The Ethnomusicology Program at UC Santa Barbara consists of core courses in three areas: Regional Studies, including the Middle East, South Asia, Eastern Europe, American folk and vernacular music, Japan, Indonesia, and Mexico; Issues - such as anthropology of music, globalization, cosmopolitanism, tourism, sound studies, and gender studies; and Methods - such as theories and methods in ethnomusicology, fieldwork, tuning and temperament, and maqam. The program has the following performance ensembles: Middle East Ensemble, Music of India Ensemble, Indonesian Gamelan Ensemble, Gospel Choir, and periodically, a Polish Ensemble, an Appalachian Ensemble, and an Afro-Brazilian Ensemble. 

Degrees Offered

Undergraduate

  • Bachelor of Arts (BA) with an emphasis in Ethnomusicology 

For specific degree requirements, see the BA, Music Studies with an emphasis in Ethnomusicology in the Music Department, Undergraduate Program section of UC Santa Barbara's General Catalog. Find more information on applying to the undergraduate program on the Undergraduate Degrees page.

Graduate

  • Master of Arts (MA)
  • Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The MA-only time-to-degree is three years. The PhD-only time-to-degree is eight years (for applicants who have already completed a master's degree at an accredited university). If accepted into the MA and PhD programs, the time to complete both degrees is eight years. Learn more about the MA and the PhD Ethnomusicology degrees in the Music Department, Graduate Program section of UCSB's General Catalog. Find more information on applying to the graduate program on the Graduate Degrees page.

Faculty

Scott Marcus | Professor

Timothy J. Cooley | Professor

Ruth Hellier | Professor

David Novak | Associate Professor

Victor Bell | Continuing Lecturer

Richard North | Continuing Lecturer

James Grippo | Lecturer

Bahram Osqueezadeh | Lecturer

Susan Rudnicki | Lecturer

Graduate Student Successes

The Ethnomusicology Program takes great pride in students who have won prestigious academic positions and fellowships.

Academic Positions held by Alumni

Kara Attrep | Bowling Green State University

James R. Carr | University of North Carolina, Greensboro

Sonja Downing | Lawrence University

Denise Gill | Washington University in St. Louis

Lillie Gordon | University of Tennessee Knoxville

Kenneth S. Habib | Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo   

Max Katz | College of William and Mary

Eve McPherson | Case Western Reserve University   

Katherine L. Meizel | Bowling Green State University

Jane Freeman Moulin | University of Hawai'i at Manoa

Gibb Schreffler | Pomona College

Graduate Student Fellowships and Awards

Sonja Downing | Fulbright Hays Fellowship and a Pacific Rim Fellowship for research in Bali

Eve McPherson | Fulbright Hays Fellowship for research in Turkey

Matt Dorman | Fulbright Fellowship for research in Finland

Katherine L. Meizel | Media, Religion and Culture Fellowship for research at University of Colorado, Boulder

Kara Attrep | Hagley Museum Dissertation Fellowship in Wilmington, Delaware

Max Katz | American Institute of Indian Studies Junior Research Fellowship for research in India

Gibb Schreffler | Fulbright Hays Fellowship for research in India

Denise Gill | Two-time Fulbright IIE for research in Turkey

Lillie Gordon | Fulbright Hays Fellowship for research in Egypt

Eric Ederer | Fulbright Hays Fellowship and ARCE Fellowship for research in Turkey

Phil Murphy | Fulbright IIE Graduate Fellowship and AIMS Fellowship for research in Morocco

Justin Scarimbolo | Fulbright Hays Fellowship for research in India

Alumni Publications

James R. Carr | Hawaiian Music in Motion: Mariners, Missionaries, and Minstrels (University of Illinois Press, 2014)

Thomas Greenland | Jazzing (University of Illinois Press, 2016)

Max Katz | Lineage of Loss: Counternarratives of North Indian Music (Wesleyan University Press, 2017)

Denise Gill | Melancholic Modalities: Affect, Islam, and Turkish Classical Musicians (Oxford University Press, 2017)

Katherine Meizel | Idolized: Music, Media, and Identity in American Idol (Indiana University Press, 2011)

Eric Ederer | Makam and Beyond: a Progressive Approach to Near Eastern Music Theory (Lulu.com, 2016)

Related Links

UCSB Middle East Ensemble

UCSB Middle East Ensemble Chorus

UCSB Gamelan Ensemble

UCSB Music of India Ensemble

UCSB Gospel Choir

UCSB Son Jarocho Ensemble