Graduate Programs

Musicology and Ethnomusicology

Brown's Ph.D. program in Musicology and Ethnomusicology allows students to study music of any kind from several perspectives, within a richly interdisciplinary environment.

Brown's Ph.D. program in Musicology and Ethnomusicology allows students to study music of any kind from several perspectives, within a richly interdisciplinary environment.

The program's distinctively flexible curriculum permits students to sample liberally from departmental graduate seminars, and also encourages them to explore course offerings in other academic units. Students begin learning about the methods and materials of music studies with core seminars in ethnomusicology and historiography, while creating individually tailored programs of further study that suit their scholarly and professional needs. This might mean developing fluency in textual analysis, ethnography, historiography, critical theory and science and technology studies, all of which fall within the program's inclusive approach to the study of music and sound.

The smaller size of the program facilitates close mentoring relationships with the faculty, allowing students to receive guidance about their research from scholars with a variety of interests and approaches. Recent dissertations have explored such diverse matters as Afrocentric consciousness in Brazilian capoeira, carnival performance in mixed-race South African communities, Scandinavian white nationalism and Turkish intellectual property law. Faculty interests and seminar offerings range across fields like critical organology, ecocriticism, improvisation studies, intellectual property, sound studies, technoculture and transnationalism. Students also have the option of taking courses within the music department's outstanding Ph.D. program in Music and Multimedia Composition, of developing performing skills in several ensembles, and of engaging with campus entities like the Cogut Institute for the Humanities or the Brown Arts Initiative. A Brown doctoral degree in musicology and ethnomusicology leads to a career in college and university teaching, or to a position in applied work outside the academy.

Application Information

Application Requirements

GRE Subject:

Not required

GRE General:

Not required (optional)

Writing Sample:

Required (c. 20–25 pages, in area of interest)

Dates/Deadlines

Application Deadline

Completion Requirements

All of the eight courses required for the A.M.; three courses from MUSC2080 or 2090; a half–credit writing seminar, focused on preparation for qualifying exams; additional elective courses (for a total of at least 18 course credits over three years of A.M./Ph.D. coursework); written and oral comprehensive examinations; dissertation.

Alumni Careers

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Leadership

Department Chair
Emily Dolan
Director of Graduate Studies
Dana Gooley

Contact and Location

Department of Music

Mailing Address

Brown University
Box 1924
Visit the Department of Music

Resources