For non-musicology majors
A musician qualified to receive a graduate degree in music is assumed to possess a wide ranging general knowledge of the field, one that includes familiarity with the broad spectrum of Western music history, its major composers, and its canon of music masterworks. The twelve-hour graduate minor in Music History and Literature goes beyond this, implying a more systematic and sophisticated command of the subject that allows the musician so prepared to communicate his/her knowledge at a professional level.
The minor field course of study prepares the generalist, not the specialist. The focus intentionally remains wide. In professional life following graduation, the minor in Music History and Literature often leads to teaching undergraduate classes in the subject. For this reason, the Musicology faculty evaluates minor-field competence in terms of a graduate student's ability to address the general field of Music History and Literature in a systematic fashion and at a level of sophistication commensurate with effective undergraduate instruction.
The graduate minor in Music History and Literature remains quite distinct from the graduate minor in Musicology. The latter implies, in addition to the above, a general acquaintance with the methodologies of the discipline as they have been developed in the specialized work of leading scholars, an awareness of the current issues and trends, and a familiarity with the history of the field itself (as distinct from the history of music).
From the Bulletin: The minor in Music History and Literature must include four graduate courses (3 credit hours each) in music history and literature taught by members of the musicology faculty.
The minor in Musicology must include M551 Introduction to Historical Musicology (3 cr.) (prerequisite: M539 Introduction to Music Bibliography), two musicology seminars M602 Seminar in Musicology: Variable Topics (3-3 cr.), and a fourth course approved by the musicology department chariperson.
More information on Doctoral Program Minors can be found here.