Course Requirements

Revised course requirements approved by the University Graduate Council, September 19, 2019.

Thesis Phase

Around the finalization of course work, the student will officially request a member from the ethnomusicology area to serve as major professor, register for thesis hours with that professor, and put together an advisory committee. The student must fill in the Designation of Advisory Committee Form, seek the appropriate signatures, and file it with the Office of Graduate Studies. This committee will oversee the writing of the student’s thesis. This committee is typically comprised of three faculty members, approved by the major professor.

The composition of the committee could be revised at any time by means of the same form. In communication with the major professor and the committee, the student will select a thesis topic, write a thesis proposal and submit it to your committee chair for approval by the committee and ethnomusicology faculty in a timely manner. The Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines provide specific guidelines for this process.

Before the degree is granted, the candidate must pass an oral defense of the thesis. The oral defense may be scheduled in the fall or spring semesters no sooner than three weeks after a complete draft of the thesis has been approved by the major professor and submitted to the advisory committee. Requests for summer or winter term defenses must be approved by the full advisory committee. The examination may be taken no more than three times.

PhD (Concentration in Ethnomusicology)

The Doctor of Philosophy Degree with a Major in Music and Concentration in Ethnomusicology requires a minimum of ninety semester hours beyond the bachelor's degree. Of these ninety hours, at least sixty must be taken at UNT. Thirty hours may be transferred from other institutions with the approval of the coordinator of ethnomusicology. A master's degree from an accredited institution usually is accepted in lieu of the first thirty hours. The minimum residence requirement for the doctoral program consists of two consecutive long semesters (fall and the following spring, or spring and the following fall) with a minimum load of nine hours during each term.

It should be understood that the Doctor of Philosophy degree cannot be earned by routine work alone, regardless of accuracy or amount. The degree will be conferred on the basis of mastery of the field of ethnomusicology as a whole and of proven ability to plan and carry out original fieldwork, research and writing with distinction.

Qualifying Exams

The qualifying examinations are given by request after consultation with your major professor and the area coordinator. You must submit the request in the semester before the exams are to be taken and no later than the end of your third year of study.

The written examination will cover five general areas: (1) history of the discipline; (2) area studies; (3) theoretical focus; (4) related field; and (5) listening identification/analysis. In preparation, you will consult with faculty and develop a bibliography of relevant sources for each area.

Any portion of the qualifying examination that you do not pass must be retaken in the subsequent long semester. If upon a second attempt there are still portions that you have not passed, they must be retaken in the following long semester. You may not take any portion of the exam more than three times.  

The exam consists of essays in response to prompts and identification/analysis of listening examples. Plan on three full days for the exams. On days one and two you will be given several prompts and three hours to write the essays. After a break, you will be given a second series of prompts and another three hours to write essays. Approved notes may be used. On the third day you will be given two three-hour time slots to listen to musical examples and to write a response that identifies, analyzes, and contextualizes the musical excerpts. 

A ninety-minute oral exam administered by the full area faculty and related-field professor will follow several days later. The oral exam is more than a defense of the written work; it is an opportunity to expand, clarify, and revise answers in order to demonstrate an intellectual flexibility commensurate with doctoral studies.

Dissertation Phase

The culmination of the doctoral work is a dissertation of appropriate scope, quality and originality. After passing the qualifying exams, students will start working on their dissertation proposals while finishing course work. Once they have finished course work, students will be admitted to candidacy. The student will officially request a member from the ethnomusicology area to serve as major professor, register for one semester of dissertation hours with that professor, and put together a dissertation committee.

The student must fill in the Designation of Advisory Committee Form, seek the appropriate signatures, and file it with the Office of Graduate Studies. This committee will oversee the writing of the student’s dissertation. This committee is comprised of three to five faculty members, including the major professor, a representative of the student’s minor/related field, and at least one additional member (usually a second ethnomusicologist).

The composition of the committee could be revised at any time by means of the same form. In communication with the major professor and the committee, the student will select a dissertation topic, write a dissertation proposal and submit it to the Graduate Academic Degrees Committee (GADCom) for approval. See Requirements for Thesis and Dissertation Proposals for more information.

If it is deemed necessary, the student may be required to define a broader area of study that sufficiently contextualizes the topic. In this case, the student will compile a bibliography on the broader area and schedule a one-hour oral exam. The student’s committee will oversee the exam, during which the student will answer questions on the literature in his/her area as represented by the bibliography.

Upon admission to candidacy, the student must maintain continuous dissertation enrollment (MUGC 6950) each long semester until the dissertation has been completed and accepted by the Dean of the Graduate School. Registration in at least one summer session is required if the student is using university facilities and/or faculty time during that summer session.

Before the degree is granted, the candidate must pass an oral defense of the dissertation. The oral defense may be scheduled in the fall or spring semesters no sooner than three weeks after a complete draft of the thesis has been approved by the major professor and submitted to the advisory committee. Requests for summer or winter term defenses must be approved by the full advisory committee. The examination may be taken no more than three times.

Application

Master’s and doctoral students wishing to select ethnomusicology as related field must submit a formal application. Applications will be reviewed during long semesters only and will consist of three items:

• a cover letter including contact information
• a paper that demonstrates graduate-level writing competency (not necessarily at UNT)
• a personal statement (300-500 words) addressing ethnomusicological interests and goals

These materials must be sent to the coordinator via email. Area faculty will then evaluate the application and issue a formal decision of acceptance or rejection. Only once a formal acceptance is officially communicated to the student will he or she be admitted to the related field in ethnomusicology.