The Master of Arts (MA) in Musicology & Ethnomusicology at BU School of Music is a graduate degree for students who are working toward entrance to a PhD program, performing students with academic interests, and students preparing for positions in the music industry. To enter, students normally possess an undergraduate degree in music or its equivalent.
Our graduate program provides the disciplinary grounding, critical theoretical tools, methodological breadth and sense of engagement with the world needed to produce music scholars of the highest caliber. We offer up to 5 years of full funding for graduate students (post-Bachelor or post-Master), and a customizable curriculum, including a combined concentration in Musicology and Ethnomusicology.
The Musicology & Ethnomusicology program at BU is led by a vibrant, active, diverse, supportive, and inclusive Department, dedicated to a shared purpose and a field without walls between scholarship and performance. Faculty expertise runs the gamut from the Middle Ages to popular music, from Indonesia to Japan, Africa, and the Americas, and from manuscript studies to oral traditions. Students are encouraged to search new vistas of inquiry and stretch themselves intellectually in a supportive and cooperative environment.
A minimum of 32 units is required for the degree of Master of Arts.
Candidates choose one of the following fields of specialization:
Historical Musicology
Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology
Requirements are as follows:
CFA MH 820 Proseminar in Musicology and Ethnomusicology (taken in first term)
CFA MH 336/436 Musical Cultures of the World, either as auditor or teaching fellow
CFA MH 860 Research Methods in Ethnomusicology
CFA MH 861 Contemplating Ethnomusicology
4 units in CFA MH 799 Master's Thesis
At least two terms of CFA MH 561 or MH 562 World Music Ensemble, either as student, auditor, or instructor (worth 0 to 1 unit)
16 units of approved electives from areas such as anthropology, musicology, music education, history, or specific area studies
