Doctoral Program Minors: Graduate: Degrees & Courses: Jacobs School of Music: Indiana University Bloomington

All students pursuing a Doctor of Music or Doctor of Philosophy degree are required to declare two minor fields (except for students in the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Musicology, the Doctor of Music Education degree, and the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Music Education, who must declare one). Each minor consists of at least 12 credit hours, and all minors are subject to the approval of the director of graduate studies.

Minors within the Jacobs School of Music must have 12 credits of courses at the 500 level or higher.

Minor courses outside the Jacobs School of Music must be at a level that is acceptable for graduate study. Minors outside the Jacobs School of Music ordinarily require 12 credits of courses at the 500 level or higher. However, up to 6 credits of courses at the 300 or 400 level may be eligible if they can satisfy a requirement for a major or minor in that field, subject to the approval of the department offering the courses and the director of graduate studies. Courses at the 100 or 200 level are not eligible. No more than 6 hours of courses below the 500 level may be counted toward a doctoral minor or guided electives.

Each course must have a grade of "C" or better to fulfill degree requirements. In addition, the courses counting toward the minor must have an average grade of "B" or better. Departments offering the minor may require a higher grade for their minor fields. Courses with S/F grades will not be accepted as part of a minor. Guided Electives taken in place of a second formal minor have the same grade requirements as a minor.

To declare each doctoral minor, students must complete a Doctoral Minor Field or Guided Electives Form, have it signed by the appropriate department chair or faculty member, and submit it to the Music Graduate Office. Students should declare each minor before taking coursework towards that minor to confirm whether the classes they are taking will count.

Doctoral students are not eligible to register for their 5^th semester of coursework until all minors (or guided electives) are formally declared and approved.

To declare a minor field representative (students need one minor field representative for each minor, though not for Guided Electives), students should submit the appropriate form(s):

The Advisory Committee Request form is submitted to the Music Graduate Office, while the forms for minor representatives in Music History & Literature and in Music Theory are submitted to the Musicology and Music Theory Office first and then to the Music Graduate Office.

The minor field representative does not need to be declared at the same time as the minor—students can declare each minor field representative any time after the minor is formally approved and before the student begins the qualifying exam stage of the degree.

This form is used to request a change to an already established Advisory Committee:

Advisory Committee Replacement Request

Individual degrees' minor field requirements

Doctor of Music

First Minor
The first minor declared by a doctor of music student must be in music history and literature, music theory, or music education. Certain departments may further restrict the choice of options for the minor field for their majors. For DM students who have completed master's degrees in one of these three fields, the appropriate department may, with the approval of the director of graduate studies, waive part or all of the doctoral minor course work and determine an appropriate department involvement in the written and oral qualifying examinations. Students will take additional courses in the major field or in other areas to make up the required 12 credit hours of the first minor.

Second Minor
The second minor can be 12 credits reflecting the following grouping:

A second formal minor;
An individualized minor in or outside of music; or
Guided electives.*

If a student has a master's degree in a field other than musicology, music education or music theory, the appropriate department may, with the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies, waive part or all of the doctoral minor course work for the second minor and determine an appropriate departmental involvement in the written and oral qualifying examinations. Students will take additional courses in the major field or in other areas to make up the required 12 credit hours of the second minor.

If the student is majoring in music performance, the second minor cannot be in another area of performance except that modern-instrument performers may elect an early-music minor and vice versa. A minor in performance, when allowed, requires study at the 800 level.

*The Guided Electives option is not available to composition majors.

PhD in Music Theory

First minor
The first minor must be either music history and literature or musicology.

Second minor
The second minor may be inside or outside of the Jacobs School of Music. For the second minor, the student may also select a coherent individualized curriculum, approved by the advisory committee and the director of graduate studies

DME and PhD in Music Education

One minor consisting of 12 credit hours within or outside the field of music in any subject for which the candidate has the necessary background for advanced course work.

PhD in Musicology

One minor consisting of 12 credit hours. The subject can be within or outside the field of music. Students in the PhD in Musicology program are not required to have a second minor.

Formal minors

The Bulletin includes a partial list of formally defined minors. Students are welcome to consult with department chairs or the Graduate Office about minors in other fields. Note that some departments (including Orchestral Conducting) do not offer minors.

Individualized minors

An individualized minor is a set of courses (at least 12 credits total) you propose that are from different departments and which fit a specific theme or emphasis. A written proposal in required when declaring this minor. This minor requires approval by a faculty member with expertise in the area of emphasis (who will serve as minor field representative) and the director of graduate studies.

Guided Electives

NOTE: Guided Electives are not available to composition students.

Doctor of Music students under Bulletins from 1995 or later may elect to forgo a second formal minor and instead choose twelve hours of "guided electives." The courses to be counted under this heading are approved by the chair of the student's advisory committee and the director of graduate studies. The following guidelines should help you in choosing appropriate courses to be approved:

The total number of credit hours for the guided electives category must be at least 12.
Courses which could count toward your major field are not eligible (that is, you may not count "excess" hours on the major toward guided electives).
A maximum of 4 credit hours may be taken in courses closely related to the major field only if they are not specifically required as part of the major or able to fill an elective slot in the major. These courses might include string technology for string majors, instrument repair for brass or woodwind majors, and similar courses.
Up to 4 credits of applied study may be eligible, and must be at the minor (800) level.
Courses which are normally used to satisfy proficiencies (such as M541/542, T508, T509, T511, piano classes, and lessons taken to prepare for the keyboard proficiency or performance proficiency exams) are not eligible. Ensemble and chamber music coaching are not eligible. Graduate reading courses in foreign languages (under _491/492 numbers) are also not eligible.
Courses outside the Jacobs School of Music must ordinarily be at the 500 level or higher. However, up to 6 credits of courses at the 300 or 400 level may be eligible subject to the approval of the director of graduate studies. No more than 6 hours of courses below the 500 level may be counted toward guided electives. Courses at the 100 or 200 level are not eligible.
It is essential that you consult with the chair of your advisory committee and the director of graduate studies before enrolling in a class. Neither is obligated to approve "after the fact" any courses you may have taken.
No more than six credits in one subject area are eligible to be part of guided electives. The guided electives category may not be used as a device to avoid a minor-field qualifying examination. If a student wants to take more than 6 credits in one subject area they will need to either complete a formal minor in the subject or an individualized minor (see above for more details).

Please note: The guided electives option is not a minor field and therefore is not subject to qualifying examinations. There is no minor field representative for guided electives on the advisory committee.

Examples

This is a list of some common doctoral minors. This is not a comprehensive list, it is a sample.

Examples of Minors within the Jacobs School of Music

Composition

Conducting, Choral

Conducting, Wind

Conducting (combined)

Early Music (for non-early music majors)

Electronic Music

Jazz

Latin American Music

Music Education

Music History

Music Information Technology

Music Theory

Performance (for non-performance majors)

Sacred Music

Stage Direction for Opera

Examples of Minors outside the Jacobs School of Music

Arts Administration

Astronomy

Comparative Literature

Computer Science

English

Ethnomusicology

History

Informatics

Languages (advanced study in a single language)

Mathematics

Psychology

Religious Studies

Speech & Hearing

Theatre

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