but
it's "like a family" because of the
length of time students spend
together, she said.
Treasurer Jordan Wiehle,
a fashion design sophomore,
said she encourages younger
students who have not yet been
accepted into the program to
use society members as a sound-
board for their ideas.
"I think that one of the best
ways of learning is teaching," she
said. "The best way of practicing
something is telling someone
how to do it."
Michael Adkins, a fashion
design senior and club presi-
dent, agreed with Wiehle.
"You learn the basics from
the instructors, but believe it
or not, you learn more from
each other," he said. "The only
person you are competing with
is yourself."
In the fall, the society spon-
sored a fashion show that show-
cased students' designs.
You have to "do it, showit, and
get it out there," he said. "On the
runway no one is going to see
your mistakes."
For the spring semester, the
society willhost programs about
what to do after graduation and
reviewing portfolios, as well as
having a guest illustrator speak
about couture, Adkins said.
Society meetings are at 6 p.m.
Tuesdays in Scoular Hall 109.
Membership fees are $10, which
pay for the fall fashion show,
speakers, demonstrations, and
T-shirts.
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North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 93, No. 9, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 4, 2009, newspaper, February 4, 2009; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145654/m1/4/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.