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.
Master’s degrees in music history and ethnomusicology allow students to pursue detailed work that prepares them for doctorate programs. These...
Learn MoreThe Master of Music with Concentration in Musicology seeks an interdisciplinary approach to the study of music in culture. Students...
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Learn MoreInterdisciplinary Arts faculty define the notion guiding research and teaching within the program. Dr. Charles Buchanan A discipline is a...
Learn MoreSound In/As Theory: Means and Meanings in Motion An Interdisciplinary Conference on Sound, Media, and Cultural Studies April 22–24, 2027 Eastman...
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