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1) What is the relationship between the MA and the PhD components of your program? Do you have an MA-only option?
2) What background in Western music history and theory is expected of applicants to your program?
3) What is the place of "performance" in your program? I notice you do not offer any lessons or ensembles.
3a) I notice that Columbia is exceptionally strong in Jazz Studies, and Jazz is my musical and /or intellectual focus. Should I apply through the Ethnomusicology program?
4) Do I need to work with a specialist in my area of interest? How closely will I work with faculty members and especially my adviser? Is a small program right for me?
4a) Recent additions to the faculty in ethnomusicology at Columbia.
5) How important are GREs for admission and funding?
6) How important are letters of recommendation for admission and funding?
7) What should I submit as writing samples?
8) What should I say in my personal statement?
9) Should I visit Columbia if I am serious about wanting to join the program?
10) I'm the best candidate you've ever seen. Will I get a fellowship offer?
11) I already have an MA degree. Will I have to repeat the MA requirements and thesis in your program?
12) What about the fellowships? How much teaching is involved?
13) What if I am admitted but not offered a fellowship?
14) Should I apply for outside support even if I expect to be competitive for a fellowship offer at Columbia (or any other university)?
15) I am a member of a recognized minority group. What are Columbia's policies pertaining to graduate admission and funding for minority students? What sources of funding are available for minority students?
16) Are there specific considerations relevant for international students?
17) So what exactly IS your curriculum? What courses do I have to take? What exams? On what schedule? (See the Musicology handbook for additional information.)

Year 1, Fall Semester: 2 required core courses, one elective (9 credits)
Year 1, Spring Semester (9 credits)
Year 2, Fall Semester (typically 6-9 credits)
Year 2, Spring Semester (typically 6-9 credits)
Year 3: The Exam Sequence
Year 4 and Beyond: The Dissertation Proposal, Proposal Defense, Field Research, and Dissertation Writing and Defense

In Conclusion: Matching Your Goals to Our Goals

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Alaska Repatriation Project Wins NSF Grant

The Center is delighted to announce that our project to repatriate Laura Boulton's 1946 Alaska recordings has been funded by the National Science Foundation with a two-year Early Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) of $136,000.

Congratulations!

Hearty congratulations are in order for a number of Columbia Ethnomusicology students and faculty members:

First, three students are now alumni! We congratulate Andrew Eisenberg, Morgan Luker, and Ryan Skinner, each of whom has successfully defended his dissertation.

We also congratulate Tyler Bickford, winner of a Columbia University Whiting Fellowship.

Congratulations to Farzaneh Hemmasi, who has won a dissertation fellowship for 2009-10 from the Middle East Institute.

Congratulations to Sara Snyder, who has won a summer research fellowship from the Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life.

Congratulations to Anna Stirr, who has accepted a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at Oxford University.

Congratulations to Prof. Ellen Gray, who has accepted a one-year fellowship for 2009-10 at the Rutgers' Center for Historical Analysis.

Congratulations to Daphne Carr, who got a fellowship form The Harriman Institute at Columbia University.

And finally, congratulations to Prof. Christopher Washburne, who has been promoted to tenured Associate Professor of Music.

Columbia Forges Partnership with ARChive of Contemporary Music

Collection of be-bop, bluegrass, blues, country, jazz, rap, reggae, rock, zydeco and other forms to be made available for research and education

NEW YORK, April 7, 2009 — Columbia University has joined in a cooperative agreement with the ARChive of Contemporary Music, the largest collection of popular music in the world, to integrate the resources of the archive into arts programming at the university and other educational and scholarly activities.

The partnership is between the archive, Columbia University Libraries and the Arts Initiative at Columbia. Holdings of the archive include the Keith Richards Blues Collection, endowed by Richards, and the 50,000 disc World Music collection. read more »

Where Our Visitors Come From!

Bringing the Songs Home: Columbia University Begins Musical Heritage Repatriation Project in the North Slope

This article, written by Chie Sakakibara and Aaron Fox, is currently featured on the website of the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium (BASC). BASC is helping to support Aaron Fox and Chie Sakakibara in their research in the North Slope of Alaska. The article includes historical photos as well as photos from Aaron and Chie's recent research trip to Barrow, Alaska.

Further press about the project has been published in The Arctic Sounder (download the pdf). The project has also been mentioned in the "Alaska Newsreader" section of the Anchorage Daily News -- check it out here.

Website For Members of the Point Barrow Community

Click on the photo to see a large image of a photo taken by Laura Boulton during November, 1946 of the singers she recorded in Barrow, Alaska. From left to right, the identified singers in the photograph are: Leo Kaleak (seated left), Otis Ahkivgak (standing left), Willie Sielak, Guy Okakok, and Alfred Koonoalak. Not in the photo, but identified on the recordings, are three children: Mary (also known as "Eva") Ahvik, and Harold and Eddie Kagak (identified as "Eddie Orson" in Boulton's notes). Not in the photo, but prominently featured on the recordings, is singer Joe Sikvayugak (spelled "Sikvayunak" in Boulton's notes). This photo appears in two published locations. The version above is copied from Boulton's 1968 autobiography, now out of print, entitled The Music Hunter. A better-quality print was also published, but with extensive cropping, in the liner notes to Boulton's 1955 Folkways recording, now available from Smithsonian Global Sound, The Eskimos of Hudson Bay and Alaska.

If you are a member of the Point Barrow Iñupiat community and are looking for the website mentioned by Aaron Fox and Chie Sakakibara as heard on Earl Finkler's radio show on KBRW on Tuesday morning or at the community meeting at the Iñupiat Heritage Center on Tuesday evening, please click here for the website link.

A username and password are required to access the website. If you did not receive this information personally from Prof. Fox in Barrow, please write to him directly at aaf19@columbia.edu for the password.

_______________

(Publicly available:)
To listen to Chie Sakakibara and Aaron Fox discuss the repatriation project with Earl Finkler on KBRW, the Voice of the North Slope (from Dec. 6, 2007) please click here (or control/right click the link to download the 19MB .mp3 file). read more »

2008-2009 Japanese Gagaku World Music Performance Ensemble

The Columbia University Department of Music, the Center for Ethnomusicology, the Music Performance Program, & the Institute for Medieval Japanese Studies are pleased to announce our 2008-2009 Japanese Gagaku World Music Performance Ensemble.

MUSI v1625 Section 002
Call number: 43055 (1 pt.)
Instructors: Louise Sasaki, Nori Sasaki, & Yoichi Fukui

(Tenri Institute)
Day/Time: Thursdays 5-7pm
Location: 112 Dodge Hall
read more »

Columbia Ethnomusicology Field Projects

Where do Columbia University Ethnomusicologists work? All over the world!

Click on one of the markers for links to more information about specific projects. Blue markers represent current fieldwork projects by our graduate students. Red markers indicate Center repatriation projects and exchange programs. Yellow markers represent projects by Columbia Ethnomusicology faculty members. Purple markers indicated field projects completed by alumni of our program.

Use the zoom controls (+/-) and direction control arrows, or click and drag the map graphic with your mouse to navigate. You can double-click within the inset world map in the lower right hand corner to rapidly recenter the map as well.

You can view the most current Google Maps version of this map as it is developed by clicking here.
(opens in a new window).

This map is optimized for Firefox/Camino browsers and may not work correctly in all browsers. read more »

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