V2020 Salsa, Soca, Reggae: Popular Music of the Caribbean

This guy is probably one of the better professors that you'll ever have. His knowledge and background with the music that is studied (He's played with Tito Puente, Mark Anthony, Whitney Houston, etc etc), is extensive and his feel for the music is great. Although the course is lecture based and can be a little boring at times, his humor and stories about his experiences lighten things up. Of course, you get to listen to music of the Caribbean styles, and get to see how they influence the music we all listen to today. He really wants you to learn and appreciate the music rather than just cram for tests and go to concerts just for the assignment.

Washburne is a fun professor despite his cynicism. The tests are mostly lecture based, meaning you need to go to class if you want a decent grade. This is not a problem when covering 20th c. Cuban and Puerto Rican music, or the various other aspects of Caribbean music which Washburne happens to really enjoy and be personally involved in (he's a performing musician). He'll spice it up with stories from his extensive experience working with the movers and shakers in the modern Latin music scene. At other times, however, he lectures straight from the textbook, and it can be painful. The workload is fairly substantial, at least for an intro level course.

Professor Washburne is an amazing professor (and i have the biggest crush on him). He has such a wealth of knowledge in his field (specifically, jazz and salsa) and so he brings a lot to the class. Students enjoy his candid, yet cynical, personality and his sense of humor. The work takes time, but you really get out of it everything you put in. This class is appropriate even if you are not a music major (i'm not) but Music Hum is a prereq. There isn't any regular homework, but I would recommend attending class often (tests are based a lot on lectures).