Department of Music (GRAD)
The department offers the degrees of master of arts (M.A.) in musicology and the doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) in musicology, construing "musicology" in its broad sense to encompass the interrelated disciplines of music history, music theory, ethnomusicology, and studies of popular culture.
Special Facilities
Central to the departmental resources is the Music Library, which ranks high among the nation's music libraries for its scholarly editions, periodicals, early source materials, iconographic aids, microfilms, folk-music collections, and recordings as well as access to major music research databases and thousands of streamed audio and video recordings. In addition, the Southern Folklife Collection (SFC) is one of the nation's foremost archival resources for the study of American folk music and popular culture. SFC holdings extensively document all forms of southern musical and oral traditions across the entire spectrum of individual and community expressive arts, as well as mainstream media production.
Prerequisites for Degree Programs
The usual prerequisite for admission to graduate work leading to the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees is a bachelor of arts degree with a major in music, or a bachelor of music degree, comparable to those given at this university. Applicants for the graduate program must submit with their application samples of their recent writing on musical subjects. The graduate program is an integrated M.A.–Ph.D. program, constructed on the assumption that students will pursue the M.A. and Ph.D. in one continuous sequence: the M.A. is one of the required steps in earning the Ph.D.
Please note that applicants are no longer required to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).
Fellowships, Assistantships, and Other Student Aid
In addition to campus-wide grants, assistantships and special grants are available to selected graduate students in music. The deadline for all graduate applications is in December; a separate application for aid is not necessary but may be indicated on the general application form for admission to The Graduate School. Selected applicants are nominated for University-wide awards that range from $20,000 to $26,000. Teaching assistantships may be awarded by the department; these awards average $20,000 and usually include tuition remission for out-of-state students, payment of in-state tuition, and other benefits. For a full listing of the program's financial aid opportunities, please see the Department of Music's Graduate Handbook.
For the M.A. degree, students must demonstrate reading proficiency in one language other than English judged suitable to the scheme of study by the written consent of the director of graduate studies. Students may demonstrate proficiency in one of four ways:
- By achieving a grade of B or better in a UNC–Chapel Hill fourth-semester (204) language course
- By placing out of the fourth-semester language course through the placement examination given by the appropriate foreign language department
- By passing the appropriate Foreign Language Proficiency Assessment offered through The Graduate School
- Through petition overseen by the director of graduate studies
MUSC 750, Resources and Methods in Musicology, is required of all students in their first semester. Other courses are drawn from a range of offerings in the department. Graduate students have the option to include courses from other departments as part of a certificate program or toward the student's intellectual focus. Courses taken outside the department must be approved in advance by the director of graduate studies in music and by the departments concerned as directly relevant to a proposed course of study.
For the M.A. degree, students take courses totaling 30 credit hours and write a thesis that is typically a revision and expansion of a paper prepared for a graduate seminar taken in the Department of Music. Students write the M.A. thesis in the third or fourth semester of study, registering concurrently for MUSC 993, Master's Research and Thesis. All students pursuing a master's degree take a written comprehensive examination; a final oral examination is not given.
At the conclusion of each spring semester a written examination is given to satisfy the requirements for the M.A. degree and to qualify students to continue toward the Ph.D. Students already in the department's M.A. program take the examination in the second year. Those who received the M.A. degree at another institution and had the requirements of the M.A. waived must take the examination in the spring of their first year of study.
As part of the completion of an additional 12 hours of seminars beyond the 30 hours required for the M.A. degree, students enroll in an independent study to prepare for the Ph.D. written examination at the end of their fifth semester (third for those with the M.A. requirements waived). By the end of the sixth semester of study (fourth semester for those with the M.A. requirements waived), students must take an oral examination on a proposed dissertation topic. They then register for at least two semesters of MUSC 994, Doctoral Dissertation, and MUSC 994's corequisite, MUSC 991, Dissertation Colloquium; complete the dissertation; and undergo a second oral examination in its defense.
More detailed explanation of these requirements appears in the Department of Music's Graduate Handbook.
Following the faculty member's name is a section number that students should use when registering for independent studies, reading, research, and thesis and dissertation courses with that particular professor.
Professors
Naomi André (57), Opera, Gender Studies, Music and Race
David Garcia (10), 19th- and 20th-Century Music, Americas, Cultural Studies, Historiography
Mark Katz (11), 20th- and 21st-Century Music, Music Technology, Hip Hop, Diplomacy
Stefan Litwin (9), 20th-Century Music, Performance Practices
Jocelyn Neal (5), 20th-Century Theory, Popular Music
Associate Professors
Andrea Bohlman (14), East Central Europe, Sound Studies, History of Technology, Ethnographic Methods
Michael A. Figueroa (18), Middle East, Popular Music, Geography, Violence
Anne MacNeil (8), 16th- and 17th-Century Music, Music and Theater, Gender Studies, Historiography
Assistant Professor
Anna Gatdula (2), American Studies, Opera, Film, Cultural History, Critical Theory
Aaron Harcus (12), Music Theory, Hermeneutics, Phenomenology, Rhythm and Meter, Popular Music
MUSC
Advanced Undergraduate and Graduate-level Courses
Advanced study of selected performance issues.
MUSC 493. Music Internship. 3 Credits. Permission of the director of undergraduate studies. Internship directly related to the study, practice, or the business of music. Students must complete at least 100 hours and submit a journal and report upon completion of the internship. No more than three credit hours may count toward the requirements of the music major. Excess hours may count as credit hours toward graduation, subject to the overall limit on music hours.
IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: HI-INTERN.
Permission of the instructor for undergraduates. Intended for students from various majors, this course provides a foundation in the history, theory, and practice of developing live, technologically-intensive, multimedia performance works. The course analyzes new media masterworks, addresses techniques of interdisciplinary collaboration, and offers workshops in specific software/technology applications.
MUSC 691H. Senior Honors Thesis in Music I. 3 Credits. Admission by permission of the honors advisor. Independent study by a student who has been designated a candidate for undergraduate honors in music.
IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: RESEARCH.
MUSC 692H. Senior Honors Thesis in Music II. 3 Credits. Continuance and completion of an honors thesis in music.
IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: RESEARCH.
Graduate-level Courses
Introduction to the field of musicology, including its scope, methodology, and bibliography. Taught in three-week modules, each directed by a different member of the academic faculty. Individual modules will include music history, music theory, ethnomusicology, music aesthetics, and cultural studies.
When offered, continuation of MUSC 750.
The faculty assists and advises graduate students in work on particular research projects. Available to musicology graduate students only (M.A.T. students taking special studies must register under MUSC 471).
Forum for group discussion of on-going dissertation work and professional development.
Department of Music
Chair
Jocelyn Neal
Associate Chair for Academic Studies
Mark Katz
Director of Graduate Studies
Andrea Bohlman
