Doctoral Program Minors
- Minor field requirements
- Minor field representative
- Other Required Credits (ORC) for all DM degrees and the PhD in Music Theory
- General Electives
- Second minor
- Examples of Doctoral Minor Fields
Minor field requirements
All students pursuing a Doctor of Music or Doctor of Philosophy degree are required to declare one minor field. A minor ordinarily consists of at least 12 credit hours, and all minors are subject to the approval of the director of graduate studies.
Students pursuing either a DM (all majors) or a PhD in music theory must also complete 12 Other Required Credits, which may be either a second formal minor or general electives, subject to conditions outlined below.
Some degrees restrict the field for the required first minor.
- Doctor of Music (all majors).The minor field declared by a doctor of music studentmustbe in music history and literature, music theory, or music education. Certain departments may further restrict the choice of options for the minor field for their majors. For DM students who have completed master's degrees in one of these three fields, the appropriate department may, with the approval of the director of graduate studies, waive part or all of the doctoral minor course work and determine an appropriate department involvement in the written and oral qualifying examinations. Students will take additional courses in the major field or in other areas to make up the required 12 credit hours of the first minor.
- PhD in Music Theory. Theminor field must be either music history and literature, musicology, or ethnomusicology.
- PhD in Musicology,DME and PhD in Music Education.One minor consisting of 12 credit hours within or outside the field of music in any subject for which the candidate has the necessary background for advanced course work.
Minors within the Jacobs School of Music must have 12 credits of courses at the 500 level or higher.
Minor courses outside the Jacobs School of Music must be at a level that is acceptable for graduate study. Minors outside the Jacobs School of Music ordinarily require 12 credits of courses at the 500 level or higher.However, up to 6 credits of courses at the 300 or 400 level may be eligible if they can satisfy a requirement for a major or minor in that field,subject to the approval of the department offering the courses and the director of graduate studies.Courses at the 100 or 200 level are not eligible.
Performance lessons must be at 800 level in order to be eligible to count towards a doctoral minor.
Each course must have a grade of "C" or better to fulfill degree requirements. In addition, the courses counting toward the minor must have an average grade of "B" or better. Departments offering the minor may require a higher grade for their minor fields. Courses with S/F grades will not be accepted as part of a minor.
To declare a doctoral minor, students must complete a Doctoral Minor Field Approval Form, have it signed by the appropriate department chair or faculty member, and submit it to the Music Graduate Office.
Students should declare any minor before taking coursework towards that minor to confirm whether the classes they are taking will count.
Doctoral students are not eligible to register for their 5th semester of coursework until all minors are formally declared and approved.
Minor Field Representative
The minor field representative does not need to be declared at the same time as the minor—students can declare each minor field representative any time after the minor is formally approved and before the student begins the qualifying exam stage of the degree.
To declare a minor field representative (students need one minor field representative for each minor), students should submit the appropriate form(s):
- Advisory Committee Request form
- Minor Field representative in Music Theory form
The Advisory Committee Request form is submitted to the Music Graduate Office, while the forms for minor representatives in Music History & Literature and in Music Theory are submitted to the Musicology and Music Theory Office first and then to the Music Graduate Office.
This form is used to request a change to an already established Advisory Committee:
- Advisory Committee Replacement Request
Other Required Credits (ORC) for all DM degrees and the PhD in Music Theory
The Doctor of Music (all majors) and PhD in Music Theory degrees require an additional 12 credits called Other Required Credits (ORC).
Students may declare a second minor field (see below) or use the Other Required Credits for general elective courses.
General Electives used for Other Required Credits
If you choose the general electives option, the 12 credit hours must meet the following criteria:
Courses must be at the 500 level or higher, except that up to 6 credits hours outside the Jacobs School of Music may be at the 300 or 400 levels, with the approval of the director of graduate studies.
Performance and composition lessons must be at 800 (minor) or 900 (major) level.
Credits may be used for courses meeting Tool Subject requirements if the courses are at the 500 level or higher (e.g., MUS-M 539 Introduction to Music Bibliography).
Credits may be used for capstone courses (e.g., dissertation, document) for all majors except composition.
- MUS-J 700 will not count for this requirement.
Creditsmay notbe used for
major ensemble (MUS-X courses)
recitals
proficiency courses
tool subjects below a 500 level
courses meeting a language requirement for a degree
- _491/492 language courses
If all credits are taken in a single field outside the student’s department, a formal minor must be declared. If a minor is chosen, it will be called the “second minor.”
A maximum of 9 credits may be taken in a single department outside the major field unless a minor is declared.
Approval of specific courses taken for the general ORC option will happen automatically as part of the Program Planning Sheet registration approval process.
Each course used for ORC must have a grade of "C" or better to fulfill degree requirements. In addition, the courses counting toward the requirement must have an average grade of "B" or better. Courses with S/F grades will not be accepted as part of general Other Required Credits.
Courses that were originally taken for a major field requirement but don't have a high enough grade to fulfill that major field requirement are NOT eligible to count towards Other Required Credits.
Second minor
A second minor may be within or outside the Jacobs School of Music, and may be a formal minor or an individualized minor (see the next paragraph for more information about the individualized minor). A second minor is subject to the requirements outlined above. The Bulletin includes a list of formally defined minors. Students are welcome to consult with department chairs or the Graduate Office about minors in other fields. Note that some departments (such as Orchestral Conducting) do not offer minors.
An individualized minor is a set of courses (at least 12 credits total) you propose that are from different departments and which fit a specific theme or emphasis. A written proposal in required when declaring this minor. This minor requires approval by a faculty member with expertise in the area of emphasis (who will serve as minor field representative) and the director of graduate studies.
Examples of Doctoral Minor Fields
This is a list of some common doctoral minors, though minors are possible in many other fields across the campus.
All minors within the Jacobs School of Music are listed in the JSoM Bulletin. Click here for the detailed list.
Examples of Minors outside the Jacobs School of Music
Arts Administration
Astronomy
Comparative Literature
Computer Science
Digital Arts and Humanities
English
Ethnomusicology
History
Informatics
Languages (advanced study in a single language)
Mathematics
Psychology
Religious Studies
Speech & Hearing
Theatre
