Student Handbook

Dissertation   [part I] click here to go to Dissertation part II

The dissertation is at once both the culmination of one's work as a student and the certificate of entrance into the scholarly community. Ideally, the dissertation represents a substantial piece of cutting-edge research, marked by originality with respect to subject matter and/or methodology, and constitutes a real contribution to--at the risk of sounding optimistically lyrical--humanistic learning.

For both composers (Ph.D. and DMA) and performers, the dissertation is a double-barreled affair: composition students must write both a written dissertation and a substantial composition, while performance students must complement their written dissertation with a full-length recital (on the nature of the recital, DMA-Performance students should see section VII). In both cases, the written dissertation may be related to the composition/recital in one way or another. To compensate for the composers'-performers' two-part dissertation requirement, there is a general understanding that their written dissertations are usually a good deal shorter than those written by students in the areas of musicology, theory/analysis, and ethnomusicology.

What follows is the step-by-step procedure that students follow from one end of the dissertation process to the other:

(1) Choosing a topic: The best thing students can do is to begin mulling over possible dissertation topics early in their graduate work, not with the idea of closing doors to certain topics but, rather, with the intent of exploring the widest array of topics with as much breadth, in as much detail, and as early on as possible. Students should use the "pre-dissertation" Independent Study as a way of digging around. If this paragraph has a moral, it is this: do not find yourself in the position of having completed both course work and exams and then wander and wonder for two years trying to decide on a dissertation topic. It is not easy to regain one's momentum. Finally, having settled--if even tentatively--on a topic, burrow into it and discuss it with a prospective advisor. Don't wait until it's time to submit a formal dissertation proposal.

Sample lists of completed CUNY dissertations

(2) Choosing an advisor (and "readers"): There are two things to look for here: (a) choose someone who him/herself works in the subject area in question (or at least feels comfortable and capable of advising a dissertation in that area), and--just as important--(b) choose someone with whom you can "get along" on a close personal basis for what will be a two-, three-, or more-year relationship. The student-adviser relationship should be one in which both student and adviser learn from each other and come to think of one another not as student and teacher, but as colleagues.

The reader. In addition to working with an advisor," students work with another faculty members who serves as a reader.  In cases where special expertise is required there may be a second reader. 

(3) The Dissertation Proposal: Once a student has completed both course work and the Second Examination, has chosen and precisely defined the dissertation topic, and has settled upon an adviser and a reader. it is time to submit a formal dissertation proposal--one that has been developed together with at least the adviser and the reader--to the Faculty Membership and Dissertation Proposal Committee. To maintain Satisfactory Progress toward the degree, the dissertation proposal should be submitted no later than one year after completion of the Second Examination.

The proposal should, at the very least, cover the following points: the nature of the topic should be clearly defined, as should its relevance/importance to present-day scholarship; the methodology should be explained; and there should be some discussion of past scholarship on the topic (supported by an annotated bibliography). In writing the proposal, students should remember that a good dissertation--and therefore a good dissertation proposal--has both a point to make and a point of view with which to make it; that is, the dissertation should have an "argument." One way of arriving at that sense of "focus" might be to include a chapter-by-chapter outline (no matter how tentative) in the proposal. Click here for dissertation proposal guidelines.


A FEW OTHER THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND:

(a) The Faculty Membership and Dissertation Proposal Committee, which consists of five faculty members and one student representative, meets three times each year, generally  in September, February, and May (precise dates are announced well in advance). Proposals must reach the members of the committee (and a copy to the Music program office) at least two weeks before the meeting. The chairman of the committee will then set up an appointment at which the student meets with the committee to discuss the proposal. Letters from faculty advisors and readers are due to the committee a few days before the meeting  to the chair of the committee and can be by e-mail. The letters should indicate  willingness to serve as advisor or reader, and may include any other comments.

Human Subjects Research: Any research that involves human subjects must be approved by the Human Subjects Committee prior to starting the research. The approval form, signed on behalf of the Human Subjects Committee, must be included with the dissertation when it is deposited. If no research on human subjects was conducted for the dissertation, a form indicating that must be included when the dissertation is deposited. No dissertation will be accepted without one of these forms. Please contact Ms. Hilary Fisher, Director of Sponsored Research, 212 817-7523, for information.

Dissertation Proposal Clearance: Human Participants Form
All students, who have advanced to Level 3 after September 1, 1999, must submit a Dissertation Proposal Clearance: Human Participants Form to Hilry Fisher in the Office for Research and Sponsored Programs. This requirement includes students from all programs, whether or not their research involves human participants. The form becomes part of the student’s file in Registrar’s Office. A student will not be able to deposit the dissertation unless this form is on file in the Registrar’s Office. The form requires that any research including human participants (even informal interviews or reviews of preexisting data) be reviewed and approved by the IRB before research commences. Approval cannot be given retroactively. Doctoral students and their advisers must work together to ensure that these requirements are met.

(b) Neither the proposal nor the meeting with the committee should be thought of as constituting an examination. The proposals are not graded; rather, the committee seeks to determine--and the committee can sometimes be more objective than either the student or the prospective adviser--that the dissertation topic is truly viable and that the student has the "smarts" to carry it out.

If the topic is approved, it is registered with the American Musicological Society's DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS IN MUSICOLOGY. Though topics are never dismissed outright, the committee may conclude that the proposal, as submitted, has problems, suggest that certain aspects of it be reconsidered, and ask that the proposal be resubmitted at its (the committee's) next meeting. This does not mean that the student should not get to work on the dissertation; on the contrary, it usually means that the student should define things more precisely or limit the scope of the dissertation or turn certain of its aspects one way or the other. Even if the committee "turns down" the proposal, get to work!

(c) The proposal is not a binding contract. Students can--short of submitting a proposal for a dissertation on Wagner and then writing one on Leonin--turn the dissertation in this or that direction.

(d) At the outset the student, the adviser and reader(s) should work out a process by which chapters will be disseminated and commented upon and revised. Many advisers prefer to read and comment on a chapter and return it to the student who makes changes and then sends it on to the reader.

click here to go to Dissertation part II