School is in session

have you doomscrolled your way into creating a personal curriculum? Well I have, and here it is.

Hi friends –

I’ve been chronically online lately, particularly on TikTok.

My doomscrolling always starts with researching: hair stylists in the DMV, best workouts for knee pain (thirties catching up with your girl) and high-protein breakfast ideas that are not chia seed pudding. Somewhere throughout that journey, I end up going through a series of Paige Bueckers edits, StudBudz clips, and videos of monkeys/bears coming in contact with people – yes, I get lost here often. In the midst of my doomscrolling, I learned about the personal curriculum/syllabus thing that people are doing.

With this, you design your own learning journey around topics that spark your curiosity. No grades. No deadlines. No pressure. Just pure, self-directed exploration and learning.

As a naturally curious person, I wanted to map out my own curriculum. Being that it would be a mix of books and music, I wanted to look at different time periods e.g., The Harlem Renaissance, as well as different areas that would be interesting to me. I also utilized Claude to help me flesh out the ideas a little further, and here is my 10-week syllabus:

The Symphony of Stories: A comprehensive curriculum exploring the connections between literature and music.

Course Overview:

This 10-week course takes you on a complete journey through the relationship between books and music from understanding universal principles to taking a deep dive into specific cultural movements. In this course, you’ll develop both broad analytical skills and deep expertise in how these art forms have shaped American Culture.

Part 1: “Learning the Language of Cultural Connection” (Weeks 1-3)

Week 1: “The Art of Pairing - Universal Principles”
How books and music create emotional and thematic parallels
Course materials:
Book: High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
Music: Curated playlists mentioned in book + your own mixtape culture exploration
Course Work: Create your first "perfect pairing" - one book with one album that amplifies each other

Week 2: "Historical Moments Birth Art"
How social/political upheaval creates parallel innovations in literature and music
Course materials:
Book: The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Music: Protest music across eras (Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, Kendrick Lamar)
Course Work: Map a historical moment to its literary and musical responses

Week 3: "Cross-Pollination in Real Time"
How artists directly influence each other across mediums
Course Materials:
Book: Just Kids by Patti Smith (literature-music boundary crossing)
Music: Artists who are both musicians and writers (Patti Smith, Leonard Cohen)
Course Work: Research one artist who works in both mediums and write an essay about them.

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Part II: “When Literature and Jazz Danced Together” (Weeks 4-6)

Week 4: “The Renaissance Explosion - Jazz Poetry in Motion”
The most crucial Harlem Renaissance connections in concentrated form
Course Materials:
Book: The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes + key Zora Neale Hurston excerpts
Music: Duke Ellington Cotton Club recordings + Bessie Smith + Louis Armstrong
Course Work: Read Hughes poems aloud to jazz backing tracks; map the Harlem artist network

Week 5: "The Club Scene - Where Art Forms Met"
How Harlem's nightlife fostered cross-medium innovation
Course Materials:
Book: Selected short stories about Harlem nightlife (Claude McKay, Rudolph Fisher)
Music: Recordings from Cotton Club, Savoy Ballroom, and smaller jazz clubs
Course Work: Create a "night at the Cotton Club" experience with period music and literature

Week 6: "Renaissance Legacy - What We Inherited"
How Harlem Renaissance innovations continue to influence culture
Course Materials:
Book: When Harlem Was in Vogue by David Levering Lewis (key chapters)
Music: Later artists sampling or referencing Renaissance work (hip-hop connections)
Course Work: Find three contemporary artists (music + literature) carrying forward Renaissance innovations

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Part III: “From Soul to Streaming” (Weeks 7-10)

Week 7: "The Soul Revolution - Music as Literature"
How 1960s-70s soul music elevated popular songwriting to literary levels
Course Materials:
Book: Respect by David Ritz (Aretha Franklin) + key essays on Motown
Music: Stevie Wonder's classic period + Aretha Franklin + Curtis Mayfield
Course Work: Write literary analysis of soul lyrics; create "soundtrack" for civil rights literature

Week 8: "Hip-Hop Samples History - The Art of Musical Quotation"
How sampling creates new conversations between past and present
Course Materials:
Book: Can't Stop Won't Stop by Jeff Chang (key chapters on sampling culture)
Music: Sample-heavy classics (Pete Rock & CL Smooth, A Tribe Called Quest) + their source material
Course Work: Create "literary samples" - writing that quotes and recontextualizes like hip-hop sampling

Week 9: "Neo-Soul Renaissance - Return and Innovation"
How 1990s neo-soul connected to literary renaissance and conscious artistry
Course Materials:
Book: Contemporary poetry (Sonia Sanchez, Nikki Giovanni) + neo-soul journalism
Music: D'Angelo's Voodoo + Erykah Badu + Lauryn Hill
Course Work: Write poems using neo-soul rhythm patterns; create modern "salon" playlist

Week 10: "Current Conversations - Where We Are Now”
How today's artists continue the tradition + your personal integration
Course Materials:
Book: Contemporary works that reference music (The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Daisy Jones & The Six)
Music: Current artists bridging literature and music (Frank Ocean, SZA, Tyler Cole)
Course Work: Create your own "cultural manifesto" - your philosophy on books and music connections

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Well there’s my syllabus. I plan to actually do this, and will hold myself accountable by using my calendar and reminders app. If you’re interested in participating in this one, hit me up.

Also, if you have mapped out your own, what are some of the areas that you are focusing on?

Before we part this week, I did want to share a few of my recommendations for this week.

1. I finally moved from Spotify to Apple Music. Apple purchased Songshift so it was very easy. In your phone go to Settings > Apps > Music > Transfer Music from Other Services.

2. iOS 26 launched and she’s cute so far, aside from some weird spacing issues.

3. iPhone 17 launched.

4. One of my favorite groups Leisure released their new album, Welcome to The Mood, and I love it. The album has such a nice and chill vibe to it and makes me even more excited to go to their concert next month. I am going with my friends for my birthday even though no one knows their music. Talk about #friendship.

5. I have been watching the CNN Documentary series on John F. Kennedy Jr, American Prince: JFK Jr., and I recommend it.

6. The Morning Show and Reasonable Doubt are both out this week.

That’s it for now.

I’ll be back next week!