Catudal's Winter 2021 Courses

About This Website

This website, now in its seventh incarnation, was launched in 1998 to provide course-related material to my students at Drexel University and at The Curtis Institute of Music, and to explore the possibilities presented by the Internet for achieving greater teaching effectiveness.

The site was also created to minimize the possibility of disputes between Drexel’s administration and myself with respect to intellectual property rights as these pertain to courses delivered over the Internet. It is important to remember that the national debate about the ownership of such courses was growing tense in 1998. In particular, it was not at all clear whether intellectual property rights traditionally accorded the professoriate would be transferred and applied to work produced in (and for) the new realm.

In 2003, Drexel adopted a very reasonable intellectual property policy with regard to “Courses Delivered on the Internet” (indeed, one that was arguably exemplary), while encouraging its faculty to use its own course delivery system (now called “Learn”). In 2019, the University introduced a new “Intellectual Property Policy” consolidating the rights and protections previously provided by three of its now retired policies, viz., “Copyright,” “Patent,” and the policy bearing on “Courses Distributed on the Internet.” It remains to be seen what effects this new comprehensive policy will have on the quality of research and instruction at Drexel.

In any case I continue using my own website for the greater freedom of expression the medium allows with respect to content, organization, and design. The central issues are originative and creative control. Indeed, my decision should simply be understood as giving expression to the autonomy that is the soul of the professoriate.

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