PhD Musicology at Princeton University
Encompassing historical, theoretical, cognitive, and ethnographic approaches, the musicology program at Princeton encourages students to think about music broadly and gain experience in different corners of the discipline, while becoming experts in their chosen fields through researching and writing their dissertations and participating in the scholarly community on and off campus.
Unlike many of our peer institutions, Princeton’s musicology program does not maintain strict boundaries between historical musicology, theory, cognition, and ethnomusicology. Rather, our flexible curriculum encourages students to think across the subdisciplines and design innovative research projects that take advantage of different approaches and methodologies.
Graduate students, who are fully funded for five years, become part of a vibrant scholarly and artistic community. In addition to working closely with our renowned musicology faculty as seminar leaders and advisers, musicology students can explore Princeton’s rich offerings in the humanities, have access to the superb Mendel Music Library, and participate in private instrument/voice lessons and the Music Department’s superb ensembles.