Encompassing much more than music history, the Musicology Program at Northwestern approaches music as a social activity shaped by aesthetic movements and intellectual theories – in essence, the humanistic study of music in culture.
Students are invited to view music through an interdisciplinary lens to reveal cultural contexts and meanings not accessible through the study of music notation alone. By integrating the perspectives of historical musicology and ethnomusicology, the program trains open-minded yet critical scholars adaptable to varied repertoires and academic strategies, in an atmosphere of collegiality and peer support.
The graduate student support provided to PhD students includes year-round tuition and stipend and fully subsidized health insurance.