Applications for Summer 2026 are now closed!
Schedule
WEEK 1 — GATHERING & GROUNDING
We begin by gathering as a cohort and grounding ourselves in the intentions, history, and guiding commitments of the Songwrights’ Apothecary Lab. Together we will review the course structure, meet council and SAL alumni, and establish shared understandings of key concepts such as song, research, and measures. SAL alumni will share reflections from past collaborations and what it has meant to bring songs into community spaces. The week concludes with our first collaborative songwriting practice.
DAY 1 | August 3, 2026
Land & People Commitment—Naming our commitment to honor the lands, peoples, lineages, and knowledge traditions connected to this work.
Introductions & Course Orientation—Exploring how we arrived here individually and as a lab practice, and what we hope to build through this process of study and creation. This includes orientation to SAL—its history, key learnings from previous iterations, and the structure of the lab.
Collaborating with Community Partners—Our work is grounded in transparency and ethics of care. Each phase of collaboration seeks to support community, each other, and ourselves.
HOMEDEVOTION
First Collaborative Practice: Students form songwright/research teams and begin composing a 1–2 minute welcome song introducing themselves to a community partner.
DAY 2 | August 6, 2026
Welcome SAL Alumni—Groups share their welcome songs and reflect on how council guidance shaped their approach.
SAL Alumni Reflections—Alumni share experiences collaborating and sharing music in community contexts.
Council Discussion—Engaging the reading by French et al. and considering what radical healing might mean within the context of this work.
HOMEDEVOTION
Creative Inquiry: Create a short musical gesture, lyric fragment, or sonic texture that reflects how you arrive in this work and the influences or conditions shaping your listening.
Reflection: This lab is an invitation to shared study—an opportunity to listen, create, and reflect together on how music moves through bodies, communities, histories, and futures, and how we might participate in that movement with accountability and care.
What creative, cultural, and intellectual lineages do you recognize yourself standing within through this work? How do those lineages shape how you create and relate?
WEEKLY COURSE MATERIALS
Supplemental Readings:
hooks (1994), Theory as Liberatory Practice
https://openyls.law.yale.edu/bitstreams/d876a89b-40fd-4189-9d54-36a9305a4898/download
French et al. (2020), Toward a Psychological Framework of Radical Healing in Communities of Color
https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000019843506
Grande, S. (2018). Refusing the University. In Toward What Justice? (pp. 47–66).
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351240932-4
Small, C. (1998). Musicking (Introduction). https://archive.org/details/musickingmeaning0000smal
WEEK 2 — BEGINNING OUR SONGWRIGHTING PRACTICE
This week we begin the process of developing songs informed by research and guided by the council. We will explore approaches to designing measures and consider different ways of understanding impact, including research measures, program evaluation, and community-based feedback. Work groups select their first focus for songwrighting and research and begin shaping their projects. Groups share early research insights and administer a first draft of their songs.
Day 1 | August 10, 2026
Human-Centered Design: Choosing a Song Strategy—Form researcher/songwrighter workgroups for this unit. Drawing on insights from alumni reflections and research on community partner organizations, each group identifies the focus of their song, the intended context of delivery, and the supportive or therapeutic goal it hopes to serve.
Designing Measures—Introduction to approaches for developing measures collaboratively, consensually, and responsively. We consider research measures, program evaluation, and community-based feedback as different ways of understanding impact.
Group Collaboration Time—Songwrights and researchers begin developing their projects with council available for consultation and guidance.
HOMEDEVOTION
Day 1 – songwrights: find 3 examples of songs or musical-methods which embody an aspect of what we intend for our upcoming songs.
- Include approach of delivery (of music) and identify 3 song-wrighting components to have on hand as reference for the songwrighting in the coming week.
- Compose one 2 -4 minute song (max!) (or equivalent) incorporating the findings of their research partners. MUST BE UPLOADED TO LISTENING PLATFORM BY 11:59pm Wednesday
- Prepare to perform your song in the following meeting
- researchers: engage 3 relevant research articles*
- Identify elements which may be utilized and integrated by the songwrights to contribute to the intended therapeutic potential of their songs.
- Add these findings/reviews/elements to SAL database. Be prepared to describe and share these findings in-class along with any relevant findings/components/ discoveries that can support, inform and be building blocks for the songwrights.
- Share and discuss your research with songwrights.
*Examples provided by instructors and council members
Day 2 | August 13, 2026
Research Shareback—Researchers present initial findings and highlight elements that may inform songwriting approaches.
Song Draft Share—Songwrights share the first draft of their songs. The cohort listens collectively as critical listeners, and prospective audience/resiliency-partners. We (along with council) identify what we can perceive at work here. Are there any elements we can identify as inhibiting the potential salutary qualities of the song?
Council Reflection—Council and alumni offer feedback and guidance for revising both songs and approaches to measurement.
HOMEDEVOTION
Day 2 – songwrights: integrating feedback from council and alumni, revise or refine their song. Prepare to perform your song on Monday.
- researchers: Look to the intended outcomes ascribed to the song, where have relevant or similar methods of measuring existed before? devise a method for how to evaluate effect/impact of forthcoming song in a manner that is ethical, consensual, and relational (along with any other considerations framed by our council) with all peoples and traditions involved.
- Be prepared to share your devised method of measuring, along with research which has informed your thinking/design.
Reflection: Take a moment to study how you arrive in this work. What histories, influences, assumptions, and ways of listening do you carry with you? How might these shape how you move within the lab and in relation to others? How do you currently understand music, health, and healing? What arises when these ideas are approached not as individual outcomes, but as relational practices unfolding among people, histories, and environments? Listen closely to a song you associate with care or restoration. Notice what musical elements shape that experience—melody, rhythm, voice, space, or texture.
WEEKLY COURSE PREP & MATERIALS
Supplemental Material:
Simone, N. — I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free (Live at Montreux, 1976) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sEP0-8VAow
Tillet & Tillet (2018), “You Want to Be Well?”: Self-Care as a Black Feminist Intervention in Art Therapy
WEEK 3 — MEETING COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Students share refined songs and initial measures before forming new work groups. We welcome our community partners into the lab and learn more about the work, needs, and goals that shape their practice. Through conversation and musical exchange, we begin imagining how songs and measures might emerge through collaboration. This week marks the transition from internal practice to relational partnership.
Day 1 | August 17, 2026
Song Shareback—Songwrights present revised songs and researchers share initial approaches to evaluating impact.
Form New Work Groups—Students organize into groups aligned with specific community partner organizations.
Preparing a Musical Welcome—Each group composes a brief welcome song that introduces the lab and sets the tone for meeting their community partner.
HOME DEVOTION
Day 1 – All: Each work group prepares to offer their welcome song in-person to our Community Partners in class on Thursday.
Day 2 | August 20, 2026
Meeting Our Community Partners—Community partners join the lab to share about their work, priorities, and current areas of focus.
Musical Welcome—Each group offers their welcome song as an opening gesture of connection.
Conversation & Inquiry—Together we explore where music might be supportive in these contexts and how we might begin thinking about meaningful forms of evaluation or feedback.
HOME DEVOTION
Day 2 – Reflection: What does it mean to be in community through music? How might listening, reciprocity, and presence guide the way we engage with those we are creating alongside?
Creative Inquiry: Create a short musical or written offering that acknowledges a lineage or relationship that shaped this work. Consider how your offering situates you within an ongoing stream of listening, learning, and creative exchange. Share on discussion board by 11:59pm Sunday.
WEEK 4 — CREATING IN COMMUNITY CONTEXT
Work groups begin developing songs in response to the contexts and intentions shared by community partners. Council offers guidance, historical grounding, and research suggestions to support the creative process. Groups share first drafts of their songs and continue shaping responsive approaches to measurement. Feedback from council and SAL alumni supports the refinement of both songs and measures.
DAY 1 | August 24, 2026
Human-Centered Design: Song Development—Groups refine their song concepts, considering delivery methods, intended impact, and the community context in which the music will be shared.
Designing Measures in Context—Further exploration of approaches to measuring impact collaboratively and responsively within community settings.
Group Collaboration Time—Songwrights and researchers continue composing songs and refining approaches to evaluation.
HOMEDEVOTION
Day 1
- songwrights: find 3 examples of songs or musical-methods which embody an aspect of what we intend for our upcoming songs.
- Include approach of delivery (of music) and identify 3 song-wrighting components to have on hand as reference for the songwrighting in the coming week.
- Compose one 2 -4 minute song (max!) (or equivalent) incorporating the findings of their research partners. MUST BE UPLOADED TO LISTENING PLATFORM BY 11:59pm Wednesday
- Prepare to perform your song in the following meeting
- researchers: engage 3 relevant research articles*
- Identify elements which may be utilized and integrated by the songwrights to contribute to the intended therapeutic potential of their songs.
- Add these findings/reviews/elements to SAL database. Be prepared to describe and share these findings in-class along with any relevant findings/components/ discoveries that can support, inform and be building blocks for the songwrights.
- Share and discuss your research with songwrights.
*Examples provided by instructors and council members
Day 2 | August 27, 2026
Song Draft Shareback—Songwrights share first drafts of songs designed for community contexts.
Research Reflection—Researchers discuss how evaluation methods might be adapted to the environments in which songs will be shared.
Council Dialogue—Council offers reflections on how music, context, and intention interact in shaping the impact of these songs.
SAL Alumni share suggestions/insights for sharing in community.
HOMEDEVOTION
Day 2
- songwrights: integrating feedback from council and alumni, revise or refine their song. Prepare to perform your song on Monday.
- researchers: Look to the intended outcomes ascribed to the song, where have relevant or similar methods of measuring existed before? devise a method for how to evaluate effect/impact of forthcoming song in a manner that is ethical, consensual, and relational (along with any other considerations framed by our council) with all peoples and traditions involved.
- Be prepared to share your devised method of measuring, along with research which has informed your thinking/design.
Reflection: What responsibilities accompany the act of sharing music with others? How might performance function not only as expression, but as a form of care and relational exchange?
Creative Inquiry: Experiment with how delivery shapes meaning. Consider how tempo, instrumentation, or environment alters the way a song is received.
WEEK 5 — COMMUNITY SONG-SHARING & REFLECTION
Cultivating relationship / “administering” with Community Partners :
Songs and measures are shared in community contexts when possible, or administered within the lab in a format that approximates those settings. Researchers implement their designed approaches to understanding impact while songwrights share their musical offerings. The cohort reflects together on discoveries, tensions, and learnings emerging from the process. Students also begin shaping SAL’s final collective offering.
Day 1 | August 31, 2026
Visiting community partners, learning in place, understanding the role and the function and song from witnessing in community.
Community Sharing—When possible, groups share songs with community partners in their intended contexts while researchers gather feedback or observations.
Lab-Based Alternative—If sharing in community is not possible, songs and measures are administered within the lab in a format approximating the intended setting.
HOMEDEVOTION
Day 1 – All: rest and digest!
Day 2 | September 3, 2026
Research Shareback—Researchers share preliminary insights from their evaluation approaches.
Collective Reflection—The cohort reflects on discoveries, tensions, and learnings emerging from the process, considering how these insights might inform future iterations of the work.
Designing the Final SAL Offering—Students begin shaping the format and structure of the lab’s final performance.
HOMEDEVOTION
Day 2 – ALL: Integrate learns, suggestions, insights from council, alumni, and course-leads into final iterations of songs & measures/evaluations.
Reflection: What does it mean to remain open within creative practice, especially in the presence of critique and revision? How might openness and revision reposition us in relation to the work and to one another?
Week 6 — Culmination & Community Music Share
The final week focuses on preparing and sharing SAL’s culminating offering. Students collaborate on final performance preparation and reflect on the arc of the work developed over the semester. The course concludes with a community music share and collective closing. Together we honor what has been created and carried through the lab.
Day 1 | September 7, 2026
Final Preparation—Time for rehearsal, technical preparation, and integration of feedback from council, alumni, and community partners.
Closing Conversation—Reflecting on the limits and possibilities of this work and how we might carry these practices forward beyond the course.
Group Reflection: After moving through this work together, how do you understand the lineages you stand within—and the communities you are accountable to? What relationships, teachers, collaborators, and traditions have shaped how you listen, create, and show up in this work? How might you continue to carry that responsibility forward?
Time together to rehearse, practice, prep. for final community music offering
HOMEDEVOTION
Day 1 – Preparation: Revise songs in preparation for the final offering.
Creative Inquiry: Create a short musical or written offering that acknowledges a lineage or relationship that shaped this work. Consider how your offering situates you within an ongoing stream of listening, learning, and creative exchange.
Day 2 | September 10, 2026
Community Music Share—The course concludes with a public sharing of songs created during the lab, accompanied by reflections on the research and collaborative processes that shaped them.