Research by Assistant Professor of Music Cora S. Palfy was recently published in The Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy, a national journal for the field of music theory.
Assistant Professor of Musica Cora S. Palfy recently published research examining the effects of repertoire use on student perceptions in The Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy.
Palfy began the research in summer 2017 in collaboration with Eric Gilson, an economist and statistician. The research showed that emphasis on the Western Art Music canon, which is comprised of mainly white men, gave students the impression that those composers who belonged to the canon were more important.
This result bore out despite students' reports that diverse canons spanning many different genres and incorporating composers with diverse backgrounds (international, women, people of color, etc.) were used regularly in their classrooms. This research underscores the importance of considering how we teach and what resources we provide our students, as ignoring the subtle messages that elements, such as repertoire, sends, can have profound effects on students' understanding of who can participate, who has a right to speak, and who can intellectually engage with or create music.
Palfy's research is published in The Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy, a national journal for the field of music theory. The article can be found here: https://jmtp.appstate.edu/hidden-curriculum-music-theory-classroom.