Degree: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Field of Study: Musicology

Program Overview

The PhD in Musicology is for students who wish to achieve a high level of knowledge in music history and the methodologies of musicology. The program aims to provide local, regional, national, and international leadership in the field of musicology. The emphasis on research and broad exposure to numerous approaches to analyzing music, as well as experience teaching in the classroom, is meant to prepare students for a variety of fields in or related to music history.

The PhD program, which has grown dramatically over the past decade and attracted a world-class faculty, has a reputation for placing its graduates in major programs in musicology and related fields across the country. The students in the PhD program are active in the larger academic community, giving papers at national and international juried conferences, publishing articles in major refereed journals in all corners of the discipline, and winning highly competitive awards, including fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Musicological Society (AMS 50), and the Fulbright Program.

Additional program information is available on the Department of Music Musicology webpage.

Admission

Applicants with good academic records from fully accredited universities and colleges will be considered for admission to graduate study at Case Western Reserve University. Admission must be recommended by the department or professional school of the university in which the applicant proposes to study and must be approved by the dean of graduate studies. 

The PhD in Musicology is granted in recognition of superior scholarly ability and attainment. Award of the degree is based not only on computation of time or enumeration of courses, but also upon distinguished work. Highly qualified applicants may enter this program directly upon completion of a bachelor’s degree. 

More information about the graduate application and audition process in music is provided on the Department of Music Graduate Application Procedures webpage.

Music Handbook and Advising

Current graduate and professional students in music should review departmental policies and procedures in the Graduate Music Handbook. The handbook provides additional information regarding graduate assistantships, general expectations and responsibilities, program outcomes, decision points, performances, scholarly activity, outside work, prizes/awards, deadlines, petitions, examinations, advancement to candidacy, and student record-keeping.

Additional resources and forms are available on the Department of Music Resources for Current Graduate Students webpage.

Graduate Policies

For graduate policies and procedures, please review the School of Graduate Studies section of the General Bulletin.

Program Requirements

The PhD requires 36 credit units of coursework and an additional 18 credit units of dissertation research MUHI 701 Dissertation Ph.D.. Required coursework includes MUHI 610 Research Methods in Music and MUHI 612 Analysis for Music Historians, as well as three doctoral MUHI 590 Seminar in Musicology courses. In the first two years, students will be expected to take three courses (or 9 credit units) per semester, for a total of 36 units.

Under the rules of the School of Graduate Studies, a student must complete the dissertation no later than five years after registering for the first MUHI 701 Dissertation Ph.D. credits.

Students admitted to the program will take diagnostic examinations prior to the start of classes in their first year. Based on these examinations, students may be required to enroll in specific courses to address deficiencies; these course credits may be applied toward the degree requirements. In December of each year, students will submit an Academic Progress Report (APR). 

Written evaluations included as part of this report, along with course grades and materials, will constitute the beginnings of the portfolio maintained by the coordinator of graduate studies that will be the basis for considering each student’s advancement into the PhD program.

At the beginning of the fall in the third year of study, students will take qualifying examinations. These examinations will consist of written and oral sections, and will be conducted and evaluated by the musicology faculty. Following the examinations, the faculty will review each student’s portfolio and, based on work contained therein, make a decision regarding advancement to candidacy in the PhD program. Students who do not advance but who have done satisfactory work will be eligible to receive the MA in music history at this juncture.

Students who advance to candidacy for the PhD will register for MUHI 701 Dissertation Ph.D. credits and begin research for the dissertation. Working with a faculty advisor, each student will develop a proposal for the dissertation, which will be presented in writing to the faculty no later than March 15 at the end of the third year of study. This document should be submitted at least two weeks prior to a prospectus defense, scheduled no later than April 1. It is expected that the fourth and fifth year of study will be devoted to work on the dissertation; during this time, students will enroll in MUHI 710 Dissertation Seminar. Upon completion of the thesis, each student will present a formal defense to the musicology faculty.

The Graduate Music Handbook outlines in detail the procedures and timeline for dissertation completion and graduation.

Course Distribution

Sample Plan of Study