A degree in Musicology

A scholarly study of music and musical traditions

Welcome to Musicology in the ASU Herberger Institute School of Music, Dance and Theatre. We offer a broad range of studies leading to the BA degree in music, the BA in music and culture, the MA in musicology, the MA in ethnomusicology and the PhD in musicology. We focus on the scholarly study of music in historical contexts and on musical traditions as sociocultural artifact, behavior, and performance.

Our students engage in multisensory learning experiences to explore forms and genres, performance practices, instruments, spaces, philosophies, identities, musical infrastructures and geographic locations.

Faculty members include Sabine Feisst, Dave Fossum, Kay Norton, Catherine Saucier, Peter Schmelz, Ted Solis, Christi Jay Wells, and faculty associates Bliss Little and Glen Hicks. Their geographical specialties range from the Americas and Eastern Europe (Russia, Ukraine, USSR) to the Middle East, Central Asia and Latin America. Faculty also specialize in Medieval music cultures, the long 19 century, jazz, music in popular cultures, musical modernism and experimentalism, intellectual property law, cultural policy, pedagogy, improvisation, sound studies, ecomusicology, dance and embodiment, and music’s role in wellbeing.

The musicology area also provides a variety of performance experiences through ensembles, including Latin Marimba and Indonesian Gamelan groups. We invite you to explore these opportunities.