Musicology

The PhD in Musicology prepares students to investigate music across a broad historical and cultural spectrum. Through close mentorship from internationally recognized faculty, students pursue individualized research while developing advanced skills in research, writing, teaching, and public scholarship in a collaborative and supportive academic community.

Our graduate program fosters intellectual curiosity, rigorous scholarship, and meaningful faculty-student collaboration. Students benefit from the resources of a leading research university, exceptional research collections, and Cleveland's vibrant cultural community, providing outstanding opportunities for scholarly growth and professional development.

Graduates are well prepared for careers in higher education, research, libraries and archives, museums, arts organizations, publishing, public humanities, and related fields.

Why Study Musicology at CWRU?

Musicology at CWRU combines the strengths of a major research university with the personalized experience of a small doctoral program. Students benefit from an approximately 5:1 faculty-to-student ratio, allowing for individualized mentorship, tailored research guidance, and close collaboration with faculty advisors. The program's close connections with the Historical Performance Practice program, the Center for Popular Music Studies, and the Joint Music Program with the Cleveland Institute of Music provide unique opportunities to broaden scholarly perspectives through shared courses, colloquia, performances, masterclasses, workshops, and research initiatives.

Throughout the program, students benefit from:

• Individualized faculty mentorship and small graduate seminars
• Access to nationally recognized research centers, archives, and special collections
• Competitive funding packages with tuition support and a generous stipend
• Teaching, research, and professional development opportunities
• Weekly Music Colloquium Series featuring visiting scholars, faculty, and graduate research
• Graduate assistantships in teaching, research, and departmental communications
• Internships with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum, including its Library and Archives
• Opportunities to apply for the Library of Congress Summer Research Fellowship Program and Graduate Humanities Programming & Funding

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Areas of Faculty Expertise

Students work closely with faculty whose scholarship encompasses a broad range of historical periods, musical traditions, and research methodologies. This breadth of expertise allows students to pursue individualized research while benefiting from the perspectives of distinguished scholars across the field of musicology. 

Areas of faculty expertise include:

• American Popular Music
• Cultural History
• Film and Media Music
• 17th- to 19th-Century French Music
• Historical Performance and Dance
• Medieval and Renaissance Music
• Music and Gender
• Music, Culture, and Society
• Music, Science, and Medicine
• Music, The Arts, and Politics
• Opera Studies
• Sound Studies

Graduate seminars are shaped by the active research of our faculty and evolve regularly to explore emerging questions and methodologies in the field. Rather than following a fixed curriculum, seminar topics vary from year to year, allowing students to engage with current scholarship while developing their own research agendas.

Graduate Courses & Topics

Scholarship & Recognition

Our faculty and graduate students contribute to a vibrant scholarly community through innovative research, creative activity, competitive grants, conference presentations, publications, partnerships, and national recognition.

Recognizing the Influence of Sound

Professor Daniel Goldmark draws on years of experience working across the entertainment industry to investigate how music shapes psychological responses in film, television, and digital media. His research explores the cultural and cognitive impact of sound in contemporary media, offering students opportunities to engage with one of musicology's most dynamic and rapidly evolving fields.

Francesca Brittan Awarded Experimental Humanities Grant

Associate Professor Francesca Brittan received an Expanding Horizons / Experimental Humanities Grant to establish the Brain Media Lab, an interdisciplinary collaboration exploring how brain activity can be transformed into sound.

Bringing together music, cognitive neuroscience, engineering, and computer science, the project provides students with opportunities to participate in innovative research at the intersection of music, science, technology, and artistic practice.

Student & Alumni Success

Our graduate students regularly earn prestigious national and international awards, fellowships, and university honors. Graduates of the program go on to successful careers as faculty members, researchers, librarians, museum professionals, arts administrators, and leaders in higher education and the public humanities.

Student & Alumni Success