Dalhousie offers Maritimes' first grad program in music

Senate approves master’s of musicology

Dalhousie University’s senate voted unanimously Jan. 12 to approve a master’s in musicology starting in September 2009, the first graduate program in music offered east of Montreal. 

“We're ecstatic that it got through senate (Monday),” said Jennifer Bain, chair of the task force that proposed the program.  “It's been a long process of consultation and it's gratifying to know that the work we put into that process has resulted in a positive recommendation from senate.”

Musicology is the scholarly study of music. A student studying musicology could, for example, look at the works of a well-known composer and how his influence has changed over the years with changes in society. The master’s of musicology will be an interdisciplinary curriculum in which students will examine music in “broader cultural contexts, taking into account other disciplines both within and outside of music studies.”  The course will primarily focus on western culture and examine music by studying cultural and political history, gender issues and the impact of sociological issues on music. 

Teachers from the music program will be enlisted to supervise eight master’s students per year and will receive one half-class credit for every three students they teach. A secretarial assistant will need to be hired and this will cost $11,774 a year. The program will also require $20,000 over a two-year period to bring the library up to the standard required for the program and it will spend an additional $7,000 per year on its music collection. Students within the program will also receive scholarships of between $14,000 and $25,000 per year.

Vanessa Furlong, musician, music teacher and graduate from Bishop’s music degree program, welcomes the graduate program in music.

“It’s awesome that they are offering graduate school for music,” says Furlong, who worked for several years as a music teacher, performer and actress.

“So many people I know have had to leave Nova Scotia to pursue graduate studies. I would be incredibly happy if they had created a master’s in music performance because there are actually jobs in that field and well, it’s my field. You have to go to Toronto to get the training in performance and a lot of people leave.”

However, she questions the need for graduate studies in musicology.

“I don’t know why they chose musicology. Musicologists are only really qualified to teach musicologists and it’s not exactly a booming field.”

“I have never in my entire life met a musicologist, never shook a hand of a musicologist. It seems so academic. I mean there are jobs with music, recording, reviewing, even music therapy offers real jobs at places like the IWK where you can help kids,” says Furlong, who works part time caring for children with intellectual disabilities.

“I just don’t see a community that really needs this.”

While Bain acknowledges that it is hard to tell if musicology is a growing field, she does believe that this degree will provide jobs. She argues that Dal’s best music students always attend graduate studies and have to look elsewhere. By having this program the best students could stay at Dal. 

The music department has had students that graduated from their bachelor’s program “teach in schools and privately, compose music, perform in choirs and orchestras and bands of various descriptions, go on to an opera apprenticeship program or continue with their education doing artist diplomas or graduate degrees in musicology, music theory, composition, music therapy, ethnomusicology, gender and women's studies, or they might go into arts administration, or they might go on to medical school, dentistry school, law school (we've had students do all of those things)," Bain says.

"With an MA, a graduate could do any of the above, or they might go into music librarianship, or pursue music journalism, or continue with a Ph.D. in musicology or music theory or a related discipline (gender and women's studies, cultural studies etc.)”

Bain is continuing to help the program over its last few hurdles .

“We still need approval from the board of governors and from (Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission), but since this program doesn't overlap with any other program in the Maritimes and the other undergraduate music programs have already demonstrated their support, we're hopeful that it will proceed without a hitch,” Bain says. 

During this same session, the 72 sitting Dalhousie senators also voted to suspend the university’s master’s of International Health Services Administration program due to general lack of interest. Concerns were expressed about a possible $3.7-million shortfall for the 2009-2010 year and plans were made to readdress budget issues at a later date. 

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