2009-2010 Program Requirements for UCLA Graduate Degrees

Applicable only to students admitted during the 2009-2010 academic year.

Musicology

College of Letters and Science

Graduate Degrees

The Department of Musicology offers the Master of Arts (M.A.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Musicology.

Admission

Master's Degree

Advising

The Director of Graduate Studies serves as the administrative graduate adviser for all incoming students. The Director assists the students with planning their coursework and signs necessary petitions and other documents. Once a year, each student's progress is reviewed by the Director of Graduate Studies, including a brief interview with the student. Students are responsible for checking the accuracy of their official study list through URSA.

For additional information on advising, students should consult the Guide for Graduate Students on the departmental website.

Areas of Study

The department offers the M.A. degree in the field of historical musicology. Degrees in composition, performance, and ethnomusicology are offered through other departments.

Foreign Language Requirement

Students are required to demonstrate reading knowledge of a language that is of practical use in their graduate work. Proficiency is determined by departmental examination. The languages traditionally central to musicology remain French, German, Italian, and Latin but other languages may be chosen. Students may also satisfy this requirement by completing, with a grade of B or better, the fifth or final course in a two-year undergraduate language course at UCLA, or by passing a graduate reading course in French or a two-course sequence in German at UCLA.

Students are expected to satisfy this language requirement within the first year of graduate study. If language coursework is necessary, students are encouraged to begin such coursework in the fall of their first year. Fulfillment of the language requirement is a criterion used in the selection of students as teaching assistants.

Course Requirements

Students are required to complete a minimum of nine courses at the 200 level. The requirements are Musicology 200A-200B-200C, and six other courses from Musicology 210 through 263.  Students may substitute up to one seminar in Ethnomusicology and up to two approved courses from other departments at UCLA. If students receive approval from the faculty, four units of Musicology 596 may be substituted for one of the unspecified 200-level courses.

Teaching Experience

Although not required, it is expected that each student will serve as a teaching assistant for at least one year.

Field Experience

Not required.

Comprehensive Examination

Students take the comprehensive examination after completing their course requirements, normally by the end of their fifth quarter. All other degree requirements, including language proficiencies, must be satisfied before this examination can be taken. The examination is scheduled by the faculty during the Spring Quarter and all second-year students take it together. Students who enter with an appropriate M.A. degree are expected to take this examination at the end of their first year, before proceeding on to the Ph.D. coursework. In anticipation of the examination, students are asked to designate three areas in which they are to be examined. Each area may be focused on a period, a genre, or a major historical figure, but one must concern music before 1700, another music during the 18th and 19th centuries, and the third music after 1900. These examinations are designed to test factual knowledge, power of historical analysis and synthesis, and capacity for critical and reflective thinking.

The faculty, after taking into account the fields designated by the student and the suggestions of the student and the adviser, approve the appointment of three of its members to serve as the examining committee. Two weeks before the examination, students submit three samples of their best written work which demonstrate their research, writing, thinking and analytical skills (typically three seminar papers) prepared for at least two musicology faculty members. The samples do not need to match up with the designated areas of examination. The committee's review of these papers constitutes the first stage of the examination. The second stage is the written examination which is taken together by the cohort of students but is designed differently for each. The members of the examining committee (in consultation with each other to avoid duplication) formulate three essay topics related to the designated fields. Each student receives these topics at the time of the examination and is given the week-end to address them in essays of no more than 10 pages each. The comprehensive examination is concluded by a two-hour oral examination covering the three designated fields and the written work that has been submitted. On the basis of the student's overall performance, the committee awards a grade of High Pass (pass to continue in the Ph.D. program), Pass (terminal pass), Fail, or Pass Subject to Reevaluation. In this last instance, the student is permitted to repeat the deficient portions of the examination in the following Winter Quarter, after additional coursework or study is completed. More than one such attempt may be granted at the discretion of the faculty.

Thesis Plan

None.

Time-to-Degree

The course requirements for the degree could be finished within three quarters (three courses per quarter) and are expected to be finished within five, with an additional quarter devoted to preparing for and taking the comprehensive examination. The examination must be taken by the sixth quarter.

Doctoral Degree

Advising

The Director of Graduate Studies serves as the administrative graduate adviser for all incoming students. The Director assists the students with planning their coursework and signs necessary petitions and other documents. Once a year, each student's progress is reviewed by the Director of Graduate Studies, including a brief interview with the student. Students are responsible for checking the accuracy of their official study list through URSA.

For additional information on advising, students should consult the Guide for Graduate Students on the departmental website.

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

The department offers the Ph.D. degree in the field of historical musicology. Degrees in composition, performance, and ethnomusicology and systematic musicology are offered through other departments.

Foreign Language Requirement

A second language is required for the Ph.D. degree. The language should be one that is of practical use in the student's graduate work. Language proficiency is to be determined by departmental examination. The usual languages traditionally central to Musicology remain French, German, Italian, and Latin, but other languages may be chosen. Students may also satisfy this requirement by completing, with a grade of B or better, the fifth or final course in a two-year undergraduate language course at UCLA, or by passing a graduate reading course in French or a two-course sequence in German at UCLA.

Students are expected to satisfy the second language requirement within the first year of doctoral study. Transfer students who enter the program with a Master's degree are generally presumed to have already satisfied one language requirement. If this is not the case, one language requirement must be satisfied in each of the first two years of residence. Fulfillment of this requirement is a criterion used in the selection of students as teaching assistants.

Course Requirements

In addition to the M.A. course requirements, students are required to take a minimum of six courses from Musicology 210 through 263. Students may substitute up to one seminar from Ethnomusicology and up to two approved courses from other departments at UCLA. If students receive approval from the faculty, four units of Musicology 596 may be substituted for one of the unspecified 200-level courses.

Students whose M.A. degree is not from UCLA must take the required introductory seminars 200A-200B-200C, and complete a minimum of eight additional courses from Musicology 210 through 263. These students also may substitute up to one seminar from Ethnomusicology and up to two approved courses from other departments at UCLA.

Teaching Experience

Although not required, it is expected that each student will serve as a teaching assistant for at least one year.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass University written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations the University oral qualifying examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to University requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

Soon after completion of the doctoral coursework, normally at the end of the third year, students take the Special Field Examination, which includes both written and oral components. By this time, the student must have decided upon an area of specialization and secured the agreement of a qualified faculty member to serve as the dissertation adviser. Taking into account the field designated and the suggestions of the student and the adviser, the faculty approves the appointment of three of its members to serve as the examining committee. Three months before the examination, the student submits to the committee members a reading and repertoire list related to the area of specialization. Typically, this consists of a bibliography in the general area of the dissertation research and a list of relevant musical works, together totaling no more than 50 items. The members of the examining committee (in consultation with one another to avoid duplication) each formulate one or more questions relating to the topic, repertoire, and methods thus staked out by the student. The student is allowed one week to address these topics in writing, using any desired research materials. After the completed written examination has been distributed to the examiners, a two-hour oral examination is scheduled. At this time, the committee may discuss the results of the written examination with the student and ask further questions related to the area of the dissertation research. If a majority of the committee determines that the written and oral examinations have been passed, the student begins preparation for the second stage, the University Oral Qualifying Examination. If the committee determines that the written and oral examinations have not been passed, the student may retake the Special Field Examination after six months of further preparation. More than one such attempt may be granted at the discretion of the faculty.

The University Oral Qualifying Examination is a defense of the dissertation prospectus. All other requirements, including language proficiencies, must be satisfied before this examination can be scheduled. At least two weeks before the examination, the student must submit the prospectus to the members of the examination committee, who may be, but are not required to be, the same as those on the first committee. The prospectus must be a substantially researched overview of the proposed dissertation that demonstrates that the student is fully prepared to undertake the dissertation project. Students are encouraged to consult with the members of their committee before the examination, which concentrates on the feasibility and significance of the project and the student's preparation for it. If the defense is unsatisfactory, the candidate may repeat the examination once, at the discretion of the faculty. After passing this examination, the student is advanced to candidacy and begins to write the dissertation. Candidates are encouraged to enroll in or audit seminars in their field whenever they are offered. If enrolled, candidates may satisfy all course requirements through work connected with the dissertation.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy and awarded the Candidate in Philosophy (C.Phil.) degree upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student's ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation)

Required for all students in the program.

Time-to-Degree

For students with no deficiencies upon admission to graduate status, the normal progress, after M.A. examinations, toward the Ph.D. degree is as follows:

From admission to the program to completion of coursework: three quarters.
From graduate admission to written and oral qualifying examinations: four quarters.
From graduate admission to approval of the dissertation proposal: five quarters.
From advancement to candidacy to final oral examination: six quarters.
Total time to award of the degree: 11 quarters.

Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for termination of graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing termination of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

In addition to the standards reasons outlined above, a student may specifically be recommended for termination because of (1) a terminal master's degree recommendation from the student's master's committee; (2) inadequate scholarship as recommended by the Graduate Committee in the student's area; (3) inadequate progress toward the degree as recommended by the student's area; or (4) denial of the Form I (referred to in departmental guidelines).

In all cases, the student's academic progress is discussed in depth by the council or committee that made the recommendation. A recommendation for termination is forwarded to the departmental chair for review and decision. The student is notified of a recommendation for termination in writing.

A student may appeal a recommendation for termination by stating the reasons in writing to the departmental chair.

Program Requirements

Musicology