Ethnomusicology

All students. Students are required to complete a minimum of 48 quarter units of upper division and graduate courses (normally 12 courses), of which 32 units (normally eight courses) must be at the graduate level. Of these, four courses constitute a core of required courses: Ethnomusicology 215A, 215B, 216A, and 216B. Eight are elective courses, of which two must be taken from Series I and two from Series II. Students are also strongly encouraged to enroll in Ethnomusicology 185, Information Literacy and Research Skills, in the fall quarter of their first year.

Series I courses: Ethno C200, C203, C204, C255, M261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 275, 280, 283, 284, 285, C286, 287, CM288, 289.

Series II courses: Ethno 207, 208, M211, CM212, C222A, C222B, C222C, C224, 228, 230, 233A, 233B, 233C, C236B, 237, C240, C241, 248, C250, 251, 252, C256A, C259.Beyond these requirements, students may fill in their electives with upper division courses and courses in other departments.

With respect to the four required courses, a student's likely study plan is as follows:

Year 1 - Fall Quarter: Ethnomusicology 185, 215A / Winter Quarter: Ethnomusicology 215B, 216A / Spring Quarter: Ethnomusicology 216B.

Students are strongly encouraged to develop a second area of expertise outside of ethnomusicology or systematic musicology in a discipline or a topic that may aid their research or make them more versatile teachers at the college and university level.

Students must receive the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies or their faculty adviser in planning the elective portion of their program.

Language and performance courses may not be applied toward these requirements, and no more than four units of all types of 500-series courses (596 or 597) may be applied toward the minimum graduate course requirement.

Students may be required to take additional upper division undergraduate courses to make up deficiencies. These may include undergraduate area studies courses and introductory courses in the social sciences. Additional required courses must be taken for credit and passed with a letter-grade of B or better (i.e. NOT taken S/U). The student’s faculty adviser may also strongly recommend that students enroll in geographical area studies, music theory or social science courses if the student has not had sufficient preparation and training.

Students must enroll in a minimum of six quarters of ethnomusicology performance organizations, Ethnomusicology 68A-O, 168A-O, 91A-91Z or 161A-161Z, credits for which are not applied to their degree.

Language and performance courses may not be applied toward these requirements, and no more than four units of 500-series courses (596 or 597) may be applied toward the minimum graduate course requirement. Students must receive the approval of their faculty adviser in planning the elective portion of their program.

Students in the specialization of systematic musicology. Students are required to complete a minimum of 52 quarter units of upper division and graduate courses (normally 12 courses), of which 36 quarter units (normally eight or nine courses) must be at the graduate level. Of these, three are required courses: Ethnomusicology C204, one course from Series I, and one of Musicology 245, 250, or 255. Nine are elective courses, of which a minimum of five must be in the department and a minimum of five must be at the graduate level. Beyond these minimum requirements, students may fill in their electives with upper division courses and courses in other departments.

Students in the specialization of music and anthropology. Students are required to take all the courses required for ethnomusicology M.A. and Ph.D. students. The other required courses in the specialization shall be taken in the Anthropology Department:

Anthropology 203A: Course Seminar, Sociocultural Anthropology – Historical and Philosophical Foundations of Anthropology.

Anthropology 203B: Core Seminar, Sociocultural Anthropology—Sociocultural Systems and Ethnography, Anthropology at Mid-Century

Anthropology 203C: Core Seminar, Sociocultural Anthropology—Scientific and Interpretive Frameworks in Contemporary Anthropology

Students who wish to take other core courses in an anthropological subfield such as linguistic anthropology may petition to replace one or more of the above sociocultural anthropology core courses with a core course or courses from a different anthropological subfield.

Students with a limited background in anthropology should also consider taking Anthropology 130: Study of Culture or Anthropology 150: Study of Social Systems.

Students are also required to take 5 electives (instead of 8 for other graduate students), 1 from Series I and 1 from Series II in the Department of Ethnomusicology (instead of 2 from each), and 1 elective in the Department of Anthropology. The remaining 2 electives may be taken inside or outside of the Department of Ethnomusicology.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Field Experience

With the exception of Systematic Musicology students, fieldwork is required.

Capstone Plan

The capstone for the ethnomusicology specialization consists of two parts: a research paper of a length, form, and originality to warrant submission to a scholarly journal; and an oral examination on that research paper and on the history, method, and theory of ethnomusicology. A faculty adviser, chosen by the student, advises the student as they write the paper.

An M.A. committee, consisting of two members chosen by the department along with the student’s faculty adviser, administers the oral examination. Each member of this three-person committee grades the examination High Pass, Pass, Low Pass, or Fail. If at least two of the three committee members award one of the passing grades, then the overall result is a pass. If at least two of the three committee members award a Fail, then the overall result is a fail.

In the systematic musicology specialization, the capstone consists of a research paper supervised by a three-person faculty committee. If the committee's grade is High Pass or Pass, no oral examination is required. If the grade is Low Pass, an oral examination is required.

For all students a failed examination may be retaken only once, on a specified date and time during the next regular quarter.

Thesis Plan

None.

Time-to-Degree

For full-time students with no deficiencies upon admission to graduate status, the normal progress toward the degree is as follows:

From graduate admission to completion of required courses and M.A. comprehensive examination, and award of the M.A. degree: 6 quarters.

MAXIMUM TTD

Upon passing the M.A. examination students may petition the faculty to continue in the Ph.D. program. A petition that is approved allows the student to continue in the Ph.D. program. A petition that is denied by a majority of the ladder faculty can be appealed once for further consideration by the faculty. If a majority of the faculty votes to deny the petition again, that decision is final.

Advising

When students enter the program, they are advised by the Director of Graduate Studies. In the second and subsequent years, students choose a faculty adviser. Students must plan their program under the guidance of their adviser and are required to contact their adviser at the beginning of each quarter to obtain approval of their course of study. Students are responsible for checking MyUCLA to ensure that their official list of courses is correct.

At the end of each year, students are evaluated by the faculty and provided with a written assessment of their work and progress in the program. These annual evaluations will be taken into consideration when assigning support in the form of fellowships and teaching assistantships.

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

The department offers the Ph.D. degree in Ethnomusicology. Students have the option to add a specialization in systematic musicology or a specialization in music and anthropology.

Foreign Language Requirement

A reading knowledge of one language other than English relevant to the student's research is required. Students may satisfy language requirements by (1) by passing an examination administered by the department or another department of the university, (2) by completing the fifth quarter in the language with a minimum grade of B, or (3) by demonstrating literacy through submission of transcripts that contain records of language courses or other documents that show course work or experience in the language. The choice of language and the method of satisfying the requirement must be approved by the Graduate Advisory Committee. There is no additional foreign language requirement for students who have completed the M.A. degree at UCLA.

Course Requirements

Students must take a minimum of 24 quarter units of graduate and upper division courses (normally six courses). A minimum of 12 units (normally three courses) must be in the department and a minimum of 16 units (normally four courses) must be graduate level seminars. At least two of these courses should be from Series I.

Series I courses: Ethno C200, C203, C204, C255, M261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 275, 280, 283, 284, 285, C286, 287, CM288, 289.

Series II courses: Ethno 207, 208, M211, CM212, C222A, C222B, C222C, C224, 228, 230, 233A, 233B, 233C, C236B, 237, C240, C241, 248, C250, 251, 252, C256A, C259.

Beyond these minimum requirements, students may fill in their electives with upper division courses and courses in other departments. Students must obtain the approval of their faculty adviser for the courses they choose.

Students are strongly encouraged to develop a second area of expertise outside ethnomusicology in a discipline or a topic that may aid their research or make them more versatile teachers at the college and university level.

No more than four units of Ethnomusicology 596 may be counted toward the six required courses.

Entering students may be required to take additional course work to make up deficiencies. These courses may consist of one or more of the core seminars in the M.A. program or world music/theory courses and do not apply toward fulfilling the Ph.D. degree requirements. Students who hold an M.A. degree in ethnomusicology or a related field from another university will not be required to duplicate courses taken elsewhere.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

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.

All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution.

When the course and language requirements have been completed, the student must submit petitions to the Graduate Advisory Committee for: (1) the doctoral dissertation committee; and (2) the qualifying examination topics and examining professors, as detailed below. The doctoral examinations consist of four written qualifying examinations, a detailed dissertation proposal, and the University Oral Qualifying Examination.

Students in the music and anthropology specialization. See Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution webpage for additional doctoral committee standards.

The written examinations in ethnomusicology consist of:

(1) History, theory, and method of ethnomusicology;

(2) Music cultures of the world;

(3) A cultural/geographical area or theoretical approach in ethnomusicology or a topic or discipline outside of ethnomusicology;

(4) A second cultural/geographical area or theoretical approach in ethnomusicology or a topic or discipline outside of ethnomusicology.

The written examinations in the systematic musicology specialization consist of:

(1) History, theory, and method in systematic musicology;

(2) One of the theoretical approaches to systematic musicology: psychology, sociology, organology, ethnomusicology, acoustics, or aesthetics;

(3) General western music theory and history;

(4) A topic outside of systematic musicology or another of the theoretical approaches to systematic musicology listed in (2) above.

The written examinations in the music and anthropology specialization consist of:

(1) History, theory, and method of ethnomusicology;

(2) Music cultures of the world;

(3) A cultural/geographical area or theoretical approach in ethnomusicology or a topic or discipline outside ethnomusicology;

(4) A theoretical or historical approach in anthropology (instead of an additional #3 as in the existing program requirements).

In the specialization in ethnomusicology, the specialization in systematic musicology, and the specialization in music and anthropology, some examinations may be take-home examinations or papers. Each of the four exams is administered by a faculty member chosen by the student. The examination subjects and the professors must be approved by petition to the Graduate Advisory Committee. Each examination is graded by the professor giving the exam, and the student passes or fails each examination based on the evaluation of that professor. It is permissible for one professor to give two out of these four examinations, but there must be a minimum of three professors giving the four examinations. All four examinations must be successfully completed before the student can move on to take the University Oral Qualifying Examination.

Students may re-take any failed examination(s) only once on a specified date and time during the next regular quarter.

The written examinations must be taken or submitted within a two-week period. The dissertation proposal must be submitted to the student’s dissertation committee no later than two weeks prior to the University Oral Qualifying Exam. The University Oral Qualifying Examination must be taken no later than during the quarter following the completion of the written qualifying examinations. The University Oral Qualifying Examination is primarily a defense of the doctoral dissertation proposal, especially its relation to previous research in the area and to theory and method in ethnomusicology.

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 the Dissertation)

Required for all students in the Ph.D. program.

Time-to-Degree

For full-time students with no deficiencies upon admission to graduate status, the normal progress toward the degree is as follows:

(a) From graduate admission to admission to the doctoral program: six quarters.
(b) From graduate admission to written and oral qualifying examinations, approval of the dissertation proposal and advancement to candidacy: 11 quarters.
(c) From advancement to candidacy to final oral examination: seven quarters.
(d) From graduate admission to award of the degree: 18 quarters.

After advancement to candidacy, students in Ethnomusicology normally engage in a year of fieldwork/research and an additional year of writing the dissertation. Students in the specialization of systematic musicology normally complete the dissertation research and writing within two years.

MAXIMUM TTD

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 as determined by the dissertation committee, 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.

UCLA is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and by numerous special agencies. Information regarding the University's accreditation may be obtained from the Office of Academic Planning and Budget, 2107 Murphy Hall.