Program Overview

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Music (Musicology), PhD

The Doctor of Philosophy program in music with a concentration in musicology focuses on the scholarly study of sound and music in historical contexts, musical traditions as sociocultural artifacts and behaviors, and performance. These areas are approached through the investigation of genres, styles, forms, performance and listening practices, instruments, spaces, philosophies, musical infrastructures, and geographic locations.

Program Description

Faculty members include Sabine Feisst, Dave Fossum, Kay Norton, Catherine Saucier, Ted Solis, and Christi Jay Wells. They are leading scholars specializing in Western and non-Western music, particularly traditions in the Americas and music of the Middle East, Central Asia, Latin America, and Indonesia.

Students can study a variety of topics, including medieval music cultures, the long nineteenth century, jazz, music in popular cultures, musical modernism and experimentalism, intellectual property law, cultural policy, improvisation, sound studies, ecomusicology, dance and embodiment, and music's role in well-being.

Coursework includes historiography, applied musicology, methodologies, and pedagogy. Transdisciplinary studies are encouraged with scholars and artists in the School of Music, Dance and Theatre (e.g., a studio professor, music theorist, or composer), the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (e.g., a design or dance faculty member), and faculty in schools and institutes across the university (e.g., specialists in languages, regions, or cultures).

A plan of study is designed by the student with the faculty to support an individualized research trajectory. Research conducted by students in the doctoral program in musicology aims to examine and interrogate the discipline of musicology and to expand the traditional boundaries of music scholarship by challenging methodological and disciplinary boundaries. The program concludes with a dissertation.

At a Glance

• College/school: Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts
• Location: Tempe
• STEM-OPT extension eligible: No

Degree Requirements

• 90 credit hours
• A written comprehensive exam
• An oral comprehensive exam
• Two foreign language exams
• A prospectus
• A dissertation

Required Core (10 credit hours)

• MSI 601 Contemporary Topics in Music Research (2)
• MSI 602 Current Issues in Music Research (2)
• MSI 755 Historical Research in Music (3)
• MTC 520 Analytical Techniques (3)

Concentration (15 credit hours)

• MHL 632 Applied Musicology (3)
• MHL 668 Introduction to Ethnomusicology (3)
• MHL 691 Seminars (9)

Electives and Research (47 credit hours)

• Teaching Experience (6 credit hours)
  • MHL 684 Internship (3)
  • MHL 691 Topic: Music History Pedagogy (3)

Culminating Experience (12 credit hours)

• MHL 799 Dissertation (12)

Admission Requirements

• General university admission requirements:
  • All students are required to meet general university admission requirements.
  • U.S. applicants
  • International applicants
  • English proficiency

Applicants must fulfill the requirements of both the Graduate College and the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.

Applicants are eligible to apply to the program if they have earned a U.S. bachelor's degree in music or a graduate degree from an accredited college or university of recognized standing in music history, musicology, ethnomusicology, or music theory.

Applicants must have achieved a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in the last 60 credit hours or 90 quarter hours of their first bachelor's degree program, or a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in an applicable master's degree program.

All applicants must submit:

1. graduate admission application and application fee
2. School of Music, Dance and Theatre application
3. official transcripts
4. three letters of recommendation
5. proof of English proficiency

Tuition Information

When it comes to paying for higher education, everyone’s situation is different. Students can learn about ASU tuition and financial aid options to find out which will work best for them.

Application Deadlines

• Fall
  • Session A/C
  • In Person
  • 12/01
  • Final

Program Learning Outcomes

Program learning outcomes identify what a student will learn or be able to do upon completion of their program. This program’s learning outcomes include the following:

• Write research papers applying the conventions of scholarly discourse in music.
• Implement a major independent research project that makes a unique contribution to the discipline of musicology.
• Synthesize knowledge of music history pedagogy in the teaching of an undergraduate course.

Career Opportunities

Musicians with expertise in performing, composing, teaching, researching, and arts advocacy are in high demand across many sectors and industries, including performing arts organizations, educational institutions, entertainment companies, health and wellness industries, and community arts organizations. Skills such as creativity, collaboration, innovation, entrepreneurship, and the focused discipline needed for success as musicians are all highly valued by a wide range of companies and professions. The School of Music, Dance and Theatre graduate programs inspire and empower students to become creative leaders who transform society through music.

Career examples include:

• arts administrator
• community arts advocate
• music and sound art curator
• musicologist
• performing musician
• public or community school teacher
• university professor

Additional Curriculum Information

Completion of diagnostic exams in musicology and music theory is required of all new graduate music students prior to enrollment in the ASU School of Music, Dance and Theatre.

As part of the concentration coursework, students take three seminars for three credit hours each. Equivalent courses may be used with preapproval by the student's faculty advisor. No more than six credit hours outside of the School of Music, Dance and Theatre may apply to this requirement.

Teaching experience requirements consist of MHL 691 Music History Pedagogy, in which students examine multiple facets and modalities of teaching music history, and MHL 684 Internship, in which students teach an appropriate undergraduate musicology course as instructor of record with guidance of the musicology faculty.

Students should see the academic unit for a complete list of approved electives and research courses.

When approved by the student's supervisory committee and the Graduate College, this program allows 30 credit hours from a previously awarded master's degree to be used for this degree program. Students entering the program without an earned MA degree complete the requirements for the Master of Arts in music with a concentration in ethnomusicology or musicology.

Additional information on degree requirements for this degree is available on the curriculum check sheet located at the bottom of the school's program page.