Through the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Music at Columbia University offers one of the top doctoral programs in academic musicology (PhD in Ethnomusicology, Historical Musicology and Music Theory) and Composition (DMA) in the United States. In the past decade, in spite of an often challenging academic job market in the humanities fields, a significant majority of our graduates go on to professional careers. We are committed to the professional development of our students, and expect them to be committed to their own professional goals as scholars, teachers and composers.
The Musicology program incorporates three areas: Ethnomusicology, Historical Musicology and Music Theory. Within these areas, research and teaching focus on a wide range of topics, including music history in the West, non-Western musics and cultures, popular and urban musics, jazz, analytical methods, music cognition, music aesthetics, and the philosophy of music. An application is made to one of these areas, each with its own degree requirements. The Musicology program is supported by a first-class library, the Gabe Wiener Music & Arts Library, located in Dodge Hall, as well as the extensive sound archives of the Center for Ethnomusicology. The department is home to the oldest and most prestigious academic music journal edited by graduate students, Current Musicology.
The Master of Arts degree in musicology is for those wishing to concentrate on music scholarship. With a breadth of...
Learn MoreThe PhD in musicology is oriented toward preparing students for scholarly research and teaching, aiming for breadth and depth in...
Learn MoreBecause music is inextricably woven into the fabric of human activity, the cultural and philosophical contexts of which music has...
Learn MoreThe Department of Musicology’s MM degree program offers world-class training for students embarking on careers in musicology and ethnomusicology. Our...
Learn MoreThe graduate program in Critical Music Studies (CMS) takes a broad approach to the humanistic study of music and sound.Faculty...
Learn MoreCornell awards the Ph.D. for original contributions to the study of music, considered broadly to include a wide range of...
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