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)