MUSICOLOGY: 5 things to know
What is musicology?
Musicology is the study of how music works and why people care about it. As a musicologist, you’ll explore how music reflects an also directs human experience. Musicologists are interested in music from every style, genre, place, and time. You’ll study musical works as artifacts that teach us about the past and the present.
Why Dal’s musicology program?
You’ll be learning at one of the few Canadian universities offering classes in popular music taught by internationally recognized experts. Our faculty are experts in:
•music from the Middle Ages to the present day
•opera and politics
•chant and colonialism
•performance studies
•child prodigies
•classical and popular music studies
•cultural history of the backbeat.
What courses are offered?
Learning alongside peers training in music and theatre, you’ll take classes in the vibrant multidisciplinary environment of the Fountain School of Performing Arts. Some available options include:
•the history of rock'n'roll
•opera history
•European art music
•film music and more
Upper-level seminar classes cover:
•musicians
•ecomusicology
•orchestral storytelling
•gender and sexuality, and more
What kind of jobs do graduates get?
Many of our MA graduates go on to persue PHD's and eventually to positions in postsecondary education. Others follow their passion for writing about music through careers in journalism and criticism or pursue work in arts administration and cultural leadership. You could also build a career in forensic musicology offering analysis in legal cases about copyright.
Where to start?
•PERF 1000 – Writing about Performance
•PERF 1001 – Writing about Music
After that you’ll choose from an exciting range of electives and craft an original honours thesis working closely with faculty. Our graduate MA students take seminar classes on research methods and topics related to their own research while writing a master’s thesis.
Questions: musicgrd@dal.ca