Level 6
All Master of Arts in Music Business students complete a culminating experience or thesis project. This experience is meant to be exactly as named: the culmination of your work in the program, the experience through which you synthesize all you have learned. The culminating experience helps to shape your next steps in the profession and in your career. In short, the culminating experience provides an opportunity for you to complete unique and original professional work. Through the culminating experience, you make a creative contribution to and/or define and solve a problem that exists in the profession. This contribution may take the form of a research project, a creative project, a practical project, and/or another project of your devising. Regardless of the form that the project takes—whether creative, research-focused, or practical in nature—the culminating experience represents the highest expression of your learning at the graduate level.
In this course, you will review and finalize the proposal that you developed in OMBUS-690 Music Business Research Methods. If necessary, you will also gain approval for your research form Berklee’s Institutional Review Board. You will also review the culminating experience guidelines that you learned in the Music Business Research Methods course. You will spend the semester developing your project, following your determined plan of action, and managing organizational and time management skills, to execute your research and work. You will finalize your culminating experience advisor, developing a plan to communicate and receive feedback. You will learn how to respond to, evaluate, and incorporate external feedback. You will also learn to compute, interpret, and present data and results to support the project. Upon completion of this course, you will have completed a substantial draft or appropriate portion of your culminating experience.
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
- Develop a draft or substantial portion of your culminating experience project
- Execute, revising if necessary, the research required for your project as well as the planned scope of work and timeline for your culminating experience
- Synthesize knowledge gained to develop an original contribution
- Assess feedback and incorporate revisions as appropriate
- Determine your culminating experience advisor, developing a communication plan and process
- Assess all culminating experience requirements in terms of plans of action, documentation, research, and more
- Compute, interpret, and present data and results to support the project
- Examine the process of completing the culminating experience project
Syllabus
Lesson 1: Beginning the Culminating Experience
- Revising the Proposal
- Productive Writing Habits
- Reporting Research
- Assignment 1: Culminating Experience Draft Proposal/Advisor Approval
Lesson 2: (Net)Working While Writing
- Prioritizing Writing Tasks
- Networking [in collaboration with Berklee Career Center]
- Assignment 2: Revised Culminating Experience Proposal
Lesson 3: Bird by Bird
- Moderating Emotions
- Imperfect First Drafts
- Assignment 3: Culminating Experience Draft
Lesson 4: Incorporating Feedback/Documenting Your Professional Self
- Incorporating Feedback
- Building a Résumé [in collaboration with Berklee Career Center]
- Assignment 4: Revised Proposal Draft and Reflection
Lesson 5: Pitching Yourself
- The Elevator Pitch as Introduction [in collaboration with Berklee Career Center]
- The Literature Review, Reviewed
- Assignment 5: Literature Review
Lesson 6: Peer Review, Part 1
- Giving Feedback Constructively
- When Feedback Bites Back
- Assignment 6: Peer Review
Lesson 7: Methodology
- Methods or Methodology?
- The Elements of Methodology
- Assignment 7: Methodology Section of Culminating Experience
Lesson 8: Building a Network
- Your LinkedIn Profile [in collaboration with Berklee Career Center]
- Getting Linked [in collaboration with Berklee Career Center]
- Assignment 8: Results and Conclusion Section of Culminating Experience
Lesson 9: Peer Review, Part 2
- Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process
- Assignment 9: Peer Review
Lesson 10: Stylish Academic Writing
- The (New) Elements of Style
- Assignment 10: Introduction Section of Culminating Experience
Lesson 11: Reflection and Completion
- The Reflective Process
- Assignment 11: Complete Draft of Culminating Experience
Lesson 12: Looking Ahead
- Where to from Here
- Reflection
Requirements
Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements
This course does not have any prerequisites.
Required Textbook(s)
- None: Readings will be provided.
Software Requirements
- Students intending to do statistical analysis for quantitative projects will need a statistics package of their own choosing.
After enrolling, please check the Getting Started section of your course for potential deals on required materials. Our Student Deals page also features several discounts you can take advantage of as a current student. Please contact support@online.berklee.edu for any questions.
General Course Requirements
Below are the minimum requirements to access the course environment and participate in live chats. Please make sure to also check the Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements section above, and ensure your computer meets or exceeds the minimum system requirements for all software needed for your course.
Mac Users
PC Users
All Users
- Latest version of Google Chrome
- Zoom meeting software (available in the course when joining your first chat)
- Webcam
- Speakers or headphones
- External or internal Microphone
- Broadband Internet connection
Instructors
Author
Robert Lagueux is Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dean of Graduate Studies, and founding Dean for Faculty Development at Berklee College of Music. He oversees Berklee's graduate-level degree programs as well as the creation of learning and development opportunities for faculty at all of Berklee's campuses, as well as for instructors at Berklee’s international partner schools. He has worked with faculty to enhance teaching and learning at the University of Chicago, Columbia College Chicago, and Northeastern University. As a Fulbright Scholar at City University of Hong Kong, he spent a year developing programs to support general education and leading teaching workshops throughout Southeast Asia.
Instructor
Becky Prior is the associate director of institutional research in Berklee's office of Institutional Research and Assessment. Her areas of specialty include survey research and data analysis, with a particular interest in diversity and inclusion. Most recently, she co-authored the BerkleeICE report on women in the music industry. She holds an M.A. in Comparative Literature from University of Colorado Boulder, and a B.A. in English from University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Questions?
Contact our Academic Advisors by phone at 1-866-BERKLEE (U.S.), 1-617-747-2146 (INT'L), or by email at advisors@online.berklee.edu.
We can also answer basic questions in the comments below. Please note that all comments are public.
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